With the seniors starring in their final home meet, the No. 1-ranked Georgia women’s swimming and diving team earned its 100th consecutive victory at Gabrielsen Natatorium on Saturday.
The Lady Bulldogs dispatched No. 17 Wisconsin 172-123 to extend their Division I swimming and diving record that began Nov. 8, 1995. Georgia is 101-1 all-time in Gabrielsen Natatorium.
“Winning 100 consecutive meets at home is a funny feeling,” said Georgia head coach Jack Bauerle. “I feel like I’ve seen part of my life flash before my eyes. It’s a little bit a feeling of relief, but mostly appreciation. It’s a big point of pride for our program and for Georgia athletics.”
The No. 4 Bulldogs also won on Saturday, knocking off the 17th-ranked Badgers 172-122.
The Lady Bulldogs improved to 9-0, their 14th undefeated season in school history, while the Bulldogs wound up at 8-1.
Prior to Saturday’s meet, the members of Georgia’s senior class were recognized. Brittany MacLean, Hali Flickinger and Annie Zhu transferred that energy to the pool with a combined seven individual wins.
MacLean won three freestyle races, taking the 200 in 1:48.15, the 500 in 4:47.37 and the 1,000 in 9:37.31. Flickinger won the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:56.18 and the 100 butterfly in 53.82. Zhu claimed the breaststroke races, the 100 in 1:02.96 and the 200 in 2:13.26.
Olivia Ball won both 1- and 3-meter diving with 299.85 and 333.30 points, respectively. Georgia’s other winners were Kylie Stewart in the 100 backstroke (53.89), Megan Kingsley in the 200 butterfly (1:57.16) and Emily Cameron in the 200 individual medley (2:00.29).
The Lady Bulldogs won the 200 medley relay as Olivia Smoliga, Cameron, Stewart and Meaghan Raab touched in 1:40.10. Smoliga, MacLean, Raab and Flickinger reached the wall first in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:20.36.
Ty Stewart, another senior, paced the Bulldogs with three wins. He took the 100 and 200 butterfly in 47.93 and 1:45.60, respectively, and the 200 individual medley in 1:46.98.
Taylor Dale swept the backstrokes, claiming the 100 in 47.55 and the 200 in 1:45.24.
The Bulldogs also got wins from Michael Trice in the 50 freestyle (20.00), John Mattern in the 100 breaststroke (55.86), Spencer Madanay on 3-meter springboard (335.10) and Ian Forlini on 1-meter springboard (337.43 points).
The 200 medley relay of Dale, Gunnar Bentz, Pace Clark and Trice won in 1:27.07. Matias Koski, Dale, Bentz and Trice also combined for a win in the 400 freestyle relay in 2:56.16.
Georgia will compete in the SEC Championship Feb. 16-20 in Columbia, Mo.
Wisconsin
Despite a quick turnaround from yesterday’s tri-meet at Auburn, the Wisconsin men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams buckled down and overcame the time constraint to produce a number of impressive swims in a dual meet against No. 1/4 Georgia in Athens on Saturday.
The No. 17 Badger women ultimately fell to the top-ranked Bulldogs, 172-123, while the No. 17 UW men’s team was defeated by No. 4 UGA, 172-122.
“Today was very difficult coming off of travel and the meet that we had at Auburn,” head coach Whitney Hite said. “To come back and really refocus and make sure that we kept fighting, I thought that overall we did a really nice job of that. It’s very difficult and the way they competed was good.”
Despite the loss, Wisconsin put up a number of outstanding individual performances, highlighted by pairs of first-place finishes from juniors Matt Hutchins, Chase Kinney, and Brett Pinfold.
Hutchins remained unbeaten in the 1000-yard freestyle this season, as the distance swimmer clocked in at 9 minutes, 1.53 seconds to win the event by over 8.5 seconds. Hutchins also claimed the crown in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:21.91, just under six seconds fast than the runner-up swimmer.
“Matt’s time in the 500-yard freestyle, that’s as good of a time as you’re going to see in the country,” Hite said. “That was really good.”
Kinney was the shining star for the women today, as the junior claimed the title in both the 50- and 100-yard races, recording times of 22.46 and 49.23 seconds, respectively.
Wisconsin’s Brett Pinfold continued his stellar swimming for the weekend with a second-consecutive win in the 200-yard freestyle, as the junior bested his time from Friday's tri-meet in Alabama, clocking in at 1:36.22 to win the event by only two-hundredths of a second.
Pinfold also claimed a title in the 200-yard individual medley touching the wall in 1:48.34.
Cannon Clifton dominated the sprint events for the Badgers once again, as the junior was first in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 44.00 seconds. Pinfold was third touching the wall at 44. 23 seconds.
Clifton also claimed a runner-up finish in the 50-yard freestyle, as he recorded a time of 20.22 seconds.
Senior Jake Mandli nearly set a new season-best time in the 200-yard breaststroke, as he pushed through to win the event in a time of 1:59.73.
Finishing the women’s 200-yard individual medley 1-2-3, Madeline Hazle led the way for UW with the winning time of 2:05.07. Grace Wold was second in 2:05.47, while Anna Meinholz took third with a time of 2:05.60.
The men had impressive finishes in the individual medley as well, spearheaded by Pinfold’s first-place time. Todd McCarthy was second with a time of 1:49.95, while Josh Anderson was third in 1:52.13. Ryan O’Donnell finished out the Badger run in the event with a time of 1:56.49, which was good for fourth place.
The Badgers claimed titles in both the men’s and women’s 400-yard freestyle relays, as the men’s squad of Clifton, Hutchins, Ryan Stack, and Ryan Barsanti touched the wall on top with a time of 2:59.16. The women’s team of Jess Unicomb, Kinney, Emmy Sehmann, and Marissa Berg were first as well with a time of 3:20.53.
Austin Byrd captured a pair of runner-up finishes at Saturday's meet, as the senior clocked in at 48.70 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke and finished less than a second behind the event winner.
Byrd was second in the 200-yard backstroke as well, as he touched the wall in 1:45.41.
“There’s a reason why Georgia women are ranked number one in the country,” Hite said. “They’re the best. Jack Bauerle is the best coach.
“They had their 100th-straight dual meet victory on the women’s side. We came up a little short, but I was please with the way we competed. We can use this for us to get better. Georgia is a program that we want to emulate and try to be. Certainly we have a ways to go, but we’re a very good team and we’re getting there.”
In diving, the Badger women dominated the boards in Athens as well, as Ashley Peterson set a new personal record in the 1-meter event with a score of 298.20 points, which was good for second place. Alexandra Hafey was third in the event with a score of 277.43 points, also a personal best.
Hazel Hertting claimed a runner-up finish for the Badgers in the 3-meter discipline with a score of 323.55, while Peterson was third with 308.93 points.
Wisconsin returns home for senior day on Friday to host in-state foe Green Bay for a 5 p.m. (CT) dual at the UW Natatorium.
“We need to continue to focus on the little things, make sure that we’re sharpening up and getting ready for Big Tens and NCAAs.
“Next week we'll have one last opportunity to be our best before it starts to really count,” Hite said. “We have great opportunities. We’re looking forward to Big Tens and setting the table so we can have a big feast at NCAAs.”
