Swimcloud

Georgia Tech Invite - Day 1

Alabama

Alabama swimmer Mia Nonnenberg opened up the individual finals of the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational in a big way, crushing the Crimson Tide school record in the 500 freestyle that had stood for 30 years.

The sophomore touched the wall with a time of 4:43.98, taking second place and shaving more than three seconds off the previous mark set by Laurence Bensimon in 1985. Coming into the finals, the 500 was one of just two individual women’s records on the books older than five years. The 500 is Nonnenberg’s third school record, joining the 200 and 400 individual medley marks she broke during her rookie campaign.

Junior Anton McKee and sophomore Christopher Reid both picked up wins on the first of three days in Atlanta. McKee posted a season-best 4:17.46 to win the 500 freestyle while Reid posted a career-best 1:46.04 in the 200 individual medley. Both men are ranked second all-time at Alabama in their respective events.

The Tide also won both the men’s and women’s 400 medley relays. Senior Emma Saunders and junior Bridget Blood combined with sophomores Hannah Musser and Temarie Tomley to win the women’s relay with a time of 3:35.80. On the men’s side of the race, sophomore Luke Kaliszak, McKee, junior Connor Oslin and freshman Robert Howard won with a 3:10.59.

Kaliszak was second in the 50 freestyle with a 19.87 while Howard was eighth with a 20.56.

Saunders posted a career-best 1:59.59 in the 200 individual medley, taking third and moving up to fifth all-time at Alabama. Sophomore Paige Matherson posted a career-best time of her own in the 500 freestyle, taking seventh with a 4:51.54, which ranks her seventh all-time at Alabama.

Senior Justine Panian was one of three Tide swimmers to post a top-10 finish in the 50 freestyle, taking seventh with a 23.26. Freshman Morgan Fleming and Musser were ninth and 10th, respectively. Fleming touched the wall at 23.39 while Musser posted a 23.48.

The Tide started out the meet with Kaliszak, Howard, freshman Knox Auerbach and senior Crews Wellford combining to take second in the 200 freestyle relay with a 1:20.45 while sophomore Temarie Tomley, freshman Morgan Fleming, Musser and Panian took third in the women's race with a 1:31.04.

 

Florida Gulf Coast

The No. 24 FGCU swimming and diving team finished the first day at the Georgia Tech Invite in second place after turning in a pair of school records and finishing first in two other events at the McAuley Aquatics Center on Thursday night.

"It was a great day one for the girls as they started fast and put themselves in a good position for the rest of the weekend," said FGCU head coach Neal Studd. "We had a number of girls achieve NCAA qualifying times and broke a couple school records with Barbara and Lani. Overall, we showed a lot of depth and are excited to keep it rolling tomorrow."

The 200-yard freestyle relay of Katie Latham (Deal, Kent, United Kingdom/Sir Roger Manwood's School), Kristin Julien (San Fernand, Trinidad & Tobago/St. Stephen's College), Barbara Caraballo (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Indian River/Newsome HS) and Katie Armitage (Bushey, United Kingdom/Queens School Bushey) got the final events started as they edged quartets from nationally-ranked Arkansas and Alabama to win the event in a season-best time of 1:30.61.

In the 500-yard freestyle, Lani Cabrera (Bridgetown, Barbados/St. Ursala's Secondary School) set a school record after touching the pads in 4:47.43, breaking Leah Daniel's mark that had stood since 2011. She finished fourth and achieved a NCAA 'B' cut in the event. Earlier in the day, Linda Shaw (Leeds, United Kingdom/Roundhay HS) set a personal-best time of 4:59.88 in the preliminaries, good for the third-fastest time in program history. Shaw finished fifth in the finals with a time of 4:50.16, while teammate Melissa Marinheiro (Davie, Fla./West Broward HS) finished eighth in 4:54.18.

In the morning session, Caraballo set another FGCU school record and achieved a NCAA 'B' cut in the 200-yard IM after clocking a time of 2:00.53 in the preliminary event. In the finals, she finished eighth after touching the pads in 2:02.02. Armitage finished second in the 'B' final in a personal-best time of 2:01.94.

Later, Latham notched the Eagles second win of the session as she finished first in the 50-yard freestyle in a personal- and season-best time of 22.32 seconds. The United Kingdom native not only achieved a NCAA 'B' cut and set a meet record in the event, but also turned in the fifth-fastest time in program history. Teammate Sara Hamilton (Stonehaven, Scotland/Mackie Academy) placed eighth in a personal-best time of 23.29 seconds, while Julien set a personal record and won the 'B' final in a time 23.09 seconds.

To cap off the swimming events for day one, the 400-yard medley relay of Elise Haan (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS), Armitage, Yee Ching Wong (Hong Kong, China/Diocesan Girls' School) and Latham turned in yet another season-best time of 3:37.39 and finished second in the event behind the Crimson Tide.

Entering day two on Friday, the Green and Blue trail No. 21 Arkansas by 75 points and lead No. 18 Alabama and No. 46 South Carolina, among other prominent programs. 

 

Georgia Tech

The Georgia Tech swimming and diving team completed the first day of the Georgia Tech Invitational at McAuley Aquatic Center on Thursday night. The men are currently in 3rd with 287.5 points, while the women are in 6th at 92 points.

The day was highlighted by the efforts of Noah Harasz, Youssef Hammoud, Edwin Zhao and Robert Borowicz, who combined to form the winning 200 freestyle relay team.

In individual events, the Jackets had six total participants who qualified for A-Final races, meaning they finished in the top-10 in preliminary events. Yuval Safra led the way individually, finishing 3rd in the men’s 500 freestyle.

