The Georgia Bulldogs women won their 100th win at the Gabrielsen Natatorium today against conference foes. They defeated Tennessee for 3rd straight year with a final score of 173.5-121.5. The Georgia Bulldogs men also defeated the Tennessee Volunteers men for a third straight year, with a final score of 165 to 135.
Women’s Meet
The Bulldogs A team of Olivia Smoliga, Emily Cameron, Kylie Stewart and Meaghan Raab finished the 200-yard medley relay in 1:39.49, just out touching the Tennessee A team who finished in 1:39.62.
Distance specialist Brittany MacLean garnered valuable points for the Bulldogs, winning 2 individual events, starting with a back to back victory in the 1000-yard free (9:38.73) and 200-yard free (1:46.29). She went to dominate the 500-yard free event, clocking in in 4:45.65, finishing more than 3 seconds ahead of the field.
MacLean’s teammates Smoliga, Hali Flickinger, Annie Zhu and Olivia Ball were all double winners. Smoggier won both the freestyle sprints in NCAA ‘B-cuts’, stopping the clock in the 50 free in 22.67 and the 100 free in 49.74, to tie with Tennessee’s Faith Johnson. Flickinger earned numerous points for the Bulldogs, winning both the 200-yard fly (1:56.44) and 200-yard backstroke (1:54.96) and placing 2nd in the 100-yard back (53.80), behind teammate Stewart (53.53). Zhu dominated the breaststroke events of the day, winning the 100 in 1:02.74 and the 200 in 2:14.07. Ball showcased her talents in the diving events, winning the 1m and 3m in scores of 280.58 and 293.03 respectively.
Other wins of the day were:
- 100 fly: Madeline Banic (53.24)(Tennessee)
- 200 IM: Raab (1:59.20)
- 400 free relay: Stewart, Smoliga, MacLean and Flicking (3:19.67)
Men’s Meet
The Tennessee men started the meet with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the Bulldogs. The Volunteers A team of Sean Lehane, Peter Stevens, Tyler Mills and Kyle Decoursey touched the pads in 1:26.11, just ahead of the Bulldogs A team of Taylor Dale, James Guest, Pace Clark and Michael Trice who finished in 1:26.74.
Trice went on to win both the free events, stopping the clock in the 50 in a time of 19.79 and in the 100 in a time of 44.25. Dale was also a double winner of the day, winning the 100-yard back in 46.72 and the 100-yard fly in 47.15. Their teammates Clark, Guest and Gunnar Bentz also earned valuable points for the Bulldogs, winning the 200-yard fly (1:44.87), the 200-yard breast (2:00.34) and the 200-yard IM (1:46.40) respectively.
Brothers Jay Litherland and Kevin Litherland also took victories for the Bulldogs, winning the 200-yard free in a NCAA ‘B-cut’ time of 1:36.75 and the 1000-yard free in a time of 9:10.61 respectively.
Tennessee showed their strength on the diving boards, when Liam Stone won on both boards, scoring 439.73 points on the 3m and 355.13 points on the 1m. His teammate Stevens took the victory in the 100-yard breast, clocking in in NCAA ‘B-cut’ time of 52.35. They look another win in the 500-yard free, when Sam McHugh touched the pads in 4:25.73.
The final event of the day, the 400 free relay was dominate by the Bulldogs when the A team of Matias Koski, Dale, Clark and Trice touched the pads in 2:56.75.
It seems like little dolphin kicks at the end of each breaststroke kick is becoming more and more accepted. When there is a splash that comes up at the end of the kick it’s hard to argue that there isn’t something illegal going on…
Oh my. Stevens’ exchange and pullout in the 200MR worth watching.
Race videos here
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI9IWEKnGR9leOZrPnOzpGw/videos?shelf_id=0&sort=dd&view=0
Peter Stevens 23.0 and 52.3 in the breastrokes… Wow!