Florida Gators Swim is Freestyle U: Four Gators Qualify For Tokyo, Nesty to Coach

Florida State can hold the distinction of Free Shoes University, while the University of Florida can call itself Freestyle University after four current and former Gators swimmers swept the slate of freestyle events at the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Omaha, Nebraska last week.

Caeleb Dressel, who graduated from the University of Florida in 2018, made his second Olympics team after winning four events in Omaha.

Affixed to the side of the arena in downtown Omaha is a picture of Dressel.

"All the fluff that comes with it, your name on the building, is cool," Dressel said. "But it adds a little bit different pressure to it.''

But the pressure didn’t seem to affect the former Gator.

Dressel qualified for the 50 free on the final night of the trials, tying the American record of 21.04 seconds – a record in which he owns. Prior to his performance in the 50 free, the former Gator also qualified in the 100 free, 100 fly and 4x100 free relay.

On day five of the trials, Dressel notched his opportunity to represent the Red, White and Blue in both the 100 free and 4x100 free relay with a swim of 47.39, tying the U.S. Open record that Ryan Held set in 2019.

"It's a huge weight off my shoulders," Dressel said after qualifying in his first event. "I'm excited to get the job done and move forward.''

The following day, Dressel touched the wall in 49.87 seconds in the 100 fly, winning the event by more than a full second.

Dressel is widely viewed to leave behind a legacy similar to Michael Phelps. The 24-year-old is still a green swimmer, especially in comparison to fellow former Gator Ryan Lochte, who missed the cut for his fifth Olympics. Lochte is 36 years old.

While the sun is seemingly setting on Lochte’s career, Dressel is just getting started.

The native Floridian, who settled down in the quaint town of Micanopy in February, isn’t expected to have an opportunity to haul in eight gold medals like Phelps did in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but he could bag up to seven in Tokyo.

"You can't win five, six or seven medals if you don't qualify for the events,'' he said during the trials. "I'm focused on qualifying right now.''

Aside from Dressel, Kieran Smith, who is currently a junior at UF, also qualified for a handful of events – making way for his first Olympics appearance.

Smith was the first Gator to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team, doing so in the first day of Trials.

Swimming in the 400 free, after Smith leapt off the dive block and entered the pool, he never gave up the lead en route to his 3:44.46 finish.

"I just had to tell myself that I belong here and I do," Smith said following his qualifying performance. "I think that 3:44.00 is pretty good for now, but I know I still need to do a bit more work and I know I can give more in the back half of the 400 free.”

Two days later, Smith posted another dominant performance. This time in the 200 free.

Notching a new personal best, Smith touched the wall in 1:45.29, securing his second Tokyo race.

"Kieran opened the night with an excellent 200 Free swim,” Florida swim head coach Anthony Nesty said. “He came prepared and executed that race perfectly. It was a fantastic performance and he has secured a second US team position.”

With his individual performance in the 200 free, Smith also made the 4x200 free relay team for Team USA.

Fellow Florida junior Bobby Finke also secured his first Olympics berth last week after qualifying in the 800 and 1500 freestyle.

Finke swam the 800 free on day five of the Trials and scored a swim of 7:48.22, a time that led the field.

"Bobby Finke had a fantastic 800 Free, winning the Final with a 7:48.22 and punching his ticket to Tokyo. He swam that race perfectly,” Nesty said of the first-time Olympian. “I am extremely proud of him. He trains with purpose and it shows.”

Finke went on to swim in the 1500-meter freestyle prelims, often referred to as the mile, the very next day.

In his preliminary race, the current Florida Gators standout swam a 15:04.66, giving him first place seeding going into the finals on the next day.

“That race is an extremely tough race and to be able to swim it twice, one day right after another, at the end of a weeklong meet requires a tremendous commitment to training which

Bobby has willfully accepted and done so with tremendous passion and focus,” Nesty said of the long-distance event.

On Sunday night, the final day of the Trials, Finke swam a tremendous race, beating out his preliminary time by nearly 18 seconds.

Finke’s 14:48.70 finish beat the finals field by 15 seconds and securing a new personal best en route to qualifying for his second race in Tokyo.

Former Florida Gator Natalie Hinds silently snuck onto the U.S. Olympics swim team after her performance in the 100 free.

Hinds, who missed her shot at the 2016 Olympics by a long shot, earned her Team USA berth behind a fourth place, 53.84-second swim in the 100 free.

"This is such a dream come true for me,” Hinds said. “It’s such a tough field.”

From the pool deck, Florida swim head coach Anthony Nesty was named as an assistant coach for Team USA.

Nesty, who recently assumed the role of head coach for both the men’s and women's teams at the University of Florida after former women’s coach Jeff Poppell left to lead the South Carolina Gamecocks, will return to the Olympics after 33 years.

In 1988, Nesty became Suriname’s first gold medalist after winning the 100-meter butterfly.

"I am very honored to be appointed to the United States Olympic Staff as a Men's Assistant Coach", said Nesty. "I am thrilled to be with our athletes on this journey and we will all do our best to represent the Gators and the United States admirably. We have some work to do and we will do our best to get ourselves on the medal podium in Tokyo."