AUBURN – A day after Kristian Gkolomeev made some noise in the all-time 50 free rankings, Texas A&M’s Beryl Gastaldello followed in the women’s 100 fly tonight. Meanwhile, Georgia’s women pulled away in the team title race, while the Florida men ended day two with a lead.
Women’s Meet
Georgia’s Hali Flickinger kept on piling up the points for the Lady Bulldogs as she posted an NCAA A cut time of 4:03.42 in the 400-yard IM to start the night for the women.
Texas A&M’s Sarah Henry placed second in the distance medley with a 4:05.44, while Georgia’s Amber McDermott clinched third overall in 4:05.57.
Texas A&M freshman Beryl Gastaldello unleashed in the women’s 100-yard fly with an SEC record time of 50.87.
That swim not only downed Tennessee’s Christine Magnusson’s meet record of 51.00, it vaulted Gastaldello to sixth all time in the event’s history. She also would have won NCAAs with the time last year.
Meanwhile, Kentucky’s Christina Bechtel (51.04) and Florida’s Natalie Hinds (51.70) also cleared the NCAA A cut to take second and third.
Women’s 100 Fly Rankings
[table “” not found /]Florida freshman Amelia Maughan closed out the night for the women with a 1:44.68 to win the women’s 200-yard free. She took down veteran Jordan Mattern of Georgia, who placed second in 1:45.07. South Carolina’s Meredith Vay placed third in 1:45.94.
Team Scores
[table “” not found /]Men’s Meet
Georgia’s Chase Kalisz, the American-record holder in the men’s 400-yard IM with a 3:34.50 at NCAAs last year, cruised his way to the SEC title tonight in 3:38.39. That’s a few seconds of his SEC meet record of 3:36.89, but still stands as the 20th-fastest time ever in the event.
Florida’s Mark Szaranek (3:40.22) and Carlos Omana (3:40.35) finished second and third in the finale, while Tennessee’s Sam McHugh (3:40.64) and Florida’s Dan Wallace (3:41.14) also cleared the NCAA A cut time.
Florida freshman Caeleb Dressel, who set the 17-18 U.S. National Age Group record in the 50 free yesterday, clinched the 100 fly crown with a time of 45.28. That swim moved him just outside the top 15 all time in the event currently anchored by Masa Kishida’s 45.20 from 2008.
LSU’s Frank Greeff snatched second tonight in 46.24, nearly a second behind the leader, while Florida’s Christian Homer wound up third overall in 46.26.
Tennessee captured its second men’s diving title in two days as Liam Stone tallied 463.50 points to win the three-meter title. Missouri’s Clark Thomas finished second with 436.30 points, while Tennessee’s Mauricio Robles snared third with 432.20 points.
Georgia’s Matias Koski, who had a sizzling A cut out of the 500 free B final last night, picked up the 200 free crown this evening in 1:33.23. He held off a hard-charging Mitch D’Arrigo from Florida, who took second with a 1:33.41. Florida’s Pawel Werner rounded out the top three with a 1:34.49.
Team Scores
[table “” not found /]2015 SEC Swimming Championships, Day Three – Results