2023 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, February 14 – Saturday, February 18, 2023
- Rec Center Natatorium, College Station, TX.
- Defending Champions:
- Women: Tennessee (1x)
- Men: Florida (10x)
- Championship Central
- Women’s Fan Guide
- Men’s Fan Guide
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Video
- Day 4 Finals Live Recap
- Day 5 Prelims Scratch Report
- Day 5 Prelims Live Recap
Florida fifth year Dillon Hillis took down the SEC meet record in the 200 breaststroke with a 1:51.53 on Saturday morning.
Not only is that time five seconds faster than his season best from November, but it’s also a new lifetime best that lowers Derek Maas’ meet record of 1:51.56 from last year. Hillis’ previous best was a 1:52.12 from last year’s NCAA Championships. He also snuck under the NCAA ‘A’ cut of 1:54.54 by just .01 seconds.
Last season as a senior, Hillis competed for the Gators at SECs in the 200 medley relay as well as the 200 IM before ultimately scratching the rest of the meet. He swam a week later at the Bulldog Invite where he swam the 100 (51.32) and 200 (1:52.43) breaststrokes. That was his first time ever under the 1:55 mark.
Hillis went on to compete at NCAAs where he finished sixth in the 100 breast (51.24) and 14th in the 200 breast (1:52.12). He finishes Florida’s sixth-highest individual scorer at NCAAs with a total of 16 individual points.
MEN’S 200 BREASTSTROKE – PRELIMS
- NCAA Record: 1:47.91, Will Licon (2017)
- SEC Record: 1:50.80, Nic Fink (2015)
Meet Record: 1:51.56, Derek Mass (2022)- Pool Record: 1:51.09, Alex Sanchez (2022)
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:51.54
- 2022 Champion: Derek Maas, Alabama (1:51.56)
Top 8:
- Dillon Hillis (Florida) – 1:51.53 *Meet Record
- Aleksas Savickas (Florida) – 1:51.59
- Andres Puente (Texas A&M) – 1:53.30
- Lyubomir Epitropov (Tennessee) – 1:53.41
- Reid Mikuta (Auburn) – 1:53.54
- Derek Maas (Alabama) – 1:53.66
- Alex Sanchez (Texas A&M) – 1:53.91
- Ben Patton (Missouri) – 1:54.54
Florida teammate Aleksas Savickas was close behind Hillis with a 1:51.59, just three-tenths of a second off his personal best from last November. The rest of the pack was almost two seconds behind Savickas and Hillis during prelims.