The University of Georgia’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams hosted Georgia Tech for a midweek dual meet, where some of Georgia’s top swimmers raced in different events. Georgia won handily in both genders, with the women scoring 184-108 while the men dominated with a score of 180-115.
Matias Koski has always been a versatile freestyler, competing in whatever distance comes his way. He proved that today with wins in the 50 and 1000 freestyle events. He started with a 9:09.59 in the 1000, beating the field by five seconds. In the 50 free a short time later, he posted a 20.39 to take down teammate Taylor Dale and his 20.59.
In addition to Koski’s wins, Georgia showed its dominance in the pool with five 1-2-3 finishes. The Georgia women swept the top three places in the 200 and 500 freestyles, two of Georgia’s strongest events on a nationwide scale, as well as the 200 butterfly. In the 200 free, Meaghan Raab posted a 1:47.43, beating out the 1:49.31 by Stephanie Peters and the 1:49.41 by Kylie Stewart.
Hali Flickinger won the 500 free by more than 25 yards with a 4:41.92. Placing a distant second was Rachel Zilinskas with a 4:58.74, while Shawna Lee gave Georgia third-place points with a 5:01.14. In the 200 fly, Caitlin Casazza led the way for Georgia’s sweep with a 2:00.89, followed by Annie Zhu (2:02.84) and Brittany MacLean (2:03.17).
On the men’s side, Kevin Litherland led the field in the 200 free with a 1:38.37. Pace Clark was on Litherland’s hip for the entire race, finishing second in 1:38.44. Aidan Burns completed the sweep with a 1:39.81.
Taylor Dale won the 200 backstroke by 1.7 seconds with a 1:46.54. Behind him in second and third were two Bulldogs, as Garrett Powell (1:48.29) and Burns (1:49.57) gave Georgia 16 big points.
Raab was the only double winner on the women’s side, picking up a win in the 100 free with a 49.73. Before posting exhibition swims in the final two individual events, Georgia picked up five wins in the women’s meet. Peters highlighted the Bulldog distance prowess with a 12-second win in the 1000 free with a 9:51.15. Olivia Smoliga routed the field in the 100 back with a 55.03, while distance ace MacLean branched out to the 200 back and posted a 1:59.73 for the win.
Emily Cameron won the 100 breast for Georgia with a 1:03.75, while Megan Kingsley took the win in the 200 breast with a 2:19.73.
Gunnar Bentz posted a strong swim in the 200 fly with a 1:45.86. That’s good enough for a place in the top 10 collegiate rankings so far for the 400 IM U.S. national champion. He also showed some talent in the 500 free, posting a 4:26.80 for the win ahead of the 4:27.29 by Powell. Michael Trice also put up a strong win for Georgia, taking the 100 free victory in 44.19.
Each of the Litherland triplets almost scored a victory in the dual meet. While Kevin was the winner of the 200 free, brother Jay took the 100 back with a 49.52 as the only swimmer under 50 seconds in the meet. Mick was on target to win the 100 fly, surging in the final strokes but ultimately unable to catch teammate Ty Stewart, who posted a 48.52 to Mick Litherland’s 48.66.
Georgia’s James Guest and Georgia Tech’s Moises Loschi battled it out in the breaststroke events, with each one claiming a victory. Loschi gave Georgia Tech its only official win in the men’s meet with 55.80 in the 100 breast, with Guest right behind in 55.99. In the 200 breast, Guest took the lead at 100 yards and held on to win with a 1:59.73 to Loschi’s 2:00.00.
The other official win for Georgia Tech came in the women’s 50 free, where Iris Wang beat the field with a 23.65.
With Georgia swimming exhibition in the women’s 100 fly as well as both 100 IM races, Georgia Tech was able to get the first-place points. Laura Branton was the winner of the women’s 100 fly with a 57.21, while Kira Debruyn got ahead of Branton to claim the nine points in the 100 IM with a 59.85.
Alex Kimpel got the first-place points in the men’s 100 IM with a 51.97. Unofficially, three Georgia swimmers broke 50 seconds in the race: Stewart (49.45), Dale (49.96) and Jay Litherland (49.97).
2015 Georgia vs Georgia Tech Dual Meet – Results
