The Georgia swimming and diving teams swept Alabama on Friday at Gabrielsen Natatorium.
The Bulldogs posted a 164-128 decision in their season and SEC opener, while the Lady Bulldogs improved to 2-0 overall and in the league with a 164-130 victory. The Lady Bulldogs also claimed their 91st straight win at home, extending their Georgia all-sports record.
"I thought we were challenged pretty hard today," said Harvey Humphries, Georgia's Acting Head Coach. "So as a staff, we were real proud of how the kids competed. We started out a little bit slow and weren't quite where we were hoping we were going to be, but we kept our composure and raced really, really well."
Ty Stewart was a triple winner to spark the Bulldogs. He posted wins in the 100 and 200 butterfly, 48.41 and 1:46.96, respectively, and in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:46.29.
Nicolas Fink, Kevin Litherland and Jay Litherland each won twice for the Bulldogs. Fink swept the 100 and 200 breaststroke in 55.02 and 2:01.64, respectively. Kevin Litherland took the 500 freestyle in 4:29.99 and the 1,650 freestyle in 15:28.25. Jay Litherland won the 200 freestyle in 1:38.64 and the 400 individual medley in 3:58.54.
Georgia also got wins from Michael Trice in the 100 freestyle (45.03) and Ian Forlini on the 1-meter springboard (326.48 points).
Maddie Locus, Annie Zhu and Kylie Stewart were double winners for the Lady Bulldogs. Locus took the 50 freestyle in 22.94 and the 100 freestyle in 50.44. Zhu touched first in the 200 breaststroke (2:15.01) and the 400 individual medley (4:17.57). Stewart won the 100 and 200 backstroke in 53.75 and 1:57.27, respectively.
Other winners for Georgia were Amber McDermott in the 500 freestyle (4:51.07), Brittany MacLean in the 1,650 freestyle (16:28.26), Lauren Harrington in the 100 butterfly (54.78), Megan Kingsley in the 200 butterfly (1:59.46) and Olivia Ball on the 3-meter springboard (294.30).
Olivia Smoliga, Emily Cameron, Harrington and Locus won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:41.21.
Georgia's teams will visit North Carolina next Friday and North Carolina State on Saturday.
"We are happy with where we are, but we're not where we need to be yet," Humphries said. "We've got a lot of work to do."
The Alabama swimming and diving teams posted strong showings at Georgia Friday afternoon in the Crimson Tide’s road and Southeastern Conference opener, tallying wins in three of the four relays and earning seven individual wins on the day as well as 10 individual runner-up finishes.
The Alabama men fell to the Bulldogs 164-128 while the Tide women lost 164-130 to the defending NCAA and SEC Champion Georgia women. Alabama’s men and women both go to 1-1-0 overall and 0-1-0 in SEC competition.
The Tide men won the opening 200 medley relay with a time of 1:28.46. Sophomore Connor Oslin grabbed a lead over the Bulldogs on the opening leg while classmate Kristian Gkolomeev brought it home with a blistering 19.36 anchor leg that reeled the Bulldogs in with junior Brett Walsh and sophomore Pavel Romanov holding the middle. Gkolomeev also won the 50 freestyle for the second meet this season, posting a 19.87.
Alabama’s women also got to the wall first in the 200 medley relay, posting a 1:40.76 but were disqualified due to an early takeoff. The Tide women bounced back with a second place finish in the mile from sophomore Bonnie Macdonald (16:53.65) followed by a win the 200 freestyle from junior Emma Saunders (1:48.37).
Junior Brian Westlake also picked up a runner-up finish in the mile, posting a 15:44.43 in the men’s race. Freshman Luke Kaliszak earned the Alabama men’s first individual victory on the day as well as the first win of his collegiate career, taking the top spot in the 100 backstroke with a 48.23.
Senior Kaylin Burchell won the 100 breaststroke for the second meet in the row, touching the wall at 1:02.13, bettering a packed field.
Alabama finished the meet strong, winning three of the last four individual events and both of the final relays. Sophomore Taylor Zablocki took first off the women’s 1-meter springboard with a score of 286.80 while sophomore Dylan Marin won the men’s 3-meter diving with a score of 345.75.
Freshman Mia Nonnenberg closed out the Tide’s individual wins. After winning the 200 individual medley against Delta State to start the season, she doubled the distance and came out with the same results, winning the 400 IM in Athens with a 4:15.04.
Vourna, freshman Temarie Tomley, sophomore Bailey Scott and Saunders won the women’s 400 freestyle with a time of 4:23.92. The Tide men finished the meet off by winning the 400 freestyle relay when Walsh, Gkolomeev, sophomore Alex Gray and freshman Will Freeman combined to a post a 3:02.04.
