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"I feel like we swam really well but unfortunately got beat, something we haven't experienced in a long while," AU Coach David Marsh said about the women's meet. "My hats off to Georgia. They are a very strong team. On the women's side we will have to get substantially better to compete for the championship against them at the NCAAs.
"I was very pleased in the ways we swam in many situations. We had a lot of people especially our freshman class, swim very well. We obviously have some areas to get much better in. This is our first meet of the season and I am sure that didn't help us," Marsh said.
Swimming a 13-event short order format, the AU women won five events, highlighted by Hayley Peirsol's school record swim in the 1000 freestyle (9:40.06).
Kirsty Coventry, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the 200 back and the bronze medalist in the 200 IM, cruised to NCAA automatic times in both events, winning the 200 back in a time of 1:57.07 and the 200 IM in a time of 1:59.13.
Adrienne Binder made it a clean sweep for the women in the middle distance freestyle events, winning the 500 free with a 4:44.67, just ahead of Peirsol, who went 4:46.15.
Lynnsey Segraves rounded out the AU women's teams' wins as she claimed top honors in the 1-meter diving competition with a final score of 257.32.
The top-ranked Lady Bulldogs won eight of 13 events en route to the victory.
With the women's victory, head coach Jack Bauerle earned his 350th career dual meet victory.
"I am proud of our team, both the ladies and the guys," said head coach Jack Bauerle. "The women's meet was a high-level meet, one of the highest we have ever been. Some races in particular, the 200 fly and the 200 free, were NCAA scoring swims in mid-season. I could not be happier. I am real excited for the kids."
The Lady Bulldog foursome of Erin Forster, Lindsey Ertter, Mary DeScenza and Amanda Weir got the meet of to a good start, as the team won the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:38.90. Kara Lynn Joyce touched first to win the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.55), and Weir led a 1-2 finish in the 50-yard freestyle to extend Georgia's lead. Joyce won her second event of the night as she took top honors in the 100-yard freestyle in 48.99.
DeScenza won the 200-yard butterfly in 1:55.96, and Melissa Klein finished first in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:14.71. The women capped the meet by going 1-2 in the final event of the night --- the 400-yard freestyle relay.
The Lady Bulldogs got a big boost from the diving well, as sophomore Emily Hunter finished first on the 1-meter springboard event with an overall score of 281.40. Brooke Bassham finished third. Bassham took third on the 3-meter, with Hunter finishing fourth.
"Emily winning was a real turning point," said Bauerle. "I am real proud of her."
"Kara Lynn, Amanda and Mary D, Lindsey and Paige had a great meet," added Bauerle. "Paige, Melissa (Klein) and Katie (Yevak) swam well, and they are going to be the ones that will change our team."
The Auburn men had the fastest time in nine out of the 11 swimming events, which included four out of the five freestyle events with Ryan Wochomurka winning the 50 free (20.24), Fred Bousquet winning the 100 free (44.18), George Bovell winning the 200 free (1:36.56) and BJ Jones capturing the 1000 free (9:04.47).
Other men's winners were Eric Shanteau in the 200 IM (1:48.27), Chad Barlow in the 200 back (1:48.70) and Sean Osborne in the 200 breast (2:03.39).
Auburn claimed also claimed the top time in both relays, winning the 400 medley in a time of 3:17.61 (Doug Van Wie * 48.80, Osborne * 56.06, Bousquet * 48.24, Wochomurka * 44.51) and the 400 free relay in a time of 2:58.92 (Shai Livnat * 46.34, Wochomurka * 43.46, Bovell * 43.73, Seth Barry * 45.39).
The dual meet loss was the first for the Auburn women since Stanford knocked off the Tigers on Jan. 8, 1999, a string of 40-consecutive dual meet wins. Auburn's men, meanwhile, have now won 25 in a row.
