Julian Smith, Sprint Depth Lead Florida to Sweep of Georgia
Florida’s breaststroke group and sprinters turned the tide of a tight men’s meet to lead Florida to a sweep over SEC rival Georgia on Friday.
The No. 3 ranked Gators men’s team claimed a 175-125 win over the No. 13 Bulldogs. The seventh-ranked women prevailed, 183-117, over No. 9 Georgia in Gainesville.
Georgia started the men’s meet strong with wins in the first three individual events. But Florida seized the momentum for good with a 1-2-3 result in the 100 breaststroke. Julian Smith won in 53.74 seconds, .12 up on Aleksas Savickas with teammate Peter Bretzmann third. Savickas won the 100 breast in 1:59.01, .37 over Bretzmann as the runner-up.
Smith contributed to a dominant sprint performance. Smith was second in the 100 free, his 43.84 falling .28 behind teammate Maguire McDuff. Josh Liendo won the 50 free in 19.30. The Canadian also claimed the 100 butterfly title in 46.30, followed by teammates Jace Crawford and Scotty Buff to remove any doubt about the team title.
Florida swept both relays. Jonny Marshall, Savickas, Buff and Liendo went 1:26.53 in the 200 medley, Liendo going 18.86 off the end. He led off the 400 free relay in 42.84 to put the Gators in clean water, with Smith, Jake Mitchell and McDuff bringing it home in 2:55.74.
Marshall won the 200 backstroke. Mitchell was second in the 200 free and 500 free. Conor Gesing swept both diving events.
The Bulldogs got off to a flying start thanks mostly to Jake Magahey. He went 8:59.36 to win the 1,000 free. His 1:45.37 won the 200 fly by more than three seconds. He capped the day by edging Mitchell in the 500 free in 4:21.23.
Tomas Koski won the 200 free in 1:35.56, a margin of .08 over Mitchell. Ruard van Renen clocked in at 46.66 to win the 100 back, with teammate Bradley Dunham scraping into second. But Georgia wouldn’t win another event until Zach Hils claimed the 200 individual medley in 1:47.24.
Florida took control of the women’s meet for good with a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 back. Freshman Catherine Choate won the event in 1:55.71. Emma Weyant and Zoe Dixon followed. (Julia Podkoscielny’s un-scored swim was good for fourth, just for good measure.)
Choate had been second in the 100 backstroke to Isabel Ivey’s 52.59. Ivey won the 50 free in 22.85 and finished second to teammate Olivia Peoples (52.65) in the 100 fly. Weyant won a showdown in the 200 IM with Georgia’s Zoie Hartman, going 1:58.13 to win.
Bella Sims supplied a pair of wins. She won the 200 free in 1:45.84, then the 500 free in 4:44.36. Sims led off the winning 200 medley relay, teaming with Molly Mayne, Peoples and Micayla Cronk to go 1:38.68. Sims, Ivey, Peoples and Cronk clocked in at 3:17.19 in the 400 free relay.
Cronk won the 100 free in 49.30. Lainy Kruger went 1:58.49 to edge out Georgia’s Mia Abruzzo in the 200 fly. Camyla Monroy won both diving events.
Georgia started strong thanks to its distance contingent. Dune Coetzee went 9:43.13 to win the 1,000 free, pulling away from teammate Abby McCulloh. Coetzee settled for second behind Sims in the 500 free, with McCulloh third. Hartmann swept both breaststroke events.
