GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Georgia Tech men’s swimming & diving program earned a 21st-place finish off of 40 total team points at the final day of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Swimming & Diving National Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Saturday night.
“I am proud of the way our guys represented Georgia Tech swimming & diving this week at NCAA’s here in Greensboro, N.C.,” said Toni M. and Richard L. Bergmark Swimming and Diving Head Coach Courtney Shealy Hart. “We moved up to 21st in the country. We had quite a few school records broken and multiple best times. It was good to have several freshman and sophomore athletes here this week so that they could experience the atmosphere at this level of competition. We are looking forward to building on what we accomplished this year. We now have multiple Olympic Trials and the Olympics to work towards this summer.”
To cap off NCAA’s senior Caio Pumputis earned all-American honors in the 200 breast event after he clocked in at 1:52.27 during the 200 breast championship finals, finishing in eighth-place to earn national honors for the sixth time in his collegiate career at NCAA Championships. He posted splits of 24.94, 27.92, 28.84 and 30.57 during the race to solidify his all-American season. Pumputis individually amassed a total of 25 points towards the Jackets final team score of 40.
The 200 breast is the second event Pumputis has collected all-American status in this season, as he also captured national recognition in the 200 IM earlier in the week. Prior to this year’s national championships he was named as a 2018-19 NCAA all-American in the 200 breast, 200 IM and 100 breast, as well as having earned honorable mention all-American status in the 800 free relay that same year.
Overall the Yellow Jackets saw Pumputis (200 breast, 200 IM), fellow senior Christian Ferraro (100 fly) and true freshman Batur ÜNLÜ (200 free) each garner all-American honors at the 2021 championships.
At the final day of NCAA’s Pumputis was joined on the national stage by teammates ÜNLÜ, Ferraro, junior Kyle Barone, freshman Justin Alderson, senior Austin Daniel and sophomore diver Ruben Lechuga.
ÜNLÜ finished 27th in the 100 free prelims, coming in at 42.77. At day one of NCAA’s during his portion of the 800 free relay ÜNLÜ set a new school record in the 200 free, before turning out an honorable mention all-American performance in the 200 free on day three. Ferraro broke the 100 fly school record twice at NCAA’s this year during prelims and consolation finals on the way to earning honorable mention status in that event. On the diving end of things Lechuga took on the platform event prelims, scoring a total of 293.15 points to place 28th. Barone also came in 28th-place in the 200 fly prelims, registering a time of 1:44.23.
ÜNLÜ, Pumputis, Alderson and Daniel teamed up in the 400 free relay collecting a mark of 2:53.92 to take 19th-place to cap off the 2021 season.
“I want to specifically give recognition to our trainer Beth Harness for her work this season with keeping both our men’s & women’s teams healthy and on track during this unprecedented COVID year,” Coach Shealy Hart added. “I was pleased with the way our team navigated through this year. While it was different, we did not have to shut the program down at all. Our team was disciplined in following all the protocols that the Institute and NCAA put in place. Our student athletes, coaches and staff put in the extra effort and time this season to ensure we competed safely.”
“Our head diving coach John Ames and our assistant swimming coaches Bill Koppelman, Mike Norment, Angie Nicolletta and Chico Rego have done such a great job in continuing to build our program not just competitively, but culturally as well. We are excited for the future of Yellow Jacket swimming & diving.”
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