Zoie Hartman, Jake Magahey Lead Georgia Bulldogs to Sweep of Auburn
The Georgia Bulldogs made a quick trip down I-85 to visit Southeastern conference rival Auburn and came away with two victories, with the women squeaking out a 15-point victory over the Tigers, 157.5 to 142.5, in large part thanks to three individual victories by fifth-year swimmer Zoie Hartman, while the Bulldog men cruised to a 186-to-114 victory thanks largely to the efforts of senior Jake Magahey.
Hartman finished one second up on the field in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.67), and later on in her triple-threat day, she claimed the 200 breast (2:13.98) and 200 IM (2:00.22). Georgia freshman Helena Jones was a double winner in the sprint freestyle events, taking the 50 free (22.70) and 100 free (49.17).
Georgia’s women kicked off individual racing with a 1-2-3 finish in the 1000 freestyle, with Abby McCulloh winning in 9:47.48 ahead of Rachel Stege (9:53.86) and Dune Coetzee (9:59.32). Immediately after, Sloane Reinstein won the 200 free in 1:46.97 while Coetzee (1:48.61) and Jillian Barczyk (1:49.49) competed another sweep. Eboni McCarty topped the 100 backstroke (53.29).
Stege led another sweep in the 500 free, touching in 4:46.33 ahead of McCulloh (4:48.87) and Coetzee (4:52.96). But going into the meet-concluding 400 free relay, the outcome was still in doubt before the Bulldogs’ Jones, McCarty, Bri Roberson and Reinstein were victorious in 3:17.38.
Auburn’s women started strong with a 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay. Meghan Lee, Stasya Makarova, Abigail Gibbons and Lexie Mulvihill won in 1:39.04, with the Auburn “B” team finishing in 1:39.45, one hundredth ahead of Georgia’s top quartet. The Tigers got their first individual win from Lee in the 200 butterfly (1:58.29), and Lee won twice more in the 200 back (1:57.96) and 100 fly (54.08). In diving, Kyleigh Kidd edged out Georgia’s Meghan Wenzel by eight hundredths of a point on 1-meter, 281.48 to 281.40. Kidd won by a larger margin on 3-meter (323.25).
On the men’s side, Magahey had three individual wins in three of the most grueling events contested: the 1000 free (9:12.87), 200 fly (1:45.73) and 500 free (4:23.15). The 20-lap race turned into a Georgia sweep thanks to Tomas Koski (4:23.15) and Sam Powe (4:28.09). Meanwhile, Koski led a sweep in the 200 free as he clocked 1:35.14, finishing ahead of teammates Zach Hils (1:36.93) and Cooper Cook (1:38.32), and Ruard Van Renen won the 100 back in 46.94 to give Georgia three wins in the first three individual events.
Late on, Reese Branzell finished first in the 100 free (43.49), and Ian Grum led the way in the 200 back (1:42.94). Connor Haigh was the winner of the 200 breast in 2:01.38, with teammates Arie Voloschin (2:02.33) and Jackson Bates (2:03.00) completing the 1-2-3 finish. In one of the top head-to-head races of the day, Van Renen won his second individual race by out-touching Auburn’s Sohib Khaled in the 100 fly, 48.21 to 48.23, and Hils scored the win in the 200 IM (1:46.94). Matthew Bray won 1-meter diving (352.95).
The Auburn men were dominant in relays Saturday. Aidan Stoffle, Henry Bethel, Nate Stoffle and Kalle Makinen crushed a time of 1:26.30 in the 200 medley relay before Aidan Stoffle, Makinen, Ryan Husband and Benjamin Chateigner bookended the meet with a 400 free relay win (2:57.03). Bethel provided Auburn’s first individual win in the 100 breast (54.90) before Makinen was the only man under 20 in the 50 free (19.94). Auburn’s Whit Andrus finished first in 3-meter diving (384.75).