Feb. 26, 2015
THE FLATS – A day after setting the school mark in the 200 freestyle, Georgia Tech senior Andrew Kosic set the school record in the 50 freestyle – not once, but twice – Thursday at the ACC Men’s Swimming Championship.
Kosic finished third in the 50 freestyle finals with a school-record time of 19.23 just eight hours after breaking his original 50 free record. During the morning’s 50 free prelims, Kosic broke his previous mark with a time of 19.29.
After two days of events, Georgia Tech is in seventh place with 274.0 points. Virginia Tech leads with 558.0 points, while North Carolina is second with 503.0 points.
“It was a great night. We’re in a battle with a couple of teams right now and that’s fun,” head coach Courtney Shealy Hart said. “I’m so proud of Andrew for breaking the school record twice and Yuval (Safra) for moving up a spot.”
Freshman Noah Harasz and senior Nico van Duijn qualified for the 50 freestyle C finals after posting impressive times in the morning session. Harasz clocked a personal-best time of 19.99 in the prelims. Van Duijn later clocked a personal-best time of 19.98 in the C finals.
In the 200 IM C finals, Mark Sarman finished with a time of 1:47.60, earning five points for the Yellow Jackets.
In the first event of the day, junior Yuval Safra carded a career-best time of 4:21.48 in the 500 freestyle prelims – the second-best time in school history. He followed for a seventh-place finish with a finals time of 4:38.40.
“Nico (van Duijn) got under 20 (seconds) in the 50 freestyle for the first time,” Shealy Hart said. “Mark (Sarman) did a good job. Noah (Harasz) had a great swim as a freshman. Excited to see what he can do the rest of the week.”
Kosic led Georgia Tech’s 200 freestyle relay team (Kosic, Harasz, Youssef Hammoud, van Duijn) to a fourth-place finish in the nightcap. The senior led off with a time of 19.37 as the foursome finished fourth with a B-cut time of 1:18.38.
“I’m really happy. We’re in a fight right now. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and that’s what college sports is all about.”
Day 3 of the 2015 ACC Men’s Swimming Championship will start Friday at 10 a.m. Doors at the GT Aquatic Center will open at 9 a.m. for the morning session and 5 p.m. for the evening session. Below is the schedule of events for Friday:
10 a.m. – Prelims (400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke)
6 p.m. – Finals (400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststoke, 100 backstroke, 400 medley relay)
Friday’s finals will be broadcast live on ESPN3 beginning at 6 p.m.
There is no charge for admission to the 2015 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships. Parking is available for $15 Single Day Cash, $10 (plus service charge) Single Day Click and Park or $36 (plus service charge) Four Day Click and Park. Link to Click and Park.
All championship information, including a full event schedule and live results, can be found at the official championship website, http://theacc.co/SDchamps. Fans can also get updates by following along on Twitter using #ACCMSD, @ACCSwimDive and @GTSwim.
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