Feb. 27, 2008
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s swimming team broke school records in both relay events and is in second place after the first night of the ACC Swimming championships at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center on Wednesday. The Jackets broke school records in both the 200-medley relay and the 800-free relay. In addition, junior Noah Copeland set a school record of 1:35.79 for his 200-free leadoff time.
Virginia won both events tonight and leads the way with 80 points. Tech is second with 66 points, while Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech all have 60 points.
“Obviously to have three school records in two events on the first night is a great way to start the meet,” Georgia Tech head coach Stu Wilson said. “Our team is really pumped and now we need to carry this momentum into the rest of the meet.”
Just two events on the first night and the first one, the 200-medley relay, went down to the wire. The Georgia Tech team of Matthew Tang, Mickey Malul, Onur Uras and Mauricio Sousa finished third in a time of 1:27.68, just .06 seconds behind second-place Florida State and ..57 seconds behind first-place Virginia. The mark by the Jackets shattered the previous school record by more than two full seconds and was a NCAA “B”-cut.
The first day concluded with the 800-free relay and junior Noah Copeland got the Jackets off on the right foot. His time of 1:35.79 for the first 200 yards established a new school record. Virginia took over from there, but the rest of the Georgia Tech team consisting of Uras, Ralph Long and Travis Wagner finished second in a new school record time of 6:31.97. The NCAA “B” cut beat the school record by three seconds and was more than 18 seconds ahead of their season best.
The ACC Men’s Championship runs through Saturday at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. Prelims begin daily at 11:00 a.m. while finals will get underway each night at 7:00 p.m. Thursday’s events include the 500-free, 200-IM, 50-free and 200-free relay. Friday will feature the 400-IM, 100-fly, 200-free, 100-breast, 100-back and the 400-medley relay while the 1650-free, 200-back, 100-free, 200-breast, 200-fly and 400-free relay will take place Saturday.
Admission will be free for all fans. For those who can’t make it, live streaming video and live stats will be available through ACC Select.
