In an impressive battle, Georgia Tech swimming and diving used 13 gold medals from seven Jackets to split on the road against South Carolina on Saturday morning.
Team Scores:
- Men: Georgia Tech 157, South Carolina 143
- Women: South Carolina 197, Georgia Tech 103
- RESULTS
Georgia Tech Swimming and Diving Press Release
“I’m proud of the way our teams fought against a really good SEC team today,” said Toni M. and Richard L. Bergmark Swimming and Diving head coach Courtney Shealy Hart. “I’m particularly thrilled that all of our first-place finishers won multiple events on the day. Cami, Emily, Dylan, Caio, Albert, Kyle and Christian did an excellent job leading us today as we fought together in a tough neck-and-neck battle. This is just another step as we continue to prepare for championships season next month.”
For the women’s team, diver Camryn Hidalgo led things off for the Yellow Jackets by sweeping the 1- and 3-meter, winning with scores of 289.28 and 298.83, respectively. Then in the pool, Emily Ilgenfritz continued her terrific senior campaign by winning the 1000 (10:08.89) and 500 free (4:57.26) events.
The men’s team took home eight gold medals between four swimmers. Freshman Dylan Scott put in his second-straight impressive week, touching the wall first in the 1000 free (9:20.03) and 500 free (4:29.40). Kyle Barone also gutted out two huge wins in the 100 back (48.89) and 200 back (1:48.30), while Christian Ferraro also secured the top spot in the 100 and 200 fly events – 48.78 and 1:48.09, respectively.
Caio Pumputis continued his hot streak, winning the 200 free and 200 IM events handedly. Pumputis touched the wall first in the 200 free with a time of 1:36.85 before winning the 200 IM with a time of 1:48.59. Getting it done and taking gold in the 100 free was Albert Zhi, who turned in a time of 45.54.
The men’s team came together in to edge out a terrific road win by winning the final event of the day – the 400 free relay. The team of Ferraro, Zhi, Darren Lim and Pumputis took the crown and cemented the victory with a time of 2:58.67.
Men’s Highlights
The Yellow Jackets started the day strong by finishing second in the 200 medley relay as the team of Barone, Pumputis, Ferraro and Lim swam a 1:29.74. Also finishing second early for Tech was freshman Ruben Lechuga who scored a 311.55 on the 1-meter. He would also dive to a score of 383.43 in the 3-meter.
Then, completing the 1-2 finish in the 1000 free was senior Joonas Koski (9:30.50) who would also finish on Scott’s heels for second in the 500 free with a 4:30.46. Clay Hering then touched second in the 200 fly (1:48.68) before Tanner Doan finished second in the 200 breast with a 2:04.83. Lim would also complete another 1-2 finish, this time in the 100 free right on Zhi’s heels with a time of 45.62.
Hering would also go on to finish third in the 100 fly (49.58) as teammate Tim Slanschek finished third in the 200 fly (1:50.50). Then in the 100 back, Austin Daniel swam to a 51.23, which was good enough for third, before Zhi touched third with a time of 56.22 in the 100 breast.
A host of Jackets scored from fourth place to help Tech get the win. Freshman Jackson Harvin finished fourth in two events, scoring for Tech in the 200 free (1:40.26) and the 200 IM (1:53.82). Then in the 200 back, freshman AJ Carroll swam a 1:53.85 for fourth, while Tanner Doan finished fourth in the 100 breast (57.24).
Rounding out the day for the men’s team was Brennan Day, who touched the wall fourth in the 200 breast with a time of 2:07.11.
Women’s Highlights
Completing the 1-2 with teammate Ilgenfritz in the distance events was Morgan Johnson, who swam a 10:14.05 in the 1000 free and a 4:59.41 in the 500 free. The Jackets were also just a blink away from taking gold in the 200 free as Brooke Switzer touched second in the 200 free at 1:51.45, the 200 fly as McKenzie Campbell swam a 2:02.26 and the 200 IM as Catriona MacGregor turned in a 2:04.94.
Then in the 400 free relay, Georgia Tech finished third as the team of Ilgenfrtiz, Kyrsten Davis, Switzer and Amanda Hoejberg recorded a time of 3:28.70.
Allie Paschal and Kristen Hepler both took home points in multiple events on the day. Paschal placed third in the 100 back (56.27) and 200 back (2:02.82), while Hepler touched third in the 200 breast (1:18.23) before doing the same in the 200 IM (2:06.16).
Davis was also able to score with a fourth-place finish (1:51.83) in the 200 free, before Caroline Lee touched fourth in the 100 back with a time of 56.48. The Jackets were also kept in it as MacGregor finished fourth in the 100 breast with a time of 1:04.68 before freshman Switzer did the same in the 500 free at 5:03.25.
Rounding out the day for the women’s team was Campbell, who, in addition to her 200 fly performance, was also able to finish fourth in the 100 fly, swimming a 56.87.
South Carolina Swimming and Diving Press Release
South Carolina swimming and diving got off to a hot start against Georgia Tech, taking 19 of 32 events in its final dual meet of the season. The Gamecocks split the meet, winning 197-103 on the women’s side and dropping a tough 157-143 decision on the men’s side.
- The Gamecocks started strong, sweeping the podium in the women’s 200 medley relay, and taking first and third in the men’s. The team of Emily Cornell, Taylor Steele, Hallie Kinsey and Christina Lappin sealed the victory for the women, while Kevin Liu, Itay Goldfaden, Justin Rose and AJ Ross took home first for the men.
- Freshman Emma Alexander took home the 200 free win with a time of 1:49.73.
- Cornell and sophomore Mari Kraus touched first and second in the 100 backstroke, with Cornell’s winning coming in 54.83.
- Carolina dominated the 100 breaststroke on both sides, sweeping the top three spots for the women with senior Ana Menendez-Nava taking home her first win of the year. Lionel Khoo and Itay Goldfaden took home first and second, respectively, for the men.
- Sophomore Hallie Kinsey had another productive day, winning both the 100 and 200 butterfly.
- Senior Justin Rose, sophomore Dylan Delaney and freshman Guy Gropper took home first, second and third, respectively, in the 50 freestyle.
- Christina Lappin won both the 50 and 100 freestyle, sweeping both events for the second time this year.
- Senior Albury Higgs and freshman Taylor Steele set the pace in the 200 breaststroke with Higgs taking first in 2:16.06. Higgs also took home the victory in the 400 IM.
- Lionel Khoo won his second 200 breaststroke of the season with a time of 2:02.63.
- In diving, sophomore Anton Down-Jenkins turned in another dominating performance, scoring 380.18 on the 1-meter and 428.85 on the 3-meter
“I thought we were outstanding; the women dominated the meet top to bottom, great races all around,” said South Carolina swimming and diving head coach McGee Moody. Georgia Tech has a really solid men’s and women’s team; they are always great competitors, so I was proud of what we did today. The guys had as much fight today as they have had in my 13 years of being head coach her;, these guys battled all day long and took it down to the last relay. I’m really, really proud of their effort.”
“We’ve been working hard, and it showed up today,” said South Carolina diving head coach Todd Sherritt. The guys did a great job, Anton came back after missing one dive and put up a huge score for missing one. Alex Claus did a great job and so did Grant Summers. Georgia Tech has a really good diving team, so we did a good job. We have to keep working towards the SECs and the NCAAs, so we’ll be back to work this week.”
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