WATCH: International Champions Bella Sims and Rachel Stege Battle to 4:32s in the 500 Free

2023 GEORGIA INVITATIONAL

• November 16-18, 2023
• Gabrielsen Natatorium, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Prelims start at 9:30AM Eastern, Finals at 5:30 PM Eastern
• Participating teams: #3M/#6W Florida, #13M/#25W Auburn, #17M/#15W Michigan, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Wisconsin (diving)
• Live Stream Links (different per session)
• Meet Results
• Results on Meet Mobile: “UGA Fall Invitational 2023”
• Day 1 Prelims Recap | Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap

Distance races like the 500 free don’t always come down to the wire, but when they do, they’re really exciting.

That was the case on Thursday evening when two of the United States’ best young distance talents, Olympian Bella Sims of Florida and Pan American Games champion Rachel Stege of Georgia, battled to the final touch.

One of the fastest 500-yard freestyle races we’ve seen in the NCAA in a while, seven of the eight A-finalists swam 4:39-or-better in the evening, with the top four (Dune Coetzee of Georgia and Emma Weyant of Florida) all swimming faster than the time that won the NCAA title last year.

• See also: the revitalization of the women’s 500 free in the NCAA.

Thanks to the hosts at the University of Georgia, the video for that race (and most of the rest of the session, where Georgia swimmers were racing) is available online.

MEN’S 500-YARD FREESTYLE — FINALS

• NCAA Record: 4:06.32 — Kieran Smith, Florida (2020)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 4:10.74
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 4:14.36

Top 8:

1. Jake Magahey (UGA) — 4:10.60
2. Mason Mathias (AUB) — 4:11.03
3. Jake Mitchell (FLOR) — 4:12.55
4. Yordan Yanchev (FSU) — 4:13.35
5. Oskar Lindholm (FLOR) — 4:14.24
6. Sam Powe (UGA) — 4:16.35
7. Giovanni Linscheer (FLOR) — 4:16.40
8. Michael Bonson (AUB) — 4:17.58

WOMEN’S 200-YARD IM — FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:48.37 — Kate Douglass, Virginia (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:53.66
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 1:56.90

Top 8:

1. Izzy Ivey (FLOR) — 1:54.18
2. Zoie Hartman (UGA) — 1:54.49
3. Zoe Dixon (FLOR) — 1:55.58
4. Hannah Ownbey (AUB) — 1:56.18
5. Stephanie Balduccini (MICH) — 1:56.94
6. Aris Runnels (FLOR) — 1:58.12
7. Devon Kitchel (MICH) — 1:58.54
8. Maddy Huggins (FSU) — 1:59.99

MEN’S 200-YARD IM — FINALS

• NCAA Record: 1:36.34 — Léon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:41.03
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 1:43.14

Top 8:

1. Berke Saka (GT) — 1:42.19
2. Gal Cohen Groumi (MICH) — 1:42.67
3. Zach Hils (UGA) — 1:43.63
4. Eitan Ben-Shitrit (MICH) — 1:43.65
5. Danny Schmidt (AUB) — 1:43.74
6. Max Wilson (FSU) — 1:44.33
7. Mason Laur (FLOR) — 1:45.39
8. Nils Bognar (GT) — 1:47.29

WOMEN’S 50-YARD FREESTYLE — FINALS

• NCAA Record: 20.79 — Maggie MacNeil, Louisiana State (2023)/Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 21.63
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 22.15

Top 8:

1. Micayla Cronk (FLOR) — 21.97
2. Claire Newman (MICH) — 22.10
3. Lindsay Flynn (MICH) — 22.13
4. Helena Jones (UGA) — 22.37
5. Emma Steckel (AUB) — 22.38
6. Brady Kendall (MICH) — 22.39
7. Lexie Mulvihill (AUB) — 22.42
8. Ekaterina Nikonova (FLOR) — 22.47

MEN’S 50-YARD FREESTYLE — FINALS

• NCAA Record: 17.63 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 18.82
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 19.21

Top 8:

1. Josh Liendo (FLOR) — 18.61
2. Macguire McDuff (FLOR) — 19.28
3. Dillon Downing (UGA) — 19.31
4. Bence Szabados (MICH) — 19.33
5. Reese Branzell (UGA) — 19.41
6. Kalle Makinen (AUB) — 19.50
7. Peter Varjasi (FSU) — 19.51
8. Miles Simon (UGA) — 19.72

WOMEN’S 400-YARD MEDLEY RELAY — FINALS

• NCAA Record: 3:21.80 — Virginia (G. Walsh, A. Walsh, K. Douglass, A. Canny) (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 3:31.38
• 2024 NCAA ‘B’ Standard: 3:33.48

Top 8:

1. Florida ‘A’ (Sims, Mayne, Peoples, Ivey) — 3:28.68
2. Auburn ‘A’ (Merritt, Ownbey, Lee, Nevmovenko) — 3:31.24
3. Florida State ‘A’ (Evans, Huggins, Jernstedt, Muzito) — 3:32.24
4. Auburn ‘B’ — 3:32.89
5. Florida ‘B’ — 3:34.03
6. Georgia ‘A’ — 3:34.47
7. Auburn ‘C’ — 3:35.37
8. Georgia Tech ‘A’ — 3:36.78

MEN’S 400-YARD MEDLEY RELAY — FINALS

• NCAA Record: 2:58.32 — Florida (A. Chaney, D. Hillis, J. Liendo, M. McDuff) (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 3:04.96
• 2024 NCAA ‘B’ Standard: 3:06.84

Top 8:

1. Florida ‘A’ (Chaney, Savickas, Liendo, McDuff) — 3:02.68
2. Auburn ‘A’ (N. Stoffle, Bethel, Khaled, Makinen) — 3:04.48
3. Georgia ‘A’ (van Renen, Haigh, Dunham, Branzell) — 3:05.57
4. Florida ‘B’ — 3:05.83
5. Michigan ‘A’ — 3:06.41
6. Georgia ‘B’ — 3:06.95
7. Auburn ‘B’ — 3:07.13
8. FSU ‘B’ — 3:09.16

TEAM SCORES THRU DAY 1

WOMEN

1. Florida — 292
2. Auburn — 285
3. Michigan — 202
4. Georgia — 198
5. Florida State — 130
6. Georgia Tech — 96

MEN

1. Florida — 315
2. Georgia — 253
3. Auburn — 221
4. Florida State — 144
5. Michigan — 140
6. Georgia Tech — 114
7. Wisconsin (diving only) — 16