The Florida Gators are the

intercollegiate athletic College athletics encompasses non-Professional sports, professional, College, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games. World University Games The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called ...

teams that represent the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as the "Gator Nation." The Gators compete in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) and the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) and are consistently ranked among the top college sports programs in the United States. The University of Florida currently fields teams in nine men's sports and twelve women's sports. All Florida Gators sports teams compete in NCAA Division I, and 20 of the 21 Gators teams compete in the SEC. The sole University of Florida sports team that does not play in the SEC is the

women's lacrosse Women's lacrosse (or girls' lacrosse), sometimes shortened to lax, is a sport with twelve players on the field at a time (including the goalkeeper). Originally played by indigenous peoples of the Americas, the modern women's game was introduce ...

team, which joined the American Athletic Conference beginning in the 2019 lacrosse season because the SEC does not sponsor competition in the sport. The University of Florida was one of the thirteen charter members who joined together to form the new Southeastern Conference in 1932. Previously, the university was a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1912 to 1921 and the

from 1922 until the SEC began play in the fall of 1933. All Florida Gators sports teams have on-campus facilities, and most are located on or near Stadium Road on the north side of campus, including Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for football;GatorZone.com, Football
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field
. Retrieved July 12, 2009. th
Exactech Arena
at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center for basketball,GatorZone.com, Men's Basketball Facilities
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Retrieved July 12, 2009.GatorZone.com, Women's Basketball Facilities
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Retrieved July 12, 2009. gymnastics,GatorZone.com, Gymnastics Facilities
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Retrieved July 12, 2009. swimming and diving,GatorZone.com, Swimming & Diving Facilities
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Retrieved July 12, 2009. indoor track and field,GatorZone.com, Indoor Track & Field Facilities
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Retrieved July 12, 2009. and volleyball;GatorZone.com, Volleyball Facilities
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
. Retrieved July 12, 2009. and

James G. Pressly Stadium The James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track is a 4,500-seat dual-purpose stadium located on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, Florida. The stadium is home to the Florida Gators women's soccer team and the men's and women's ...

for soccerGatorZone.com, Soccer Facilities
James G. Pressly Stadium
Retrieved July 12, 2009. and outdoor track and field.GatorZone.com, Track & Field Facilities
Percy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium
Retrieved July 12, 2009. The Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium, the Florida Ballpark, and the

Donald R. Dizney Stadium The Florida Gators women's lacrosse team represents the University of Florida in the sport of college lacrosse. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and are single-sport members of the American ...

for lacrosse are located on Hull Road on the southwestern side of the campus.GatorZone.com, Softball Facilities
Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium
Retrieved July 12, 2009.FloridaGators.com, Baseball Facilities
Florida Ballpark
Retrieved September 24, 2020.GatorZone.com, Lacrosse Facilities
Donald R. Dizney Stadium
Retrieved July 12, 2009. The Mark Bostick Golf Course and Scott Linder Stadium for tennis are located on S.W. Second Avenue on the northwestern side of the campus.UFGolfcourse.com
Mark Bostick Golf Course at the University of Florida
Retrieved July 12, 2009.GatorZone.com, Men's Tennis Facilities
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Retrieved July 12, 2009.GatorZone.com, Women's Tennis Facilities
Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex
Retrieved July 12, 2009. The Florida Gators athletic program is administered by the University Athletic Association, Inc. (UAA), a private non-profit corporation that reports to the president of the university and its board of trustees. For the 2014–15 school year, the UAA had an operating budget of $103,310,001, projected revenues of $104,064,487, and made a $3.5 million contribution to the university's general fund. Scott Stricklin has been Florida's

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

since 2016.

Awards and records

Beginning in the early 1990s, the Florida Gators has been recognized as one of the premier athletic programs in the

(SEC) and one of the best in the nation. The SEC has awarded an All-Sports Trophy to the best overall sports program in the conference since 1984, and Florida has won the award 27 times as of 2017. Florida is the only school in the SEC and one of four schools nationally to have won a national championship in the football, men's basketball, and baseball. Every year since 1993, the

National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) is a professional organization for college and university athletic directors in the United States. NACDA boasts a membership of more than 6,100 individuals and more than 1,600 in ...

(NACDA) has recognized the Gators athletic program as one of the ten best overall Division I athletic programs in the country in its annual

NACDA Directors' Cup The NACDA Directors' Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the NACDA Learfield Directors' Cup or simply as the Directors' Cup, is an award given annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to the colleges and univer ...

standings, including as runners-up on four occasions.NACDA.com
Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Previous Scoring
. Retrieved July 11, 2009. The men's athletic program was also the winner of the 2010–11 and 2011–12

Capital One Cup The Capital One Cup is a multi-sport award given to a school to acknowledge athletic success across all sports. Several sports programs from higher-education institutions across the United States are pitted against each other, acquiring points t ...

; the women's athletic program won the Capital One Cup in 2013–14, and both programs have placed in the top five in the standings on several other occasions. Florida Gators script logo

Among the Gators' recent national championships, the Florida Gators men's basketball team won the 2006 and

2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2006–07 basketball sea ...

s, and the

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division o ...

team won 2007 BCS National Championship Game in football, all in the span of 366 days.''See'' NCAA.com, NCAA History
Division I Football
Retrieved March 12, 2015. ''See also'' NCAA.com, NCAA History
Division I Men's basketball
Retrieved March 12, 2015. Florida is the only school in NCAA Division I history to hold the outright men's basketball and football championships during the same school year. In January 2009, the Gators football team won the 2009 BCS National Championship Game with a 24–14 victory over the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early part ...

. The Florida Gators baseball team took home its first championship at the 2017 NCAA championship, defeating rival SEC foe the LSU Tigers in two games. The Gators won the NCAA men's indoor track and field championship in three consecutive seasons in 2010, 2011 and 2012, the NCAA women's swimming and diving team national championship in 2010,Gator men repeat as indoor track national champs
", ''The Gainesville Sun'' (March 12, 2011). Retrieved May 25, 2011. the NCAA women's tennis championship in 2011, 2012 and 2017,Associated Press,
Florida women's tennis wins national championship
", ''The Gainesville Sun'' (May 24, 2011). Retrieved May 25, 2011. the NCAA men's outdoor track and field championship in 2012, 2013 and 2016, the NCAA women's gymnastics championship in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and the NCAA softball championships in 2014 and 2015. Individual Gator athletes have won 279 individual NCAA championships in boxing, golf, gymnastics, swimming and diving, tennis, and track and field. In 2017, Florida won the baseball national championship for the first time. The Gators swept LSU in the best of three national title series. This earned the university a total of 39 national team championships. Additionally, this put the University of Florida in exclusive company. With the 2017 baseball national championship, Florida became only the fourth school in history to win national championships in football, men's basketball, and baseball. Florida, along with Michigan, Ohio State, and UCLA are the only schools to ever achieve triple crown status. This also put Florida in a category by itself. Florida is the only Southeastern Conference school to accomplish this feat, as well, Florida is the only school in history to have achieved triple crown status in such a short span of time. Florida's first national championships in each of the big three sports (football, men's basketball, and baseball) were won in the span of just 21 years.GatorZone.com, Athletic Department
Overview & History
. Retrieved June 29, 2015.

