Reid Mikuta, Florida Men’s 200 Medley Relay Highlight Night Two at Georgia Invitational
At the University of Georgia’s midseason invitational, the visiting Florida Gators and Auburn Tigers have provided most of the standout moments, and on night two in Athens, Reid Mikuta swam the nation’s top time in the men’s 100 breaststroke while the Florida men’s 200 medley relay, last year’s national champions, also blasted a time quicker than any other around the United States.
Women’s 200 Medley Relay
The Auburn women have posted one of their strongest overall performances in years this week, and the Tigers opened with a big relay win over the host Bulldogs. The team of Ellie Waldrep, Stasya Makarova, Claudia Thamm and Lexie Mulvihill combined to swim a time of 1:36.84, a tenth ahead of Georgia’s Marie Schobel, Zoie Hartman, Callie Dickinson and Eboni McCarty. McCarty split 21.63 on the end to close the gap on Auburn, but it was not quite enough as Georgia settled for second in 1:36.95.
Florida State finished third in 1:37.63 with Maddie McDonald, Maddy Huggins, Jenny Halden and Gloria Muzito competing for the Seminoles.
Men’s 200 Medley Relay
The Florida Gators took down Auburn with two swimmers returning from the NCAA-title-winning quartet in March and two new faces. Adam Chaney, Julian Smith, Eric Friese and Josh Liendo finished in 1:22.82, just ahead of Arizona State’s 1:22.97 in Greensboro for the top time nationally. Auburn finished second in 1:23.36 with Nathaniel Stoffle, Reid Mikuta, Aidan Stoffle and Kalle Makinen. Mikuta put Auburn into the lead with his 22.88 split, but Friese got the Gators back slightly ahead with his 20.22 split before Liendo hammered an 18.17 anchor split.
Georgia’s Bradley Dunham, Kris Pitshugin, Wesley Ng and Dillon Downing placed third in 1:24.12.
Women’s 400 IM
Florida’s Mabel Zavaros was never seriously challenged in the women’s 400 IM. She led by a half-second after 50 yards and never looked back, even as the field closed slightly on the breaststroke leg. Zavaros touched in 4:07.41, followed by Florida’s Kathleen Golden in 4:09.18 and Georgia Tech’s Deniz Ertan in 4:09.68.
Men’s 400 IM
Georgia’s Ian Grum held a dominant lead through the first half of the 400 IM final, but Florida’s Kevin Vargas completely flipped the race with a 1:02.21 breaststroke split. Heading to the freestyle leg, Vargas led by almost a second, leaving Grum to chase him down. The race came down to the wire, and a final surge from Grum got him to the wall in 3:40.81, just ahead of Vargas in 3:40.98. Only Leon Marchand and Carson Foster have surpassed those times so far this season.
Florida’s Mason Laur was the third-place finisher in 3:43.42.
Women’s 100 Butterfly
In yet another Georgia-Florida barnburner, Callie Dickinson and Olivia Peoples actually tied in the 100 fly, with both swimmers recording marks of 52.60. Four swimmers touched within two tenths at the 75-yard mark, with Dickinson leading Auburn’s Claudia Thamm, Peoples and Florida’s Talia Bates, while Florida State’s Edith Jernstedt and Auburn’s Lexie Mulvihill just off the pace.
In the end, Dickinson and Peoples hit the wall in 52.60, followed by Bates in 52.90. Then came Jernstedt (53.12), Thamm (53.18) and Mulvihill (53.23).
Men’s 100 Butterfly
Florida’s Josh Liendo got the better of the field in the men’s 100 fly as he pulled away on the second 50 for a 45.79 triumph. Liendo has yet to match the form he showed in long course this year, particularly the sub-51 swim that earned him bronze in the 100-meter fly at the World Championships, but he will surely be in the national title mix in March. Liendo was followed here by Auburn’s Nathan Stoffle (46.22) and Florida State’s Adrian Aguilar (46.54).