The women were led by Chiara Ruiu, who finished 11th in the women’s 500 freestyle preliminary, setting a career-best time of 4:54.54.

 

South Carolina

The South Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams traveled to Atlanta for a three-day, talent-packed meet at the Georgia Tech Invitational. Both programs would post solid results on the first day, with the men sitting second out of 11 teams and the women fourth of 16.

Both sides would score well right off the bat in the 500 free. The women would see seven swimmers score between the ‘A’ and ‘B’ finals, led by Ashleigh Ferguson (10th) and Sarah Smith (11th). The men placed three in the ‘A’ final, and all three would finish in the top five overall to score big. Akaram Mahmoud led the Gamecocks in the event with a second-place finish (4:17.53).

South Carolina’s first individual winner on day one came in the women’s 200 IM. Freshman Emma Barksdale won by .03 seconds, with Kersten Dirrane (9th) and Marissa DelGado (10th) also scoring in the ‘A’ final. For the men, five Gamecocks packed the top eight overall in the 200 IM, led by Nils Wich-Glasen and Kevin Leithold in second and third, respectively.

For the relays, the women finished sixth in the 200 free and seventh in the 400 medley. The men scored big with third-place decisions in the 200 free and 400 medley, setting themselves up in a position to take the lead in the team standings Friday.

On the boards, the Gamecocks enjoyed equal success in the meet’s first day. For the women, Julia Vincent finished second overall and Marissa Roth placed ninth in the 1-meter dive final. Vincent was the top qualifier out of the morning prelims, and improved her score in the finals with a total of 330.40. The men started the meet out with the 3-meter dive. Jordan Gotro scored for South Carolina with an eighth place finish in the finals, scoring 325.60.

In the team standings, the women are 85 points behind the overall leader, Arkansas. Carolina’s men are just ten points off the lead, behind Alabama.

 

UNLV

UNLV's sprint group were the highlight of the day for the Rebel swimming and diving program, winning both the men's 50 free while taking second in the women's race after the first day of action in the Georgia Tech Invitational, from the McAuley Aquatic Center.

The Rebels, who sent selected group to the meet instead of the full roster, stand in fifth on the women's side in scoring with 151 points, trailing Arkansas, Florida Gulf Coast, Alabama and South Carolina while leading Georgia Tech in the 16-team field. The men's field, which features 11 teams, has Alabama first, followed by South Carolina, Georgia Tech, and UNLV in fourth with 147.5 points.

"Our women were outstanding today," said UNLV interim head coach Bobby Folan. "We only brought four swimmers and two divers so they knew they would be put to the test. They ended the day with several lifetime bests, and have made big improvements so far this season. Our divers are also making headway with some new dives which will put them in a great position for conference. Our swimmers each had three of four swims tonight and brought some heat each time they stepped up on the blocks.

"It was a similar case with our men, with only seven swimmers and one diver we were able to make some noise against full squads from other teams," continued Folan. "After a big of a sluggish start we got started and turned in many season and lifetime best swims. Luke (James) was great on the boards, narrowly missing finals, and Dillon (VIrva) stormed home in his 50 free to take the win and solidify his top spot in the conference rankings."

The night started off with the 200 free relay finals. Both Rebel teams placed fourth, beginning with the women's squad of Julai Fehervari, Lina Rathsack, Michelle Troup and Elena Gavrilova in a time of 1:31.53. In the men's event, Virva, Kasey Foley, Christian Sobczak and Forrest Beesley posted a fourth-place time of 1:21.19.

The 200 IM saw Rathsack turn in a strong swim, finishing in sixth place, behind five swimmers from the SEC, with a 'B' provisional time of 2:00.93. Boris Kulizhnikov was the top finisher in the men's event, playing 12th in 1:49.61. Next was the 50 free, where Fehervari swam out to a 22.74, good for runner-up honors and a 'B' cut as well. Rathsack also scored in the final heat, placing sixth in 23.03. Virva meanwhile took care of things in the men's 50 free, touching the wall in 19.78, just one of two swimmers to break 20 seconds. It was also a 'B' time for the Rebel senior. Joining him in the top eight was Foley, who tied for sixth in 20.40.

The last final of the night was the 400 medley relay. Gavrilova, Rathsack, Fehervari and Troup swam on the women's team and finished in fifth in 3:42.64. Hannon Daigler, Kulizhnikov, Avi Cohen and Foley comprised the men's relay squad, and would finish in fourth place in 3:19.80.

 

Campbell

Michelle Case set the school 50 freestyle record to lead Campbell on day one of the Georgia Tech Invitational Thursday.

Campbell stands 10th in the 16-team standings with 63 points, edging out Florida Atlantic (62) and Georgia Southern (57). Arkansas leads the event with 338 points.

Case posted a time of 23.61 in Thursday’s preliminary round to set a new Campbell record. The sophomore then notched a 23.66 finals mark, finishing 18th. Case’s time broke Ashlyn Stumpf’s 2009 mark (23.80).

Geena Squartino posted a season-best 5:02.49 in the 500 free, finishing 24th.

Campbell took 10th in both the 200 freestyle (1:35.23) and the 400 medley relays (3:50.11).

 

Georgia Southern

Georgia Southern Swimming & Diving had a solid opening day to the Georgia Tech Invitational in what is shaping up to be an ultra-competitive meet. The McAuley Aquatic Center is hosting some of the nation’s top squads as Georgia Tech prepares to hold the NCAA Championships this year.

Kylee Parsons and Anna Rose Moore made the Eagles’ only individual appearances in the finals, earning a second swim in the 500 Free. The Eagles placed ninth in the 200 Free Relay and placed 11th in the 400 Medley Relay.

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