NCAA all-sports rankings

The University of Florida has been ranked among the nation's top ten NCAA Division I athletic programs every year since 1983–84, an overall ranking that includes both men's and women's sports – the only college sports program ranked in the top ten in the United States for the last thirty-two consecutive years. The

(NACDA) has recognized the University of Florida as ranking among the top seven Division I programs in its

standings every year since the NACDA and ''USA Today'' began awarding the cup in 1993–94. The 2014–15 academic year marked the Gators' thirty-second consecutive year ranked among the nation's top ten best overall collegiate athletic programs, and the twenty-second consecutive year ranked among the top seven Division I programs in the NACDA Directors' Cup standings. Only one other Division I athletic program has matched that feat, and Florida has achieved this record while fielding fewer sports teams than many of the other perennially top-ranked collegiate athletic programs. In the twenty-two years of the NACDA Directors' Cup, the Gators have finished fifth or better in fifteen years, and have never finished lower than seventh; the only other program ranked among the top ten Division I programs every year since 1993–94 is the Stanford Cardinal sports program of Stanford University. NCAA Division I all-sports rankings

SEC All-Sports Trophy

Through the end of the 2017–18 school year, the Florida Gators have won 240

(SEC) team championships, the most in conference history. The SEC All-Sports Trophy began in 1973 as the Bernie Moore Trophy and tabulated the league's best men's sports program. In 1983, the SEC also began recognizing the best women's sports program in the conference, as well as the best overall SEC sports program. In 1994, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Regional Newspaper Group assumed responsibility for awarding the trophies.Pat Dooley,
Florida wins another SEC All-Sports award
", ''The Gainesville Sun'' (May 22, 2011). Retrieved May, 2011. In the 39-year history of the awards, Florida has won nineteen Women's Trophies, sixteen Men's Trophies, and twenty-five Overall SEC All-Sports Trophies (including twenty-five of the last twenty-seven). SEC rival Georgia won the overall 2005–06 All-Sports Trophy to snap Florida's record streak at fourteen straight (1990–91 through 2004–05). Florida reclaimed the SEC All-Sports Trophy for the 2006–07 school year, and the Gators again swept the overall, men's, and women's all-sports trophies in every year since. The Gators are the only SEC sports program to earn all three SEC all-sports trophies in a single year, and have swept all three trophies twelve times.

Championships

NCAA team championships

In their history of intercollegiate competition, the University of Florida's varsity athletic teams have won 45 national championships (including 40 sponsored by the

(NCAA), two by the

Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

(AIAW), two by the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), and one by the

Bowl Alliance The Bowl Alliance was an agreement among college football bowl games (specifically the Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta Bowls) for the purpose of trying to match the top two teams in a national championship game and to provide quality bowl game matchup ...

). Florida is one of only two Division I schools to hold both major men's championships (football and men's basketball) at the same time (as the 2006 BCS football champions and the 2006 and 2007 NCAA men's basketball champions), and was the first to do so.NCAA.com, NCAA History
Division I Men's Basketball
Retrieved July 10, 2009. Men's national championships (23) *Baseball (1): 2017 *Basketball (2): 2006 • 2007 *Football (3): 1996 • 2006 • 2008 *Golf (4): 1968 • 1973 • 1993 • 2001 *Indoor track and field (5): 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2018 • 2019 *Outdoor track and field (5): 2012 • 2013 • 2016 • 2017 • 2022 *Swimming and diving (2): 1983 • 1984 *Tennis (1): 2021 Women's national championships (22) *Golf (2): 1985 • 1986 *Gymnastics (4): 1982 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 *Indoor track and field (2): 1992 • 2022 *Outdoor track and field (1): 2022 *Soccer (1): 1998 *Softball (2): 2014 • 2015 *Swimming and diving (3): 1979 • 1982 • 2010 *Tennis (7): 1992 • 1996 • 1998 • 2003 • 2011 • 2012 • 2017 All of the national championships listed above were sponsored by the NCAA other than football in 1996 (Bowl Alliance), football in 2006 and 2008 (BCS), women's gymnastics in 1982 (AIAW), and women's swimming and diving in 1979 (AIAW).

NCAA individual and relay championships

Athletes at UF have won 341 individual and relay NCAA national championships. Men's individual and relay championships (150) * Boxing: 1 * Golf: 2 * Swimming and diving: 61 * Tennis: 5 * Track and field: 81 Women's individual and relay championships (191) * Golf: 1 * Gymnastics: 27 * Swimming and diving: 104 * Tennis: 9 * Track and field: 50

Conference championships

The University of Florida is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), one of the nation's premier intercollegiate sports conferences, and 20 of the 21 Gators sports teams compete in the SEC. Since the SEC began play in 1933, Florida's varsity athletic teams have won 255 SEC team championships, more than any other conference member.SECSports.com
2008–09 SEC Championships
. Retrieved July 7, 2009.SEC Record Book
SEC Championships (through 2007–08)
Retrieved July 7, 2009. The women's lacrosse team played its first four seasons in the now-defunct

American Lacrosse Conference The American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) was a women's lacrosse-only college athletic conference whose members competed at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). All of the ALC's members throughout its histo ...

(ALC), followed by four seasons in the Big East Conference, and joined the American Athletic Conference for the 2019 season (2018–19 school year) and beyond. All of Florida's conference championships are from the SEC unless otherwise stated. Men's conference championships *Baseball (15): 1952 • 1956 • 1962 • 1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1988 • 1996 • 1998 • 2005 • 2010 • 2011 • 2014 • 2017 • 2018 • Tournament (7): 1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1988 • 1991 • 2011 • 2015 *Basketball (7): 1989 • 2000 • 2001 • 2007 • 2011 • 2013 • 2014 • Tournament (4): 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2014 *Cross country (3) 1955 • 1986 • 1987 *Football (8): 1991 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 2000 • 2006 • 2008 *Golf (15): 1955 • 1956 • 1968 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1985 • 1989 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1999 • 2003 • 2011 *Swimming and diving (43): 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • 1940 • 1941 • 1953 • 1954 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1970 • 1971 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 *Tennis (12): 1950 • 1961 • 1968 • 1969 • 1975 • 1994 • 2000 • 2003 • 2005 • 2019 • 2021 • 2022 • Tournament (6): 1994 • 2000 • 2005 • 2011 • 2016 • 2022 *Indoor track and field (8): 1975 • 1976 • 1987 • 1988 • 2004 • 2011 • 2015 • 2019 *Outdoor track and field (6): 1953 • 1956 • 1987 • 2010 • 2015 • 2018 *Wrestling† (1): 1975 Women's conference championships *Cross country (6) 1984 • 1996 • 1997 • 2009 • 2010 • 2012 *Golf (9): 1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1986 • 1987 • 1991 • 1995 • 2008 • 2017 *Gymnastics (14): 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1989 • 2007 • 2010 • 2012 • 2013 • 2016 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 *Lacrosse (11): 2011 (ALC) • 2012 (ALC) • 2013 (ALC) • 2014 (ALC) • 2015 (Big East) • 2016 (Big East) • 2017 (Big East) • 2018 (Big East) • 2019 (American) • 2021 (American) • 2022 (American) • Tournament (9): 2012 (ALC) • 2014 (ALC) • 2015 (Big East) • 2016 (Big East) • 2017 (Big East) • 2018 (Big East) • 2019 (American) • 2021 (American) • 2022 (American) *Soccer (14): 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2012 • 2013 • 2015 • Tournament (12): 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2004 • 2007 • 2010 • 2012 • 2015 • 2016 *Softball (9): 1998 • 2008 • 2009 • 2013 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2021 • Tournament (5): 2008 • 2009 • 2013 • 2018 • 2019 *Swimming and diving (17): 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 2002 • 2009 *Tennis (29): 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2001 • 2003 • 2004 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2015 • 2016 • Tournament (20): 1982 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 2000 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2016 *Indoor track and field (8): 1990 • 1992 • 1997 • 2002 • 2004 • 2010 • 2012 • 2014 *Outdoor track and field (7): 1992 • 1997 • 1998 • 2003 • 2009 • 2018 • 2022 *Volleyball (24): 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2010 • 2012 • 2014 • 2016 • 2017 • 2019 • Tournament (12): 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2005 † Wrestling is no longer offered at the varsity level at UF since 1979. For purposes of counting "official" SEC team championships in baseball, men's and women's basketball, soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis, and volleyball, the SEC currently only includes regular season team championships, not tournament championships. The Gators have won an additional 66 SEC tournament titles in these sports which are not included in Florida's total of 255 SEC team championships.

