By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam
2026 SEC Championships
Dates: Monday, February 16–Saturday, February 21 Location: Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center, Knoxville, TN Defending Champions: Texas women (1x); Texas men (1x) Live Results Live Video: SEC Network+ Schedule of Events Championship Central SwimSwam Fan Guide Women Men Teams: Alabama, Arkansas (women), Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt (women) Live Recaps Finals: 1650 Session, Day 1The 2026 SEC Championships kicked off this afternoon with the men’s and women’s mile, and the Florida men got a huge boost from Tunisian distance swimming pair Ahmed Jaouadi and Ahmed Hafnaoui.
Men’s 1650 Freestyle
NCAA Record: 14:12.08- Bobby Finke (Florida), 2020 SEC Record: 14:12.08- Bobby Finke (Florida), 2020 SEC Championship Record: 14:12.08- Bobby Finke (Florida), 2020 Pool Record: 14:38.91- Akram Mahmoud (South Carolina), 2017 2026 NCAA Championships Qualifying Time: 15:06.60Top 8:
Ahmed Jaouadi (FLOR)- 14:25.14 Levi Sandidge (UK)- 14:30.04 Ahmed Hafnaoui (FLOR)- 14:30.74 Carson Hick (UK)- 14:39.87 Giovanni Linscheer (FLOR)- 14:46.24 Sean Green (UGA)- 14:46.88 Dziugas Miskinis (UK)- 14:46.91 Nikola Simic (LSU)- 14:47.85Jaouadi won the event in 14:25.14, coming in nearly five seconds ahead of 2nd place finisher Levi Sandidge of Kentucky.
This was a new personal best time by 14 seconds, dropping from the 14:39.10 he swam at the UGA Fall Invite in November. He will also move up to become the 13th fastest performer in history in the event, coming in just ahead of Rex Maurer‘s 14:25.22 from the 2025 NCAA Championships.
Updated Top-15 All-Time
Bobby Finke (FLOR) — 14:12.08 (2020) Zane Grothe (UN) — 14:18.25 (2017) Zalan Sarkany (IU) — 14:21.29 (2025) Clark Smith (TEX) — 14:22.41 (2017) Felix Auboeck (MICH) — 14:22.88 (2017) Akram Mahmoud (SCAR) — 14:22.99 (2017) Jordan Wilimovsky (NU) — 14:23.45 (2017) Connor Jaeger (CW) — 14:23.52 (2014) Martin Grodzki (UGA) — 14:24.08 (2012) Chad La Tourette (STAN) — 14:24.35 (2012) Anton Ipsen (NCST) — 14:24.43 (2018) Jake Magahey (UGA) — 14:24.96 (2021) Ahmed Jaouadi (FLOR) — 14:25.14 (2026) Rex Maurer (TEX) — 14:25.22 (2025) David Johnston (TEX) — 14:26.00 (2025)Jaouadi broke the pool record in the event, coming in more than 13 seconds under Akram Mahmoud‘s 2017 record of 14:38.91. He will also earn an automatic NCAA bid via his conference title in the event.
Florida teammate Hafnaoui swam in heat one, and had never raced the mile before this afternoon.
He ended up winning his heat and finishing 3rd overall, touching in 14:30.74 to come in just seven tenths behind Kentucky’s Levi Sandidge, who finished 2nd in 14:30.04.
This swim would have been 8th at last year’s NCAAs, coming in just ahead of Sandidge, who swam 14:31.08 to finish 8th.
SECs will be Hafnaoui’s first full meet back since his 21-month Whereabouts suspension was up on January 10th. At the end of January, he swam the 500 freestyle in 4:23.90 against Florida State. He split 4:18.86 on the first 500 yards of his 1650.
Both men are entered in the 200 free and 500 free later this week.
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