2000 NCAA Championships
(Men) Minneapolis, Minn. - March 23-25, 2000

The 2000 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships held at the University of Minnesota was the culmination of a watershed season for the University of Florida.

Under first-year head coach Gregg Troy, the Gators finished in ninth place, Florida's highest finish since 1995. Florida's finish was an eight-spot jump from a 17th place finish in 1999 and its 207 points were 140 more than they had garnered in 1999. The improvement tied for the fourth best in school history. The Gators had jumped nine spots in 1999 from a 26th place finish in 1998.

Florida garnered a whopping 37 All-American honors from 14 different athletes, a mark that was only equaled in 1991. The Gators earned 16 more All-American honors than they had in 1999. Each of the five relay teams earned All-American honors as well. The Gators sent 16 athletes to the NCAA Championships, a figured bettered only by SEC Champion and defending national champion Auburn.

In preparation for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia the meet was held in meters.

Individually, Florida's highlight came in the person of senior Matt Cole, who took first place in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 1:53.68 on the meet's final night of competition. Cole finished over a second faster than his closest competitor and became Florida's first individual national champion since Greg Burgess took the 200 and 400 IM titles in 1994. Teammate sophomore Mike Jansen wasn't too far behind Cole, finishing in seventh place with a time of 1:56.25, racking up his own first team All-America honor.

Juniors Alex Lopez and Nathan Summers racked up the most All-American honors for the Gators (6). Both swimmers took home one first team honor and five honorable mentions. The first team honor came in the form of the 200-meter freestyle relay in which they teamed with senior Ryan Swift and junior Jim Kostowicz to take eighth place with a time of 1:28.53.

Sophomore Eric Donnelly made a run at the title in the 400 IM, placing second in the preliminary heat. His trial time (4:11.28) would have set an American record had it not been for Southern Cal's Erik Vendt, who finished three seconds faster, only to be bested by Michigan's Tim Siciliano in the finals. He placed fifth in the finals with a time of 4:11.89 to become an All-American himself.

Sophomore diver Hank Richardson equaled his 1999 performance in the platform competition by finishing in fourth place. His score of 515.70 earned him his second first team All-America honor in as many years.

Sophomore Duncan Sherrard followed up his first place performance at the SEC Championships with a seventh place finish in the 200-meter breaststroke. The first-time first team All-American finished in a time of 1:57.24.

Swimmer of the Year: Ed Moses, Virginia
Diver of the Year: Troy Dumais, Texas
Swimming Coach of they Year: Eddie Reese Texas
Diving Coach of the Year: Randy Ableman, Miami (Fla.)

Key:
! - U.S. Open Record
@ - World Best
# - World Record
$ - American Record