Baseball

Coach

Andy Lopez Andrew Lopez (born November 30, 1953) is a retired American college baseball coach. He was most recently the head baseball coach at University of Arizona, and has served as the head baseball coach at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Pepperdine, and F ...

took over the Gators baseball program in 1994, one season after leading the Pepperdine Waves to their first College World Series championship. In 1996, he coached the Gators to a fifty-win season and a College World Series bid. By 2000, the program had seemingly hit a plateau and Lopez was replaced. Pat McMahon became the Gators' head coach in 2001 after coaching the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Gators' 2005 baseball season was the most successful to date, with the team winning the SEC title, and earning a place in the College World Series for the fifth time in school history. The team advanced to the championship round against the Texas Longhorns, ultimately losing two games to none. Following their 2005 College World Series run, the Gators opened the 2006 season ranked number one in the polls, but struggled to finish 28–28 record (10–20 SEC), and failed to qualify for the NCAA Regionals. After missing the NCAA Regionals again in 2007, McMahon was dismissed. Former

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) ...

associate head coach Kevin O'Sullivan became the Gators' new head baseball coach on June 13, 2007. O'Sullivan's Gator teams showed immediate improvement and the Gators finished the 2008 regular season with a 30–24 record (17–13 SEC), and received an invitation to the NCAA Regional in Tallahassee. The 2009 squad finished the regular season with a 38–18 record (19–11 SEC), won the NCAA Regional in Gainesville, and advanced to the Super Regional before losing to the

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles The Southern Miss Golden Eagles and Lady Eagles (also known as Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles and Lady Eagles) are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), located in Hattiesburg, Missi ...

. O'Sullivan's 2010 and 2011 Gators finished their SEC regular season play with identical 22–8 records, won the program's eleventh and twelfth SEC championships, earned a berth in the College World Series in both years, and advanced to the College World Series final in 2011 before getting swept by SEC foe South Carolina in two games. The Gators returned to the College World Series in 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. In June 2017, Florida won their first College World Series championship, sweeping fellow SEC rival LSU in two games in the best-of-three finals. Since 2021, the Gators baseball team plays its home games at Condron Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field.

Men's basketball

Florida enjoyed limited success in men's basketball before the mid-1980s. Coach Norm Sloan's Gators were invited to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT)—only the second time the team had been invited to a post-season tournament. They returned to the NIT in 1985 and 1986, and made their first appearance in the NCAA basketball tournament in 1987, when

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

Vernon Maxwell led the team to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. The Gators received invitations to the NCAA tournament in 1988 and 1989, but Sloan was forced to resign at the outset of the 1989–90 season as a result of NCAA infractions. Coach Lon Kruger brought renewed success, and his Gators reached the NIT final four in 1991–92. During the 1993–94 season,

Andrew DeClercq Andrew Donald DeClercq (born February 1, 1973) is an American retired professional basketball player and current coach. He was a center and power forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for ten seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. De ...

and Dametri Hill led the Gators to their first NCAA Tournament Final Four following a dramatic overtime victory over the

Connecticut Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's fo ...

in the NCAA regional semifinal, and a 74-66 win over

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classified ...

in the NCAA Regional Final. Florida Gators 2006 championship team

Athletic Director

Jeremy Foley Jeremy N. Foley (born December 1, 1952) is an American university sports administrator and former college athlete. Foley was an award-winning athletic director for the Florida Gators Division I sports program of the University of Florida locate ...

hired

Billy Donovan William John Donovan Jr. (born May 30, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He has served as head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) since September 2020 after previously coa ...

as Kruger's replacement in 1996. Donovan's recruiting prowess was evident early, as he landed recruiting classes with future NBA players Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem and Matt Bonner. Donovan's Gators advanced to the NCAA tournament final before losing to the Michigan State Spartans in 2000, and demonstrated a consistency previously unknown to the program as they received invitations to the NCAA tournament every year from 1999 through 2007, a team-record eight-year streak. Under Donovan, Florida won its first SEC men's basketball tournament in 2005, when they beat the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,47 ...

in the SEC title game. The 2005–06 team's 17–0 start was the best in team history, surprising many with a young, selfless squad led by four sophomores. The team began the season unranked, but won its second consecutive SEC Tournament championship. On April 3, 2006, the Gators defeated the UCLA Bruins 73–57 in the NCAA tournament championship game to win Florida's first men's national basketball championship. Within days, all five starters announced they would return for another season to try to win back-to-back championships. At the outset of the 2006–07 season, the Gators were ranked No. 1 in both major polls for the first time. The Gators won their second consecutive NCAA national men's basketball championship on April 2, 2007, defeating the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

84–75. They became the first team since Duke in 1991–92 to win back-to-back tournaments and the first in NCAA history to do so with the same starting line-up. Afterward, Florida's four star juniors announced they would enter the NBA draft. Scottie Wilbekin

Donovan's Gators returned to championship form in 2010–11, winning the program's fifth regular season SEC championship and fighting their way to the NCAA regional semifinals (the "Elite Eight") before losing 74–71 to the Butler Bulldogs in overtime. In 2011–12, the Gators received a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament, exceeded expectations, and advanced to the Elite Eight, headlined by the play of star freshman Bradley Beal and point guard Erving Walker, before falling to Louisville. During the 2013–14 season, the Gators were ranked No. 1 in the nation, won the SEC championship with 36 straight wins during the regular season and tournament games, went on a school-record 30 game winning streak, and advanced to the NCAA Final Four, headlined by the play of four senior veterans: Patric Young,

Scottie Wilbekin Scottie Jordan Wilbekin (born April 5, 1993) is an American-born naturalized Turkish professional basketball player for Fenerbahçe Beko of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL) and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Flori ...

Will Yeguete Wilfried Yeguete (born October 16, 1991) is a French professional basketball player for Limoges CSP of the LNB Pro A. Collegiate career Yeguete accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. He pl ...

and Casey Prather. The Gators men's basketball team is currently led by coach

Todd Golden Todd Raymond Golden ( he, טוד ריימונד גולדן; born July 7, 1985) is an American-Israeli former basketball player and current head coach of the Florida Gators men's basketball team. Early life and education Golden grew up in Phoenix ...

and plays its home games in the O'Connell Center.

Women's basketball

Women's basketball was approved as a new women's varsity sport by Florida in March 1972, but began play in 1973 as a club team. In 1975, the Lady Gators debuted as a varsity program under head coach Dr. Paula Welch. The Gators made local headlines in 1976 by winning the "state championship", beating the other three women's college teams located in the state at that time. While traditionally being overshadowed by conference and national basketball powers Tennessee and Georgia, the Lady Gators have made several NCAA tournament appearances and sent players to the WNBA, including DeLisha Milton-Jones. Carol Ross compiled more wins than any other women's basketball coach in Florida's history, and guided the team for twelve seasons from 1991 to 2003, but left to accept the head coaching job at her alma mater, Ole Miss. From 2002 through 2006, the women's basketball team was coached by Carolyn Peck, a former WNBA coach who won a national title with Purdue. Peck was fired midway through the 2006 season (though allowed to finish the season) after enduring the worst losing streak of any Gator sport. Former Gator player and previous

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

coach Amanda Butler was named the new women's basketball coach on April 13, 2007. During the 2008–09 season, the Lady Gators received an NCAA tournament bid, and won a first-round game before being defeated by eventual tournament champion

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

in the second round. Butler resigned after the 2016–17 season. The Gators women's basketball team is currently coached by Kelly Rae Finley, and plays its home games in the O'Connell Center.

