THE FLATS – The Georgia Tech swimming and diving team completed the fifth day from the 2026 ACC Championships as freshman Tuncer Berk Ertürk and Ricky Balduccini set multiple top-10 program records. Both swimmers qualified for the finals session.
The Jackets had 22 swimmers competing in the morning prelims session. Tuncer Berk Ertürk got the day started in the 400 IM as he surpassed his entry time by 3.36 seconds in one of the strongest performances of the day at 3:34.32 to plant himself into fourth place on the all-time Tech leaderboard.
Ertürk placed 10th overall in prelims to become the first Yellow Jacket to qualify for the B-finals of the championships. His time also cleared the NCAA cut benchmark at 3:46.19. This marked his fourth time under the 3:50.00 margin and his first mark under 3:48.00 since he won the B-final of the UGA Invitational in November.
Tech laid down some quality times in the 200 freestyle as Ricky Balduccini hit the wall at 1:34.41 to place 20th and earned his second career berth into the ACC Championships finals. His prelims mark secured his fifth top-10 program record in the 200 free as he was 0.15 off his personal best.
Lili Gyurinovics swam out to a 1:46.88, tied for 24th in prelims. Her and Duke’s Ali Pfaff raced in a swim-off to decide the elusive final spot in the evening session. Pfaff won the duel at 1:47.13 to advance to the finals.
The finals session began with Ertürk vying for a top-three finish in the 400 IM B-finals. The freshman started down four-tenths of his prelims time but gained it right back on the 100 breast leg at 1:04.81 before going three-tenths faster in the final free split.
He hit the wall at 3:43.00 to claim second place in the consolation final and 10th overall on the night. Ertürk’s time matched the 2018 mark set by Caio Pumpitis and now shares the second-fastest 400 IM time in school history.
Balduccini competed in the final bonus race of the night and broke into the 1:33s in the 200 free for the first time in his career at 1:33.99. He finished fifth in the race and 21st overall with the fourth best time for Tech. He now holds five of the 10 fastest marks in the event for the Jackets.
Other marks set throughout the day included Zara Masud and Nina Stanisavljević going eighth and ninth into the record books for the women’s 100 butterfly at 53.54 and 53.56. Stephen Jones swam a 46.59 to claim the tenth-fastest time in men’s 100 butterfly.
Georgia Tech will return for Day 5 of the 2026 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships. The swimming prelims will begin at 9:30 a.m. before the finals session at 5:30 p.m. All teams will vie for top 200 butterfly, 100 backstroke, and 100 breast times in both sessions before closing out the night with the 400 medley relay races. Day passes 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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