Swimcloud

Auburn, Georgia Win SEC

By Lisa Caprioglio

It was a great night to be an SEC swim fan!  In a meet that was packed and full of energy and excitement, we saw many amazing swims and a team title race that was just about as close as it could get.  It was in this intense atmosphere that the SEC teams went to war, battling it out for an SEC team title.  At the end of an incredible night, it was the Auburn Tigers on the men’s side and the Georgia Bulldogs on the women’s side, who won SEC team titles!

There was not an empty seat in the house, as the top seeded milers stepped up to the blocks.  Georgia’s Martin Grodzki swam an excellent race from lap one to lap 66, taking the SEC title in a time of 14:36.99, and posting the fastest time in the country so far.  Florida’s Conor Signorin took the silver with a swim out of an afternoon heat, swimming a 14:52.11.  After the event Florida extended their lead on Auburn, with the Gators leading the tigers 594 to 589.  

The women’s 1650 solidified Georgia’s historic dominance in the distance events, with another bulldog mile victory.  Georgia’s Wendy Trott finished in a time of 15:53.24 and was followed by Tennessee’s Aleksa Akerfelds in a time of 16:00.84.  Trott is only the second woman to win three consecutive SEC 1,650 titles!  The event placed the Georgia Bulldogs 43 points ahead of the Florida Gators, 549 to 506.  
The men’s 200 back was a truly great race! It came down to the touch with Florida’s Marco Loughran, 1:40.11, and Auburn’s Kyle Owens, 1:40.36.  Florida came away with the win, but Auburn came away with more points, taking the lead by 26 points.  Florida teammates Elizabeth Beisel and Teresa Crippen battled it out in the 200 backstroke in another close race with Beisel touching just before Crippen in a time of 1:51.55.  Georgia’ s Kelsey Gaid took the bronze. The Gators closed the gap in team points to 22, behind the Bulldogs.  

The men’s 100 free was an Auburn victory, producing both the event champion and a big chunk of team points.  Adam Brown swam a blazing 41.92, with Auburn taking 1st, 3rd, 4th and 7th in the event, with new team scores of Auburn 709 to Florida 653.  The crowd cheered as Rowdy Gaines was at the meet to present the award.  

With the women in the championship final of the 100 free parading to the blocks, spectators wondered whether Auburn’s Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace would be able to top this morning’s performance.  It turned out she was able to re-create it precisely, tying her SEC, NCAA and US Open record from her prelim swim. Georgia’s Morgan Scroggy got second, 47.66, and LSU’s Amanda Kendall gets third, 47.90.  After the free, the Bulldogs led the Gators, 630 to 587.  

The men’s 200 breast was an exciting event, with several leader changes throughout the event.  The title sent to Tennessee’s Brad Craig in a time of 1:54.24, with Georgia’s Bill Cregar finishing second in 1:54.56.  With one individual event left to go, Auburn was ahead of Florida 673 to 620.  

The women’s 200 breast got the fans on their feet, especially fans from South Carolina, as Amanda Rutqvist captured their first SEC title ever, in a time of 2:08.56, a new SEC record! Second place went to Auburn’s Micah Lawrence, in a time of 2:10.23.  With one individual event to go, Georgia women 663 and Florida 615.

Defending SEC champion and record holder, Georgia’s Mark Dylla, proved that he owns the 200 butterfly, beating out two Florida gators, Marcin Cieslak and Sebastien Rousseau, to take the title again.  Dylla swam a new SEC record of 1:41.35, and became the first swimmer to win the 200 fly four years in a row.  Headed into the 400 free relay, Auburn men led Florida 759 to 748.  

In an extremely close race between Florida’s Teresa Crippen and Tennessee’s Kelsey Floyd, Crippen edged out Floyd, winning in a time of 1:53.95.  Headed into the relay, Georgia women up on Auburn, 686 to 648.  

With four men in the championship final of the 100 free earlier in the night, the Auburn men were easily the favorite for the 400 free relay.  The Tigers put together a great relay, winning in a time of 2:49.95, beating out the Florida Gators, 2:51.93.  

With the win, Auburn sealed the SEC team title, taking home the championship for the 15th straight year in a row!  In the women’s relay, all the Georgia Bulldogs had to do was not get disqualified in order to win the championship.  They did much more than that, putting together a great relay that led the heat up through the final leg, when Auburn’s Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace swam a great anchor leg, bringing home the title for Auburn in a time of 3:13.03.  With a final score of 720, the Georgia women win the SEC team title for the second year in a row!

Final Team SEC Scores 
Men: 
Auburn  799
Florida   782
Tennessee  602
Georgia  496
LSU  271.5
Alabama  271
South Carolina  217
Kentucky  199  

Women:
Georgia  720   
Florida   678     
Auburn  563   
Tennessee  466.5  
LSU   393
South Carolina  252  
Kentucky 236
Arkansas  210
Alabama  195.5  
Vanderbilt  78

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