Cross country

The Florida Gators men's cross country team has won three Southeastern Conference championships (SEC), and has competed in eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournaments. The women's cross country team has also won five SEC Championships (including the most recent), and competed in ten NCAA tournaments. In 2009, the Lady Gators placed seventh at the NCAA cross country championship; in 2010, they won the SEC championship for the second consecutive year. Coach

Mike Holloway Michael Dwayne Holloway (born c. 1959) is an American college track and field coach. Holloway is the current head coach of the Florida Gators track and field and Gators cross country programs of the University of Florida. He is best known for ...

is the head coach of the men's and women's cross country teams.

Football

The University of Florida fielded an official varsity football team for the first time in 1906, defeating the Gainesville Athletic Club 6–0 in its first game. Since then, the Gators have played in thirty-seven bowl games, won three national championships (1996, 2006, 2008) and eight

championships, and produced 138 All-Americans, forty-two

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL) first-round draft choices and three Heisman Trophy winners. The Gators' most prominent current football rivals are SEC Eastern Division foes Georgia and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

, annual SEC Western Division opponent LSU, and in-state rival

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the sta ...

from the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

(ACC). Florida has historically shared rivalries with Auburn and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, too, but those games are no longer played annually and have lessened in intensity. The Gator football team has obtained more victories than any other program in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) since 1990, the year Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often referred to by his ...

returned to his alma mater as head coach. The 1996 team, coached by Spurrier and led by another Gator Heisman-winner,

Danny Wuerffel Daniel Carl Wuerffel (born May 27, 1974) is a former college and professional American football quarterback. Wuerffel attended the University of Florida, where he was a prolific passer for the Florida Gators under head coach Steve Spurrier. Wue ...

, finished with a 12–1 record and won the national championship in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

, beating rival Florida State 52–20. This win was not without controversy from FSU fans who thought they should not have had to play Florida again. FSU won in the regular season match up 24–21. Swamp-panoramic

Urban Meyer became Florida's head football coach in December 2004, and his six teams had great success from 2005 to 2010. The 2006 team won the school's second national championship on January 8, 2007, defeating the number one-ranked

41–14. Quarterback Tim Tebow won the Heisman Trophy in 2007, and Florida's Tebow-led 2008 team won the 2009 BCS National Championship Game on January 8, 2009, beating the top-ranked

24–14, for the Gators' third national championship. The Gators have won the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. The championship game pits the SEC East Division regular season champion against the West Division regul ...

seven times in eleven appearances since the SEC instituted the championship game in 1992. The Gators won their first official conference title in 1991, the year before the first SEC conference championship game was played, for a total of eight SEC championships in the last twenty-four seasons. The Gators football team plays its home games in Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, more popularly known as The Swamp, the team's home field since 1930.

Billy Napier William Hall Napier (born July 21, 1979) is an American football coach currently serving as head coach at the University of Florida. From 2017 until 2021, he served as head coach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, amassing a 40–12 re ...

is the current head coach of the Florida Gators football.

Men's golf

The men's golf team has won four NCAA Championships (1968, 1973, 1993, 2001), and has produced two individual NCAA champions,

Bob Murphy Robert, Rob, Bob or Bobby Murphy may refer to: Sports Ice hockey * Robert Ronald Murphy or Ron Murphy (1933–2014), Canadian ice hockey player * Bob Murphy (ice hockey) (born 1951), Canadian retired professional ice hockey player * Rob Murphy (ic ...

in 1966 and Nick Gilliam in 2001. The men's golf team has also won fifteen Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships: 1955–56, 1968, 1973–75, 1985, 1989, 1991–94, 1999, 2003, 2011. Numerous former Gator golfers have represented the University of Florida on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

, and the program has produced over thirty male athletes who have competed professionally.

Buddy Alexander Stewart Murray Alexander (born February 20, 1953), nicknamed Buddy Alexander, is an American former college golf coach and amateur golfer. Alexander is the former head coach of the Florida Gators men's golf team. He is best known for coaching t ...

, the long-time head coach for the men's golf team, retired after the 2013–14 season.

J. C. Deacon ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

was hired in June 2014, and the 2014–15 season will be his first. The Gators men's golf team plays its home matches at the Mark Bostick Golf Course (formerly known as the "University Golf Course").

Women's golf

The women's golf team has won two NCAA team championships (1985, 1986), and has produced one individual NCAA champion,

Page Dunlap E. Page Halpin (born December 16, 1965), née E. Page Dunlap, is an American former professional golfer who was a member of the LPGA Tour for six years during the 1990s. Dunlap is best known for winning the individual NCAA Division I Championsh ...

. The women's golf team has also won eight Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships. Former Lady Gator golfers have regularly represented the University of Florida on the LPGA Tour, and the program has produced over twenty female athletes who have competed in the professional ranks. Emily Glaser is the head coach for the women's team. The Gators women's golf team plays its home matches at the Mark Bostick Golf Course (formerly known as the "University Golf Course").

Women's gymnastics

Gymnastics was one of the first women's sports added at the University of Florida and achieved early success by winning the 1982

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Inte ...

national championship. Since the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

assumed sponsorship of the national gymnastics championships in 1982, Florida has typically earned invitations to the NCAA national championships (top twelve teams nationally), and advanced to the NCAA "Super Six" eighteen times. Florida won the 2013, 2014 and 2015 NCAA national championships, finished in second-place in 1998 and 2012, and the team has only failed to qualify for the NCAA championships once in the past thirty-three seasons. The Gators have won a total of nine SEC gymnastics championships since 1982. The team's biggest SEC rivals are

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

and Georgia, both of which are also perennial national contenders. Coach Rhonda Faehn's Gator gymnasts were the SEC champions in both 2012 and 2013, and won the NCAA national team championships in 2013, 2014 and 2015 (the 2014 was as co-champions with Oklahoma). Faehn coached the Gators gymnastics team from 2003 to 2015. Under Faehn, the Gator gymnasts have been nationally competitive and remarkably consistent—finishing in the top seven every year and winning three NCAA national championships. The Gators gymnastics team is now coached by

Jenny Rowland Jennifer Ester Rowland (born July 18, 1974) is an American gymnastics coach and former gymnast. Since 2015, she has been the head coach of the Florida Gators gymnastics program, succeeding Rhonda Faehn in 2015. Previously, she was with the Aubur ...

. The Gators hold their home meets at the O'Connell Center.

Women's lacrosse

In June 2006, the University Athletic Association announced the creation of the new Gators

program, citing the growth of high school

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

across the country and the increased availability of Division I competition. Florida became the second Southeastern Conference member university to offer lacrosse as a varsity sport, following

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, and played its inaugural 2010 season in the

(ALC) together with the Commodores. The Gators and Commodores continued to play in the ALC until conference realignment led to the demise of the ALC following the 2014 season, after which both programs became single-sport members of the Big East Conference. The Gators and Commodores played in the Big East through the 2018 season, after which they became charter members of the new women's lacrosse league of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The lacrosse team is the only Gators team that does not compete in the SEC. The Gators lacrosse team has had success over its first nine seasons, including four ALC regular-season championships (2011–2014); two ALC tournament titles (2012, 2014); both regular-season and tournament titles in all of its four Big East seasons (2015–2018); the regular-season and tournament championships in three of its first four seasons as a member of the AAC (2019, 2021, 2022); seven appearances in the NCAA tournament national quarterfinals ("Elite Eight"); and one appearance in the NCAA tournament national semifinals ("Final Four") in 2012. The Gators have been ranked among the top ten women's lacrosse teams in the country each of the last five seasons, and have been ranked as high as No. 1.

