In a rare short-course meters meet, the University of Georgia swimming and diving teams swept Georgia Tech Wednesday afternoon at the McAuley Aquatics Center.
In the women’s competition, Georgia (4-0, 1-0 SEC) remained unbeaten with a 188-109 victory over Georgia Tech. On the men’s side, the Bulldogs (3-1, 1-0 SEC) topped the Yellow Jackets by a 180-119 margin.
Women – Georgia 188, Georgia Tech 109
Georgia opened the meet in strong fashion as graduate Marie Schobel, freshman Elizabeth Isakson, graduate Callie Dickinson, and sophomore Sloane Reinstein won the 200-meter medley relay with a time of 1:53.09. Schobel turned in another strong performance as she swept the backstroke events for the second-consecutive meet.
Isakson earned her first collegiate win in the 100-meter breaststroke, as did junior Julianna Stephens in the 50-meter freestyle. Reinstein prevailed in the 200-meter freestyle, while sophomore Eboni McCarty was victorious in the 100-meter freestyle. McCarty, Dickinson, and Stephens joined freshman Emma Norton to take the closing 400-meter freestyle relay.
In other Georgia swimming victories, senior Zoie Hartman finished first in the 200-meter breaststroke and 200-meter individual medley. Junior Meghan Wenzel followed up her SEC Diver of the Week performance with a springboard sweep, posting a Zone cut of 275.85 on the 1-meter.
“Our women did a fantastic job of just competing and racing,” said Tom Cousins Women’s Swimming & Diving Head Coach Stefanie Williams Moreno following the meet. “We don’t typically swim short-course meters, so it’s not necessarily about the times. We’re getting them prepped, race-ready, fighting for positions, and exploring different events. I thought they did a great job. I loved the energy, the enthusiasm, and I’m really proud of their efforts across the board swimming and diving.”
Men – Georgia 180, Georgia Tech 119
The Georgia men opened their performance with a dominant 200-meter medley relay from junior Luca Urlando, sophomore Arie Voloschin, junior Wesley Ng, and senior Dillon Downing, notching a time of 1:37.87. Urlando led off the relay with a 24.00 50m backstroke split.
Urlando turned in a terrific outing Wednesday, winning all three individual events. First, in the 100-meter backstroke, he finished first by nearly two seconds with a time of 51.70, followed by a 51.92 winning time in the 100-meter butterfly. Finally, he cruised to victory in the 200-meter IM with a time of 1:58.67, besting the second-place swimmer by nearly four seconds.
Led by Urlando, the Georgia swimming backstroke group continued their strong opening stretch, sweeping the top five spots in the 100 while sophomore Mitchell Norton won the 200. Junior Jake Magahey swept the distance events with wins in the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle. Graduate Andrew Abruzzo finished first in the 200-meter butterfly with Downing taking the 50-meter freestyle and fellow senior Zach Hils winning the 100-meter freestyle.
At the diving well, graduate Kevin Li placed second on the 1-meter with a season-best score of 341.85 and third on the 3-meter with a Zone cut of 351.98. On 1-meter, sophomore Rhett Hopkins qualified for Zones with a mark of 303.30. Fellow sophomore Nolan Lewis nearly eclipsed his PR with a second-place score of 351.98 on 3-meter.
“I’m proud of the guys and the way they came out swinging,” said Georgia Swimming & Diving Head Coach Neil Versfeld following the meet. “Obviously, it was a little bit out of their comfort zone in the middle of October and in the middle of the week on a Wednesday afternoon. The racing was a little bit different, but they were resilient and came out strong. It was a fun meet.”
Yellowjackets View
Despite the loss, several Jackets earned multiple top three finishes. Deniz Ertan was once again the standout for the women, winning the 800m free (8:29.73), the 400m free (4:10.38) and placing second in the 200m IM (2:13.99). The men were led by Batur Ünlü who won the 200m free (1:47.53) and placed second in the 100m free (50.34), 400m free (3:50.71).
Zora Ripkova and Matt Steele were also top performers for Tech. Ripkova earned a victory in the women’s 100m fly (1:01.29) and a second-place finish in the women’s 200m free (2:02.93). Steele was a top three finishers in three different events. The sophomore won the 200m breast (2:14.54), placed second in the 100m breast (1:01.46) and finished third in the 200m IM (2:05.58).
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