March 1, 2003
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Georgia Tech senior All-American Shilo Ayalon captured his first Atlantic Coast Conference title with the fastest 1650-yard freestyle performance in league history Saturday, as the Jackets wrapped up the 2003 ACC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships with a fourth-place finish at Koury Natatorium. After earning all-conference accolades in three events for the second consecutive year, Ayalon was named Swimmer of the Meet.
Virginia Cavaliers its fifth consecutive team title with a score of 780 points. Florida State finished second with 567 points, while North Carolina finished in third (555.50). The Jackets took fourth with 471 points, followed by NC State (368), Clemson (339), Maryland (240), and Duke (140.50).
Ayalon won the 1650 free with a time of 14:47.99, surpassing the ACC, meet, pool and school records in the process. His performance also automatically qualifies him for the NCAA Championships in the event. Ayalon is also automatically qualified in the 500 free and provisionally qualified in both the 400 IM and 200 free. He also placed second in the 500 free and 400 individual medley and has now garnered all-conference accolades on seven occasions in his career. Ayalon wraps up the meet having set school records in the 200, 500 and 1650 free, as well as the 400 IM.
The Jackets also got lifetime best swims in the 1650 free from freshman Sam Morgan, who placed fifth in 15:12.95, and junior Eduardo Oliver, who was sixth in 15:18.32. Both marks met the NCAA “B” qualifying standard.
Tech also got fourth-place finishes from seniors Josh Hersko (100 free) and Tomonori Tsuji (200 breast). Both swimmers eclipsed the “B” qualifying standard but posted faster times in the preliminary session. Hersko set a school record in the 100 free Saturday morning with a time of 44.29.
In other finals action, senior James Salazar placed eighth in the 200 back (1:50.18), sophomore Matt Figh was eighth in the 200 fly (1:50.06), and junior Paul McCarty took eighth in three-meter diving (480.15). Tech’s 400 free relay placed sixth in 3:03.21.
Also scoring for Tech were sophomore Jeremy Raines (10th – 200 back), senior Jorge Oliver (12th – 200 back), and junior Itai Eden (12th – 200 fly).
The Jackets have chance to improve on their NCAA qualifying standards at the Men’s NCAA Last Chance Meet at Auburn University, March 8. The 2003 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships are slated for March 27-29 in Austin, Texas.
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