Amanda O'Leary Amanda Moore O'Leary (born 1967), née Amanda Moore and also known by her nickname Mandee O'Leary (and formerly, Mandee Moore), is an American college lacrosse coach and former player. O'Leary was an All-American lacrosse midfielder for the Te ...

is the Gators' head coach. Before she was named to jump-start Florida's new program, O'Leary was the head coach at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

for 14 seasons, and was honored as a two-time All-American midfielder at Temple University, where she led her team to an NCAA championship in 1988. In only the second season of the Gators lacrosse program, the mostly-sophomores team defeated the defending ALC champion Northwestern Wildcats to win their first regular season conference championship. The Gators completed a perfect 5–0 season three days later by defeating the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's teams), 14 of which compete at the Nation ...

in Nashville. The Gators women's lacrosse team plays its home games in the 1,500-seat

Women's soccer

Becky Burleigh Rebecca Lund Burleigh (born October 13, 1967) is an American soccer coach. Formerly also a college soccer player, she is best known for her 26-year tenure as the first head coach of the Florida Gators women's soccer team at the University of Flo ...

was hired to be the first head coach since the women's soccer team began play a varsity sport in 1995. Under Burleigh's leadership, the team quickly became a national contender. In 1998, in the program's fourth season, the Gators won the NCAA national championship by defeating the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels 1–0 in the national finals of the NCAA tournament. The women's soccer team has also won thirteen Southeastern Conference regular season championships and ten SEC tournament titles in its eighteen seasons of play. In 2021, Burleigh retired as women's soccer coach. Notable former Gator soccer players include

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on the U.S. women's nati ...

, who was a member of the U.S. women's national team and scored the game-winning goal in the final game of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece;

Heather Mitts Heather Mitts Feeley (born Heather Blaine Mitts; June 9, 1978) is an American former professional soccer defender. Mitts played college soccer for the University of Florida, and thereafter, she played professionally in the Women's Profession ...

, who played for the gold medal U.S. national team in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China;

Melanie Booth Melanie Lynn Booth (born August 24, 1984) is a Canadian retired soccer player. She last played for Sky Blue FC in the National Women's Soccer League and for the Canada women's national soccer team. Early life Booth was born in Burlington, Ontar ...

, who currently plays for the Canadian women's national soccer team; and Danielle Fotopoulos, who played professionally with the

Carolina Courage Carolina Courage was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Fetzer Field on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in 2001, and then at the soccer-specific SAS Stadium in Cary, North Carolina ...

Savannah Jordan Savannah Brooke Jordan (born January 24, 1995) is an American retired soccer forward who last played for the Houston Dash in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She also played for Glasgow City in the Scottish Women's Premier League ( ...

plays for the Portland Thorns and ranks second in Gators history behind Wambach for goals scored. The Gators women's soccer team is coached by

Samantha Bohon Samantha Baggett Bohon (born Samantha Lea Baggett; born June 7, 1976) is an American soccer head coach for the Florida Gators women's soccer team and retired player who was a member of the United States women's national soccer team. Personal life ...

and rotates most of its home games between

and Donald R. Dizney Stadium.

Softball

The University Athletic Association decided to create the women's varsity softball program in 1995, and the Florida Gators softball team officially started competing in the Southeastern Conference in 1997 under former head coach Larry Ray. Since the beginning of the program, the Florida Gators have had several notable successes, including four SEC championships, eight appearances in the Women's College World Series (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, & 2017), and back-to-back WCWS national championships (2014 & 2015). The Gators won nine SEC regular season championships (1998, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021), as well as five SEC tournament titles (2008, 2009, 2013, 2018, and 2019). In 2009, they played for the NCAA softball championship in the Women's College World Series, losing to the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac ...

in the final round. The Gators again advanced to the finals of the 2011 Women's College World Series before falling to the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

. In 2014, the Gators defeated the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a me ...

in the first two games of the three-game Women's College World Series to win their first NCAA national championship. In 2015, the Gators repeated as national champions by defeating the Michigan Wolverines in the full three games. The Gators would return to the WCWS finals in 2017 before losing to the Oklahoma Sooners in two games. The current head coach is Tim Walton; the 2015–2016 season will be his tenth as the Gators' coach.GatorZone.com, Softball, Roster/Bios
Tim Walton
. Retrieved August 15, 2009. He was previously the head coach at Wichita State University and he played baseball for the University of Oklahoma and a minor league team affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies. Through the end of the 2018 season, Tim Walton has acquired a 722–149 record, while at Florida. Following the conclusion of the 2018 season, Tim Walton was given a 10-year contract extension. The Gators softball team plays its home games at the Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium.

Swimming and diving

The Florida Gators men's swimming and diving teams have won NCAA national championships in 1983 and 1984, and has also won 41 Southeastern Conference team championships – including a stretch of 13 straight from 1956 to 1968.
Florida Swimming & Diving 2013–14 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida (2013). Retrieved July 26, 2014. The women's swimming and diving team has won AIAW and NCAA national championships in 1979, 1982 and 2010, and has also won seventeen SEC team championships. The Florida Gators' notable female swimmers include three-time Olympic gold medalist Tracy Caulkins, three-time Olympic gold medalist

Nicole Haislett Nicole may refer to: People * Nicole (name) * Nicole (American singer) (born 1958), a contestant in season 3 of the American ''The X Factor'' * Nicole (Chilean singer) (born 1977) * Nicole (German singer) (born 1964), winner of the 1982 Eurov ...

, and four-time Olympic gold medalist Dara Torres, who is also the first American swimmer to compete in five

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

. The Gators' notable male swimmers include Olympic gold medalists

Matt Cetlinski Matthew J. Cetlinski (born October 4, 1964) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder. Cetlinski was born in Lake Worth, Florida. He attended Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach ...

, Mike Heath, David Larson, Ryan Lochte,

Caeleb Dressel Caeleb Remel Dressel (born August 16, 1996) is an American professional swimmer who specializes in freestyle, butterfly, and individual medley events. He swims representing the Cali Condors as part of the International Swimming League. He won ...

, Anthony Nesty and Martin Zubero. The Gators have had an international flavor since the 1980s, when the Olympic success of Gator swimmers began to attract Canadian, European and Latin American swimmers to train under coach

Randy Reese Randy Reese (born 1946) is an American college and Olympic swimming coach. Reese is best known for coaching the Florida Gators swimming and diving teams of the University of Florida to four national championships, and coaching the winners of e ...

. That tradition continues in the present day under Gregg Troy, the head coach of the Gators men's and women's swimming teams. Troy served as the head coach of the U.S. Olympic men's swim team in 2012. Dale Schultz is the new head coach of the men's and women's diving teams, succeeding long-time coach Donnie Craine in 2014. The Gators swimming and diving teams hold their home meets at the O'Connell Center Natatorium and train in the Carse Swimming Complex.

Tennis

The Florida Gators have one of the strongest and most storied women's

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

programs in NCAA history, and the women's tennis team has won seven NCAA team championships (1992, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2011, 2012, 2017).
Florida Women's Tennis 2013–14 Media Supplement
', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida (2013). Retrieved July 26, 2014. The team has also produced three individual Gators who have won four NCAA singles championships:

Shaun Stafford Shaun Stafford Beckish (born December 13, 1968), née Shaun Stafford, is an American former college and professional tennis player who played on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour from 1989 to 1996. As a collegiate tennis player, Stafford ...

