The Alabama women’s swimming and diving team swept the individual races and both relays against Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, beating the Commodores 146-105. It was the Crimson Tide’s second meet in two days after opening Southeastern Conference competition against Georgia in Birmingham on Friday.
Alabama Women’s Swimming and Diving Press Release
Sophomore Rhyan White once again won both backstroke events, boosting her two-day individual win total to five, while classmate Kensey McMahon swept the distance freestyle events for the second meet in a row after winning the 500 and 1,000 freestyles against the Dogs and Commodores.
In all, Alabama won nine events against Georgia and 14 against Vanderbilt for a total of 23 across the two meets. Against Vanderbilt, Alabama took the top-two spots in eight races, including both relays.
HEAD COACH COLEY STICKELS SAID
“Having two meets in two days in two different cities can be a challenge, but our ladies kept their focus and swam hard today, giving us two good days of competition. We looked at back to back meets as a prelims/finals scenario that we will ultimately face later on during championship season. From here, we just need to keep our momentum moving in the right direction and continue to train hard as we move forward through the season.”
MEET HIGHLIGHTS
- Sophomore Rhyan White followed a three-win day against Georgia with a pair of individual wins against Vanderbilt, taking first in the 100 and 200 backstrokes, going 53.79 and 1:56.17, respectively against the Commodores
- Sophomore Kensey McMahon doubled up her distances freestyle win total for the weekend after taking top honors in the 500 (5:02.79) and 1,000 (10:13.15) in Nashville
- Freshman Caitlin Reynera won the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, clocking times of 1:03.97 and 2:19.30
- Senior Alexis Preski showed her range, winning the 200 freestyle (1:53.15) and the 200 individual medley (2:05.02)
- Junior Flora Molnar won the 100 freestyle (50.14) and the 100 butterfly (55.29)
- Sophomore Cat Wright (200 butterfly/2:04.28) and senior Allie Surrency (50 freestyle/23.54) also contributed wins to the Tide’s sweep
- White, Reynera, Molnar and Surrency opened the meet by winning the 200 medley relay (1:42.11), while Surrency and Molnar combined with sophomores Morgan Scott and Kalia Antoniou combined to touch first to close the meet in the 400 freestyle relay (3:25.26)
Vanderbilt Press Release
The Vanderbilt women’s swim team opened up its season by coming up short to SEC foe Alabama, 146-105, Saturday at the Centennial Sportsplex.
“Overall, a really good first meet of the year for everybody. There are a lot of things we have to work on, but overall we performed really well,” said head coach Jeremy Organ. “I think there were a lot of good races and a lot of really good things we can take forward going into next week.”
The Dores started strong in the opening 200-yard medley relay with Vanderbilt A-relay — Abby Burke, Alina Jones, Tonner DeBeer and Allison Bauer — notching a podium finish for the Dores by touching the wall third (1:45.85).
Dominating in the 1,000-yard freestyle, freshman Alix Roy claimed second by touching in 10:24.26. The win marked Roy’s first as a Commodore. The freshman continued to have a strong meet by picking up another second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (5:06.17) to close out her first collegiate outing.
Fellow freshman Kristen Nutter also tabbed a second-place finish in her collegiate debut, racing to a 2:06.85 in the 200-yard butterfly.
“For the freshmen’s first meet coming out of the gate, I thought they really did well. Alabama is a very good and deep team, so I thought that everybody rose to the occasion and did a great job setting the tone for the rest of the season,” said Organ.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Tonner DeBeer earned an eager start to her sophomore campaign by clocking a 55.52 to claim second. DeBeer continued by touching fourth in the 100-yard butterfly (57.04).
Junior Lauren Bergmann set the tone for her season by claiming third in the 200-yard backstroke (2:06.82).
Closing out the season opener, sophomore Lizzy Colwell placed second in the 200-yard individual medley by marking a 2:05.58. Maintaining a successful first meet, Colwell also tabbed a second-place finish in the 100 breast (1:04.25).
UP AHEAD
After opening the season with back-to-back (or in the women’s case, back-to-back-to-back) dual meets, Alabama women’s swimming and diving returns to action with the Georgia Tech Invitational Nov. 22-24 in Atlanta, Ga.
The Commodores will be back in action on Oct. 12 by competing in the Grizzlie Relays in Oakland, Michigan.
Dawn Schneider Roy Rob Roy!