Women’s 200 Freestyle
In yet another tight final, a trio of Florida swimmers surged ahead of Georgia’s Sloane Reinstein on the final 50 for a Gator sweep. Reinstein led during the middle portion of the race, but it was Ekaterina Nikonova who had the most left on the final 50 as she split 26.87 to get the job done. Nikonova touched in 1:45.12, followed by teammates Katie Mack (1:45.38) and Micayla Cronk (1:45.54) while Reinstein faded to fourth (1:46.64).
Men’s 200 Freestyle
A back-and-forth men’s 200 free final concluded with Georgia’s Jake Magahey, considered one of the strongest 500 freestylers in the nation, surging ahead of Georgia Tech’s Baturalp Unlu and taking the win in 1:32.70. Magahey previously swam the first sub-4:10 500 free of the season Thursday night. Unlu took second here in 1:32.94, while Florida swimmers Alfonso Mestre (1:33.24) and Macguire McDuff (1:33.25) placed third and fourth, respectively.
Women’s 100 Breaststroke
Georgia’s Zoie Hartman had to shift into high gear to get ahead of Auburn’s Stasy Makarova. The veteran Bulldog swimmer touched in 58.76 while Makarova came in at 58.91. Third went to another Auburn Tiger, Brynn Curtis, in 1:00.84.
Men’s 100 Breaststroke
The top individual swim of the night came from Auburn’s Reid Mikuta, who overcame the early lead of two Florida swimmers on his way to the country’s top time so far. Mikuta was four tenths behind Florida’s Aleksas Savickas at the halfway point with Julian Smith also ahead, but Mikuta turned on the jets to reclaim the lead on the back half. He won the event in 51.14, with Smith finishing six tenths back at 51.76 and Savickas hanging on for third in 51.88. Those times rank first, second and fourth, respectively, in the early national rankings.
Women’s 100 Backstroke
Georgia won a second consecutive women’s event as Eboni McCarty got the better of Auburn’s Ellie Waldrep down the stretch. McCarty won in 51.53, followed by Waldrep in 51.74 and Georgia’s Marie Schobel in 52.63.
Men’s 100 Backstroke
Come-from-behind wins were something of a trend Friday night, and that continued in the men’s 100 back as Auburn’s Aidan Stoffle had to overcome a deficit of more than three tenths to claim the win. But Stoffle did assert himself over the back half of the race, and he got to the wall ahead of Georgia’s Bradley Dunham, 45.27 to 45.45. Georgia Tech’s Berke Saka placed third in 45.60.
Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay
Fresh off a 1-2-3 finish in the individual 200 free, Florida opened up a lead over the first half of the 800 free relay, in large part thanks to Talia Bates leading off in 1:45.03. But Georgia did not give up, and after Shea Furse, Sloan Reinstein and Jillian Barczyk finished their legs, the Bulldogs trailed Florida by only two tenths. Then, Zoie Hartman went to work, and she came home in 1:43.87, the fastest split of the race by more than a second, and Georgia secured a three-second win in 7:03.72.
Florida’s team of Bates, Micayla Cronk, Ekaterina Nikonova and Katie Mack finished second in 7:06.74, and third went to Georgia Tech’s Zora Ripkova, Deniz Ertan, Arianna Sakellaris and Brooke Switzer in 7:12.00.
Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay
The men’s race was the complete inverse of the women’s as Georgia opened up the big lead only for Florida to come back and win. Alfonso Mestre trailed the Bulldogs’ Zach Hils by more than a second when the anchor leg began, but Mestre split 1:32.71 to pull the Gators ahead. Julian Smith, Josh Liendo, Macguire McDuff and Mestre combined for a time of 6:18.45, while Georgia’s Jake Magahey, Bradley Dunham, Mitchell Norton and Hils took second in 6:19.30.
Florida’s B-team of Joaquin Gonzalez Pinero, Oskar Lindholm, Jake Mitchell and Alberto Mestre placed third in 6:20.03 with Mitchell, a U.S. Olympian from 2021, kicking in a 1:33.35 split on the second leg.