(1988), Lisa Raymond (1992, 1993), and

Jill Craybas Jill N. Craybas (born July 4, 1974) is an American former professional tennis player. From the 2000 US Open to the 2011 US Open, Craybas competed in 45 consecutive Grand Slam main draws; her best result coming in the 2005 Wimbledon Championship ...

(1996). In NCAA championship doubles play, four Gators doubles pairs have won five NCAA doubles championships:

Jillian Alexander Jillian Alexander-Brower (2 April 1968 - 25 October 2004) was a Canadian professional tennis player. Alexander was Jamaican by birth, but raised in Oakville, Ontario from the age of nine. She played college tennis for the University of Florida a ...

and Nicole Arendt (1991);

Dawn Buth Dawn Alexis Buth (born May 29, 1976) is an American former college and professional tennis player. As a collegiate player, she played for the University of Florida and won two national doubles championships. As a professional, she played on the I ...

and Stephanie Nickitas (1996, 1997);

Whitney Laiho Whitney Laiho-Biles (born May 8, 1980) is an American former tennis player. Biography A right-handed player from Rhode Island, Laiho attended Middletown High School and was a top 50 ranked ITF junior. She made the girls' singles quarter-finals ...

and

Jessica Lehnhoff Jessica Lehnhoff (born 15 March 1980) is a Guatemalan born former professional tennis player from the United States. Biography Lehnhoff grew up in Guatemala City, the youngest in a family of four siblings, who moved to Florida when she was aged ...

(2001); and

Brooke Austin Brooke Irene Austin (born 12 February 1996) is an American former tennis player. Austin has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of 424, achieved on 26 August 2013. She also has a career-high WTA doubles ranking of 638, achieved on 27 May ...

and

Kourtney Keegan Kourtney Jean Keegan (born 7 September 1994) is an American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and na ...

(2016). The Gator women have also won seven

Intercollegiate Tennis Association The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body and coaches association of college tennis, both an advocate and authority, overseeing men’s and women’s varsity tennis at all levels – NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, ...

(ITA) national indoor championships (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2017), and twenty-seven SEC team championships. The Gators have also claimed five SEC Tournament titles (1994, 2000, 2005, 2011, and 2016) in Men's Tennis and 20 in Women's Tennis (1982, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016). The Gators men's tennis team has a winning tradition and has won 11 Southeastern Conference team championships as of 2021.
Florida Men's Tennis 2013–14 Media Supplement
', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida (2013). Retrieved July 26, 2014. In 2021, the men's tennis program won its first-ever NCAA team championship. The Gator men have also produced four NCAA singles champions:

Mark Merklein Mark Merklein (born June 28, 1972) is a Bahamas-born former college and professional tennis player. He played for the Bahamas Davis Cup team from 1999–2004. Merklein was born in Freeport, Bahamas. He grew up in Coral Springs, Florida, and att ...

(1993),

Jeff Morrison Jeffrey Alan Morrison (born February 4, 1979) is a retired American professional tennis player. Morrison was the last American male left in the singles draw at Wimbledon in 2002, going on to defeat future World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero en r ...

(1999), Sam Riffice (2021), and Ben Shelton (2022). Merklein and partner David Blair combined to win an NCAA doubles championship (1994). Bryan Shelton is the head coach of the men's tennis team, and coach

Roland Thornqvist Roland Thornqvist (born March 3, 1970) is a Swedish-born American college tennis coach and former college tennis player. Thornqvist is the current head coach of the Florida Gators women's tennis team of the University of Florida. He is best kn ...

leads the women's tennis team. The Florida Gators tennis teams play their home matches at Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex on the university's campus.

Track and field

The Florida Gators men's

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

team has won six Southeastern Conference indoor championships, and four SEC outdoor championships. After finishing as the runner-up in both the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets in 2009, the men's team went on to win three consecutive NCAA indoor titles (2010-2012) and its first NCAA outdoor title (2012) over the next three years. The women's track and field team won the NCAA indoor championships in 1992 and 2022. The women's team won its first NCAA outdoor title in 2022. In addition, the women's team has won six SEC indoor championships, and four SEC outdoor championships. The head coach for the track and field program is

, and he is responsible for both the men's and women's teams. The assistant coaches are Steve Lemke, Adrain Mann, Nic Petersen,

Chris Solinsky Chris Solinsky (born December 5, 1984) is a retired American distance runner and an American college cross country coach. Solinsky is the current assistant coach of the Oregon Ducks cross country team at the University of Oregon. Among his more n ...

, & Mellanee Welty. The Gators men's and women's track and field teams hold their outdoor home meets at Percy Beard Track, which is part of James G. Pressly Stadium.

Volleyball

The Gators began competing in women's volleyball in 1984 under coach Marilyn McReavy, but did not become nationally competitive until coach Mary Wise assumed control of Florida's program in 1991. During her 30 seasons as Florida's head coach, Wise has compiled a 979–168 win–loss record (.854), and her Gators teams have won nineteen SEC regular season titles and twelve SEC Tournament titles in her twenty seasons. The Gators have made nineteen trips to the NCAA tournament, including eight NCAA Final Four appearances (1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2017). In 2003 and 2017, they advanced to the NCAA national championship final, where they lost to the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred ...

and

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

, respectively. Florida landed the nation's top 2008 recruiting class, as ranked by Prepvolleyball.com and ''Volleyball Magazine'', and signed the nation's top recruit and Gatorade National Player of the Year, Kelly Murphy, as well as four other recruits ranked among the top fifty. Murphy garnered First-Team All SEC and a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team with fellow Gators Colleen Ward and Kristy Jaeckel. Murphy would also gain the SEC Freshman of the Year, AVCA All-South Region Freshman of the Year, the AVCA National Freshman of the Year, and ''Volleyball Magazine'' Freshman of the Year. She was also honored as an AVCA Third-Team All-American and a ''Volleyball Magazine'' Second-Team All-American. The Gators volleyball team plays its home matches in the O'Connell Center.

Former varsity sports

In the past, the Florida Gators fielded varsity teams in men's boxing and men's

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...

. Gator boxer John Joca, a "Gator Great" member of the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame, won the NCAA national boxing championship in the 135-pound weight class in 1940.E.C. Wallenfeldt,
The Six-Minute Fraternity:The Rise and Fall of NCAA Tournament Boxing, 1932–60
', Praeger Publishers, Westport, Connecticut, pp. 111–113 (1994). Retrieved July 30, 2010. The Gators boxing team, however, was discontinued in 1943 during World War II, and was never revived after the war. The Gators men's wrestling team was an SEC-sponsored sport from 1970 to 1979; the team won the 1975 SEC championship tournament and placed second during four other seasons. The wrestling team was eliminated as a result of cost-cutting and Title IX compliance issues in 1979. The University Athletic Association, under athletic director

Ray Graves Samuel Ray Graves (December 31, 1918 – April 10, 2015) was an American college and professional American football, football player and college football coach. He was a native of Tennessee and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where ...

and associate director Ruth Alexander, desired to take a proactive role in Title IX compliance by balancing the number of available men's and women's athletic scholarships, and the resulting tight athletic budgets ultimately resulted in the elimination of men's wrestling program.

