Arkansas Falls to UGA, But Razorbacks Win 200 Medley with 21.6 Anchor

ARKANSAS V. GEORGIA

• October 13th, 2018
• Fayetteville, Arkansas
• Results
• Scores: Georgia 170.5, Arkansas 129.5

Things are happening with the Arkansas Razorbacks. Taking advantage of a UGA team with a flat 200 medley relay, Arkansas opened up their dual meet with a surprising win.

The Razorbacks touched at 1:41.18, nearly a full second clear of Georgia’s 1:42.11. Arkansas senior Sydney Angell was a 28.63 on the breast leg, well ahead of UGA’s Sofia Carnevale (29.20), a transfer from UNLV. The big split came at the end, though, as Arkansas’ Anna Hopkin delivered a huge 21.66 split to seal the deal.

Hopkin, the 2017 British National Champion in the 50 free, is clearly a game-changing newcomer for the Razorbacks. In her NCAA debut, she won the 50 free in 22.29 and the 100 free in 48.88, some of the fastest swims we’ve seen from a dual meet this year (though, of course, it’s early). She nearly set team records in both races, and broke Maritza Corriea’s 50 free pool record from 2002. Corriea was the first black woman to make a U.S. Olympic swimming roster as well as the first black woman to set an American record.

Hopkin was also 54.96 in the 100 fly, but Georgia’s freshman butterfly duo, Dakota Luther (54.41) and Olivia Carter (54.76), beat her to the wall. Carter was everywhere for the Bulldogs, taking the 200 fly (1:59.06) and 200 IM (2:03.57).

Double winners on UGA’s side also included Courtney Harnish, who took the 500 free (4:48.24) and 1000 free (9:52.98), and freshman Callie Dickinson, who swept the backstrokes (55.79 and 1:58.15). Jordan Stout had a strong showing in the 200 free with a 1:48.73.

Arkansas senior Angell took both breaststrokes, going 1:03.05 in the 100 and 2:16.45 in the 200. Between her, Hopkin, their medley relay, and Brooke Schultz‘ diving wins on both boards, the Razorbacks came up with an impressive seven wins against Georgia.

Notably, freshman Eva Merrell was a no-show for the Bulldogs. One of the highest-ranked recruits in the high school class of 2018, she hasn’t registered an official time in any race since spring of 2017.