THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech swimming and diving team opened its ACC Championships at home as junior Max Fowler placed second in the men’s one-meter finals to secure his third career ACC medal.
The weeklong championships began with the women’s three-meter and men’s one-meter preliminary dives with six Jackets vying for one of eight spots in the finals. Elisabeth Rockefeller emerged following her second dive, scoring a 51.80 on her forward 3 1/2 somersault tuck to crack into the top eight.
Her back 2 1/2 somersault tuck dive earned the highest score of the day at 57.40, all but solidifying her spot in the finals as she placed sixth with a final score of 293.70. Lizzie Powley finished 13th at 264.80 with Ava Gilroy and Kat Brooker behind in 17th and 27th, respectively.
Max Fowler entered the day with the highest one-meter diving score in the nation and came out swinging with three 70+ point dives; he held the top spot midway with a top-three dive in each of the first three rounds. Fowler punctuated the prelims with an inward 2 1/2 somersault tuck to secure his best dive of the session at 75.95.
Fowler was within two points of the top score at 386.55 to set up his run at the podium in the finals. Elijah Klier placed 17th at 286.80.
Rockefeller strung together a strong performance in the three-meter finals, including a strong reverse 2 1/2 somersault tuck dive to score 270.30. She placed seventh in her first-ever ACC finals appearance.
The attention turned to the final event of the night with the men’s one-meter championship on the line. Fowler opened with three supreme dives to build an early lead at 222.00. SMU’s Luke Sitz laid down a 78.00 dive in the third round to close the gap to Fowler. Sitz landed three consecutive 72+ point dives to take the lead late as Fowler solidified his spot in second place.
Fowler strung together the greatest one-meter session in school history at 410.25, edging out his elite freshman effort at 407.25 set back in 2024. The Burke, Virginia, native now holds the top-three scores in the Tech record book in the men’s one-meter.
Fowler holds a gold, silver, and bronze medal across his three ACC Championship appearances and will look to defend his gold medal in the men’s three-meter dive tomorrow.
Georgia Tech will compete on Day 2 of the 2026 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships. The men will compete in the three-meter dive with the women diving from the one-meter. Prelims will begin at 12 p.m. with the finals set to commence at 6:35 p.m. Tickets are available here.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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