Athletic facilities

The University of Florida has invested significant capital and effort in the construction, expansion and betterment of its major sports facilities, including the following outdoor stadiums, indoor arenas, and training and practice facilities: Condron Ballpark at Alfred A. McKethan Field *Completed in 2020, Condron Ballpark plays host to the Gators

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team's home games. Seating 7,000 spectators (with an expandable capacity of 10,000), Condron Ballpark replaced McKethan Stadium at Perry Field.GatorZone.com, Baseball Facilities
McKethan Stadium at Perry Field
Retrieved July 12, 2009. Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium *The Gators football team plays its home games in Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The stadium was originally constructed in 1930, and was known simply as "Florida Field." In 1989, it was renamed in honor of

Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. Ben Hill Griffin Jr. (October 20, 1910 – March 1, 1990) was a prominent American businessman, citrus producer, politician, and philanthropist who was a native and resident of Florida. He was an alumnus of the University of Florida, a former le ...

, an alumnus and generous donor to the university and its athletic programs. Since the arrival of coach Steve Spurrier in 1990, the stadium has become nationally known as the "Swamp." The Swamp has been renovated and expanded several times, and has included a natural grass surface since 1990. With the latest expansions, the stadium has an official capacity of 88,548 people, but routinely accommodates more than 90,000 fans for the Gators' home football games. The Swamp is the 12th largest college football stadium in America as measured by official

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile tha ...

. Carse Swimming Complex *Built in 1998 at a cost of $2 million, Carse Swimming Complex is a two-story, facility that includes locker rooms, offices, and direct access to the UAA training pool. The swimming complex is located adjacent to the O'Connell Center. Florida Basketball Practice Complex *Completed in 2001, the Basketball Practice Complex is a two-story, structure that includes multiple practice gyms, a training room, and a weight room.

*Completed during the summer of 2009, the Florida Lacrosse Facility began hosting the women's

team with its first season in 2010. The 1,500-seat stadium runs the length of the game field, and the facility includes a second practice field. The facility also includes concessions, ticket offices, locker rooms and a training room. James G. Pressly Stadium and Percy Beard Track *Pressly Stadium is a combined

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

facility that includes Percy Beard Track. The facility was renovated in 1995, when 2,500 bench seats were added to the existing 2,000-seat concrete

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap al ...

, increasing the total

to more than 4,500 spectators. The stadium is located on campus, between the Heavener Complex and Linder Stadium, and was renamed in honor of James G. Pressly, Jr., a University of Florida alumnus and benefactor. The women's soccer team plays its home games in Pressly Stadium. *Percy Beard Track was renovated in 1995 at a cost of $750,000, and the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the M ...

and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

pits were moved from the infield to an area outside the track to accommodate the new soccer field. The men's and women's track and field teams host their home meets and the annual Florida Relays on Percy Beard Track during the outdoor track season. Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium *Constructed in 1996 at a cost of $2.6 million, Pressly Softball Stadium is the home field of the Gators women's

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

team. The facility is located on campus, seats approximately 1,200 fans, includes a clay infield and a grass outfield, and complies with NCAA and Olympic specifications. The stadium is named for benefactor Katie Pressly. The Gators played their first game in the stadium against Stetson University on February 8, 1997. Lemerand Center *Built in 1995 and named in honor of donor Gale Lemerand, the Lemerand Center is a all-sports facility that includes locker rooms, storage, and training equipment, and is used by all varsity athletes at the University of Florida. Mark Bostick Golf Course and Guy Bostick Clubhouse *Designed by golf course architect Donald Ross and originally developed in 1963, the eighteen-hole Mark Bostick Golf Course is the official golf course of the University of Florida. The men's and women's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

teams play their home matches on the course, and the course also hosts the Gator and Lady Gator Golf Day Pro-Am. The course is 6,701 yards in length, and is rated as a par 70. In 2001,

Bobby Weed Robert C. "Bobby" Weed, Jr. (born April 13, 1955), president of Bobby Weed Golf Design, is a golf course designer and builder specializing in design, renovation and repurposing. A protégé of Pete Dye, he resides in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Wee ...

renovated the course with a $4 million donation from benefactor Mark Bostick. *The Guy Bostick Clubhouse is equipped with numerous amenities and includes over of interior space.

Steinbrenner Band Hall The University of Florida Fightin' Gator Marching Band, also known as The Pride of the Sunshine, is the official marching band for the University of Florida. The current era of the band is also referred to as The Sound of the Gator Nation. They p ...

*Finished in 2008, Steinbrenner Band Hall is

The Pride of the Sunshine The University of Florida Fightin' Gator Marching Band, also known as The Pride of the Sunshine, is the official marching band for the University of Florida. The current era of the band is also referred to as The Sound of the Gator Nation. They pe ...

's rehearsal hall, and also houses offices, instrument storage, the band library and an instrument issue room. Construction of the band hall was made possible by a generous gift from George Steinbrenner and his wife Joan in 2002. Scott Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex *Originally constructed in 1987, Linder Stadium serves as the home court of the men's and women's

teams. The facility was renovated at a cost of $1.7 million in 1999, when the building interior space was expanded to , and includes coaches' offices, a training room, locker rooms, and a exterior courtyard. The stadium includes a 1,000-seat grandstand overlooking the six lighted main courts, and also includes a second row of nine practice courts. The complex is located on campus, adjacent to the College of Law and James G. Pressly Stadium. Stephen C. O'Connell Center *Constructed from 1977 to 1980, the O'Connell Center is a multi-purpose arena that is home to the men's and women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, women's

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

, men's and women's indoor

, and women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

teams. It is commonly known as the "O'Dome." In its major interior space, the O'Connell Center can accommodate over 12,000 sports fans, and the university also uses the facility for graduation ceremonies and a variety of concerts, lectures and shows. The O'Dome also includes the Natatorium, where the Gators swimming and diving teams compete. The O'Dome underwent a major renovation 2016 with upgraded luxury suites, concession stands, locker rooms, and a new main entrance facing

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (in full Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium), File:Dsg UF Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Inside Stands 20050507.jpg, Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium File:UF Pressly Stadium.JPG,

File:Dsg UF O Dome 20050507.jpg, O'Connell Center File:University of Florida Golf Course.jpg, Mark Bostick Golf Course File:Gville UF basketball complex01.jpg, Basketball Complex File:UF LemerandCenter.jpg, Lemerand Center File:UF BandHall.jpg,

File:UF-StadiumAndOdome.JPG, Aerial shot of The Swamp, O'Dome, and Perry Field.

Athletic program culture and traditions

Colors and mascot

The University of Florida began its sports program soon after it was established in Gainesville in 1906, and its teams adopted orange and blue as their official colors soon thereafter. These colors are a probably a combination of the colors of the two primary institutions that merged to form the university, as the East Florida Seminary used orange and black and the Florida Agricultural College used blue and white. As with the school colors, the exact origin of the

alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additional ...

(almost always shortened to "gator") as the school mascot is not well documented. It likely originated in 1908, when Gainesville merchant Phillip Miller chose the animal to adorn pennants he designed for sale to students. The school did not yet have a mascot, and Miller chose the alligator because it is native to Florida and was not claimed by any other school. The football team subsequently adopted the "Gators" nickname in

1911 A notable ongoing event was the race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * ...

.University of Florida, History
1906–1927: Early Gainesville
. Retrieved July 12, 2009. There are two theories as how the name become synonymous with the university's athletic programs. One theory is that the 1911 football squad began calling themselves the Gators in honor of team captain Neal "Bo Gator" Storter. Storter himself refuted this explanation, saying that it originated when a sportswriter in South Carolina described Florida's 1911 road upset of Clemson as an "invasion of alligators from Florida" and the players adopted the name. Whatever its origins, the nickname "Gators" (and for a time, "Lady Gators" for women's sports) has been used by the University of Florida's athletic program for over a century.

