By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam
US Olympian David Johnston has announced his transfer to Florida from Texas. Johnston entered the transfer portal last month, the day it opened for men’s swimming and diving. The Florida men just finished 2nd behind Texas at the 2026 NCAA Championships and had their highest scoring events come in the distance freestyles.
Johnston told SwimSwam, “I chose Florida because of the opportunity to train with multiple world class distance swimmers under coach Nesty, Whitney, and the staff. Additionally, staying in college allows me to be funded financially for another year and pursue a second graduate degree. I have known and respected the Florida program for many years, and I am honored to be given the chance to become a gator. Additionally, I wanted to pick a school that had a chance of winning an NCAA championship. After my injury, I felt like I needed a fresh start.”
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Johnston arrived at Texas as a freshman during the 2020-2021 COVID season which allowed swimmers another year of eligibility. He was 7th in the 1650 free and 8th in the 400 IM at the 2021 NCAA Championships for a total of 23 individual points.
He returned to NCAAs as a sophomore, finishing 5th in the 1650 free, 6th in the 500 free, and 7th in the 400 IM. He scored a total of 39 individual points, helping Texas to a 2nd place finish.
Johnston‘s junior year was his highest scoring season with the Longhorns as he scored 43 individual points making him the highest scoring swimmer for Texas. He finished as NCAA runner-up in the 500 free with a 4:08.79 as well as a 4th place finish in the 1650 free and an 8th place finish in the 400 IM. He graduated with his undergraduate degree that spring from Texas.
He took an Olympic Redshirt during the 2023-2024 season and went on to make the 2024 US Olympic Team in the 1500 free. He then finished 18th in the event in Paris, just days after testing positive for COVID-19.
Johnston returned to the Longhorns in fall 2024 and went on to score 30 individual points at the 2025 NCAA Championships, helping Texas to their first team title under Bob Bowman. Johnston was 7th in the 1650 free, 8th in the 400 IM, and 10th in the 500 free. He only competed in one meet this past year for the team and plans to receive a medical redshirt for the season. Johnston tells SwimSwam that the medical redshirt is not official yet as those are finalized after the completion of the season.
The arrival of Johnston is huge for the Florida men who just finished 2nd behind Texas at the 2026 NCAA Championships. The Gators were the top scoring team in the 500 and 1650 freestyle events. Freshman Ahmed Jaouadi won the 1650 free in an NCAA record 14:10.03, and teammates Ahmed Hafnaoui (4th) and Gio Linscheer (5th) were also top eight in the event. Hafnaoui won the NCAA title in the 500 free with a 4:06.56, just ahead of Jaouadi’s 4:06.90 for 2nd. Linscheer was 5th in the 500 free as well. Hafnaoui just finished his graduate season while Linscheer finished his senior year, so the arrival of Johnston will help fill the gap.
In addition to the team’s strong NCAA group, Gainesville is also home to distance freestyle pros Bobby Finke and Katie Ledecky. Finke was the other US entry in the men’s 1500 free at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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