Led by quadruple event winner Eddy Matkovic, the North Carolina men¹s swimming and diving team opened its 2004-05 dual meet season with a 174-126 upset win over the Georgia Bulldogs. The Lady Dogs extracted revenge however, earning three automatic NCAA cuts en route to a 157-141 over UNC.

The win by Carolina's men was their first over the Georgia Bulldogs since a 157-141 triumph on October 26, 1995 at Koury Natatorium.

"I've been saying all fall that I really like the makeup of our men's team," said Tar Heel head coach Frank Comfort. "Our guys performed well today, led by two superb seniors, Eddy Matkovic and Reid Owen. We had some younger swimmers come through as well. And when Georgia made a charge in the second half of the meet we answered it."

In their defense, the Bulldogs were without some of their top swimmers, including Robert Margalis and Sebastian Rouault, who will join the team in January.

"We were missing a few able bodies on the men's side," offered Bauerle. "We were without five of our top eight guys. Some of the young guys grew up quickly and did a heck of a job. We look to have the makings of a really good team, although we will be a little thin until January."

Freshman Gil Stovall won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:47.15 and senior Peter Osborn touched first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:49.05

"We have a budding star in Gil Stovall," offered Bauerle. "He is going to be one of the best swimmers in the country."

Damian Alleyne, who competed for Barbados in the 2004 Olympic Games won the 100-yard freestyle event, while sophomore diver Chris Colwill took top honors in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events.

Eddy Matkovic, a senior from Columbus, Ohio, led the Tar Heels to victory as he swept the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly while also swimming the butterfly leg on UNC¹s 200-yard medley relay and anchoring the 400-yard freestyle relay.

The UNC men posted a time of 1:30.12, over two seconds faster than any Tar Heel 200 free relay from the 2003-04 season. Freshman John Sands anchored the team, finishing the freestyle leg with a superb 19.8 second split.

UNC senior co-captain Reid Owen was a two-event winner for the Tar Heels as he swept the the distance freestyle events, winning at both 500 and 1000 yards.

"North Carolina is a tough team, and I am proud of how our guys competed," said Bauerle.

On the women's side, Georgia was equally short-handed, as returning national champions Kara Lynn Joyce and Mary DeScenza, as well as freshman Amanda Weir spent the week at the World Championships in Indianapolis.

The Tarheels edged Georgia by 0.04, but Georgia touched first in nine of the next 10 swimming events to put the meet out of reach. Freshman Elizabeth Hill was a double winner for Georgia, taking top honors in both the 200-yard freestyle (1:48.91) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:49.63). Fellow newcomer Erin Forster won both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events.

"Both Erin Forster and Elizabeth Hill did a great job for us today," added Bauerle. "They will help us out tremendously this year."

Three Lady Bulldogs stamped their ticket to the NCAA Championships, as junior Laura Conway and freshman Stephanie Carr swam under the NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 1650-yard freestyle. Conway touched first in 16:19.32, followed by Carr in second in 16:23.15. Junior Sarah Poewe, fresh off a bronze-medal performance at the 2004 Olympic Games, won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:01.92 to guarantee a trip to NCAAs.

"On the women¹s side, UNC's Lindsey Marck was magnificent with a pair of lifetime bests and our divers were really terrific." On the women¹s side, Carolina was led by freshman Lindsey Marck who swept both the 100- and 200-yard butterfly events in personal best times. Marck¹s time was 2:00.88 in the 200 and in the 100 it was 54.81. Marck also swam the butterfly leg as Carolina took top honors in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:43.21 and she led off the 400-yard freestyle relay which won that event in a time of 3:27.47. Carolina also went 1-2-3 in the one-meter diving as Kate Lewis, Gia Santoro and Lauren Karatanevski swept the top three honors.

"I am really proud of how this team competed without Kara Lynn, Mary and Amanda," said Bauerle. "To win a meet against this competition without those three is a real tribute to our team."

The Tar Heels return to dual meet action when they host the Minnesota men, Richmond women and Virginia Tech November 5 and 6. Georgia will open the home portion of the season next Wednesday against Clemson.