Feb. 26, 2010
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Georgia Tech men’s swimming team is in sixth place overall following the third day of the 2010 ACC Championships held at the Koury Natatorium on the campus of the University of North Carolina. Overall, Tech was led by senior Gal Nevo, who won the 400-IM for the second consecutive season at the ACC Championships. The win was his second of the Championships, as Nevo took home the 200-IM last night.
“Today was a very good day for us here,” said head coach Courtney Shealy Hart. “We came out this morning focused and swam really well in the first session and continued to ride our momentum in the second session. We had a lot of guys step up for us tonight. We have two more sessions to go tomorrow, so we want to finish things up here on a strong note.”
The first event of the evening was the 400-IM, in which Nevo hit the wall in 3:40.47 in the finals to win. The time was both a Koury Natatorium pool record and was an NCAA Automatic qualifying time, meaning that Nevo will participate in the 400-IM at the NCAA Swimming Championships for the second straight season. Nevo’s time was the second fastest in school history and his career, as he defeated his nearest competitor in the event by a full three seconds.
In other action in the 400-IM, sophomore John Hermes placed 16th overall with a time of 3:59.06 in the finals, while junior Kevin Morgan finished 22nd after hitting the wall in 4:01.49 in the final session, which was a career-best.
Next up the 100-fly, freshman Eric Chiu had an impressive swim, finishing fifth overall after hitting the wall in an NCAA “B” Cut time of 47.86. The time is the third fastest in school history. Teammate Travis Wagner also registered a top-ten finish in the event, placing seventh in 48.30. The time was also an NCAA “B” Cut for the junior. Rounding out top finishers for Tech in the event was Sullivan Lynch, who placed 13th after posting a time of 48.43 in the finals.
The next event of note on the evening for Tech was the 100-breast, as sophomore Matthew Vaughan registered another top ten finish for the Jackets in sixth after hitting the wall in 54.76. The time was another NCAA “B” cut for Georgia Tech. Junior Sam Bendziewicz rounded out the Tech swimmers in the finals, finishing 24th in 58.77
In the final individual event of the evening, the 100-back, senior Johnny Hagaman placed seventh after hitting the wall in 48.60, while fellow senior Ilia Ayzenshtok finished in 11th with a time of 48.82 in the finals. Both times were NCAA “B” cuts, while Hagaman’s time was the third fastest in school history.
Rounding out the field in the 100-back was junior Matt Tang, who placed 21st in 50.01and senior Way Joe Lee, who finished 23rd in 50.46. Lee finished in 50.04 in the preliminaries in the event, which was a new career high.
In the final event of the evening, the 400-medley relay, the Georgia Tech team of Nigel Plummer, Hagaman, Nevo and Chiu finished fifth with a time of 3:15.32 in the finals. The time was the final NCAA “B” cut of the night for Tech and was the third fastest mark in school history.
Action concludes tomorrow at the ACC Championships with the 200-back, 100-free, 200-breast, 200-fly, 1650-free and the 400-free relay.
Fans are reminded that championship finals will be video-streamed on theACC.com Saturday from 7-9 p.m. All championship information can be found at http://www.theacc.com/championships/10-sd-championship.html.
Full recaps and results will be available once competition wraps up tomorrow night at www.ramblinwreck.com.
