When it comes to swimming and diving, the Southeastern Conference and the University of Florida have always worked in tandem. Both the men’s and women’s teams have dominated the conference, with the men’s team winning the SEC championship for the past 12 years, and racking up 64 conference championship titles in its history.

This year, the SEC looks different. Texas has entered the conference as a new powerhouse program, and the Longhorns are set to embrace their own SEC legacy at the conference championships in just under a week.

The Texas men’s team is currently the No. 1 ranked team nationally, with an undefeated record of 8–0. If that isn’t enough to speak on their energy as a team, their leadership is.

New head coach Bob Bowman is at the helm for the men’s team. His crew is made up of Olympians, like senior Chris Guiliano, and standout collegiate swimmers like sophomores Nate Germonprez, Rex Maurer and Will Modglin.

The depth on this team is evident. Maurer is currently ranked at No. 2 for collegiate swimmers, and five of the top-10 ranked swimmers in the country belong to Texas’ current roster.

This year, Florida’s women’s and men’s teams are ranked No. 5 and No. 6, respectively. They took down Georgia’s No. 7 and No. 10 teams in November and have defeated multiple ranked opponents during the spring season.

On the women’s side, Florida will be looking to achieve a three-peat in the SEC Championships.

Both women’s teams have posted impressive results this season, but Texas fared a bit better against No. 1 Virginia. A head-to-head matchup in the SEC Championships will be revealing for each team.

“A team goal, I would say, is to obviously place the best we can and just everyone overall do an incredible job racing and everyone having an incredible attitude throughout the entire meet,” said Texas freshman Lillie Nesty.

The Gainesville native grew up swimming in the Florida pool.

“I kind of already know a lot about Florida, so I just wanted something different, and Texas was able to provide that,” Nesty said.

The SEC consists of 16 schools from 12 states, and is oftentimes recognized as the best conference in all of college athletics. With eight schools ranked in the top 25 in both men’s and women’s swim and dive, it has been dominated by Gators for the past decade.

Now, there’s new fish in the water, as Texas looks to ascend to the top of the food chain.