Albert and Alberta

Albert and Alberta are the official costumed mascots of the Florida Gators. Many variations of Albert have been present at sporting events over the decades, and a live alligator was used for many years. The current version of Albert was introduced in the early 1980s, and Alberta joined him in 1984. They are unique among the SEC's mascots as the only male-and-female pair, and are featured together in a life-sized statue outside of UF's Alumni Affairs Building.

Other traditions

The University of Florida's marching band is known as "

", and plays at every home football game, and also performs at various events such as Gator Growl and parades. Florida's fight song is '' The Orange and Blue''. The Gatorettes are the baton-twirlers, or majorettes, for the marching band. The University of Florida dance team that performs at home basketball games and other sports events is known as the Dazzlers. The "Gator Chomp" is a gesture made by Florida Gators fans and players to show their support of the Florida Gators sports teams. The UF band originated in 1981 and is performed by fully extending one's arms, one over the other, in front of the body with the palms facing each other, and then moved apart and together to symbolize an alligator's mouth. When performed by fans at home football or basketball games, the chomp is often accompanied by Florida's marching band or pep band playing the two-note shark motif from the film ''

Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...

''. Another football fan tradition, both for home and road games, is playing and singing of "

We Are the Boys from Old Florida "We Are the Boys from Old Florida" is a song commonly played and sung during University of Florida (UF) sporting events, most notably at the end of the third quarter at Florida Gators football, football games by The Pride of the Sunshine, the schoo ...

" at the end of every third quarter. Following the death of Gainesville native Tom Petty in October 2017, his song " I Won't Back Down" is also played right after "We Are the Boys" while the entire stadium sings along. "Orange and blue" is a fan cheer that is popular at home sports events, with alternate stadium sections yelling "Orange!", and answering back with their loudest "Blue!" This can go back and forth for several minutes, with both sections competing to be the louder. The football team had a long-time tradition of having George Edmondson Jr. — better known as " Mr. Two Bits"— wandering through the stands with a sign and a whistle to pump up the crowd to the "Two Bits" cheer. Edmondson officially retired in 2008, and was made an honorary alumnus in 2005. His final appearance as Mr. Two Bits was at the last home game of the 2008 season against The Citadel. In June 2020, university president Kent Fuchs announced that the

University Athletic Association The University Athletic Association (UAA) is an American athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are highly selective universities located in Georgia, Illinois, M ...

and the Gator Band would cease the use of the "Gator Bait" cheer at UF sporting events. While the university found no direct link between its usage of the phrase at sporting events and historical depictions of black children being used as

alligator bait Depicting African-American children as alligator bait was a common Trope (literature), trope in American popular culture in the 19th and 20th centuries. The motif was present in a wide array of media, including newspaper reports, songs, sheet ...

, it decided to end the chant due to "horrific racist imagery" associated with the phrase. The decision was reached amid a growing demand for

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...

in the United States following the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's ...

by Minneapolis police and the ensuing protests.

Notable Gator athletes and benefactors

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame

Over 250 notable former Gators athletes and coaches have been inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame inductees fall into three categories: "Gator Greats"; "Distinguished Letterwinners"; and "Honorary Letterwinners." Gator Greats are those former athletes who distinguished themselves during their undergraduate sports careers, and include former All-Americans, all-conference selections, winners of major national awards, individual national champions, and those who significantly contributed to national team championships. Distinguished Letterwinners are those former Gators athletes who achieved distinction after graduation, as athletic coaches or administrators, professional athletes, or in public service or other career activities. Honorary Letterwinners are those persons who are not University of Florida alumni and former undergraduate athletes, but have distinguished themselves by their significant contributions to the success of Florida Gators sports teams, including former championship Gators coaches. Gator Greats include Heisman Trophy winners

, and Tim Tebow; Pro Football Hall of Fame members Jack Youngblood and

Emmitt Smith Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. Among other accolades, he is the le ...

; Olympic gold medal swimmers Tracy Caulkins,

and Dara Torres; individual NCAA golf champions

, Nick Gilliam and

; Olympic gold medal soccer players

and

; and individual NCAA tennis champions

and Lisa Raymond. Distinguished Letterwinners include head coaches

Doug Dickey Douglas Adair Dickey (born June 24, 1932) is an American former college football player and coach and college athletics administrator. Dickey is a South Dakota native who was raised in Florida and graduated from the University of Florida, w ...

Lindy Infante Gelindo "Lindy" Infante (March 27, 1940 – October 8, 2015) was an American football player and coach, who became an offensive coordinator and head coach in both the National Football League (NFL) and the United States Football League (USFL). I ...

and Dutch Stanley, as well as U.S. Senator George Smathers. Honorary Letterwinners include former Gators national championship coaches

Buster Bishop Bernays Emery "Buster" Bishop (1920 – November 19, 2004) was an American college golf coach. Bishop was best known for leading the Florida Gators men's golf team of the University of Florida to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

Andy Brandi Andres V. Brandi (born c. 1952) is an American college and professional tennis coach. He is currently co-head coach of the LSU Tigers tennis team with his son, Chris Brandi. Brandi was formerly the coach of the Florida Gators women's tennis te ...

and

Mimi Ryan Mimi Ryan (born April 1, 1936) is a former American college golf coach. Ryan was the founder and long-time head coach of the Florida Gators women's golf program at the University of Florida. She is best known for leading the Florida Gators women ...

, former football coach and four-star general James Van Fleet, as well as medical professor

Robert Cade James Robert Cade (September 26, 1927 – November 27, 2007) was an American physician, university professor, research scientist and inventor. Cade, a native of Texas, earned his bachelor and medical degrees at the University of Texas, and be ...

, who invented the sports drink Gatorade at UF in the mid-1960s as a rehydration aid to assist Gators athletes.

Gators in the Olympic Games

The University of Florida has a reputation and long history of producing athletes who compete in the

. Over 160 university alumni, including Florida Gators athletes from over 35 countries, have competed in the Games, winning fifty Olympic gold medals, twenty-nine

silver medals A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

and thirty

bronze medals A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

(through the end of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

).GatorZone.com
Gators in the Olympics
Retrieved January 27, 2015. The list of notable Gator Olympians and gold medalists includes sprinters

Kerron Clement Kerron Stephon Clement (born October 31, 1985) is a Trinidadian-born American track and field athlete who competes in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter sprint. He held the indoor world record in the 400-meter sprint, having broken Michael Jo ...

, Dennis Mitchell, and

Bernard Williams Sir Bernard Arthur Owen Williams, FBA (21 September 1929 – 10 June 2003) was an English moral philosopher. His publications include ''Problems of the Self'' (1973), ''Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy'' (1985), ''Shame and Necessity'' ...

; marathon runner Frank Shorter; baseball outfielder

Brad Wilkerson Stephen Bradley Wilkerson (born June 1, 1977) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball for eight seasons. Wilkerson played college baseball for the University of Florida, and was selected ...

; basketball forward DeLisha Milton-Jones; soccer forward

; and swimmers Tracy Caulkins,

and Ryan Lochte. Former Gator Dara Torres is the only American swimmer to compete in five Olympic Games (1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2008).USA Swimming
Dara Torres
Retrieved July 28, 2009. At the age of 41, Torres became the oldest swimmer to win an Olympic medal when she won a silver medal in her inclusion in three events in 2008, finishing her career with a total of twelve Olympic medals (including four gold).

Notes

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Florida Gators, color=white , list = {{Southeastern Conference navbox {{American Athletic Conference navbox {{Divison1floridacolleges {{Florida College Sports