Feb. 20, 2016
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Georgia Tech women’s swimmers set school records for the fourth straight day at the ACC Championships, recording program bests in the 100 free, 200 breast and 400 free relay. Diver Brad Homza also won the gold medal in the platform dive.
At the end of the week, the Georgia Tech women finished in 11th place with 356 points, while men’s divers recorded 149 points.
“I’m very happy with the entire meet,” head coach Courtney Shealy Hart said. “I thought our women did an outstanding job. We broke 11 women’s swimming records along with a men’s diving record this week, which was awesome. I’m super excited for Brad Homza – not only to win the platform, but to also be named ACC Most Valuable Diver. I’m really proud of these girls for the way they fought the whole week. We rewrote the Georgia Tech record book, which is just great. We’re heading in the right direction, and we’re looking forward to training this summer. Also, we can’t wait to see what our men can accomplish next week.”
The evening was highlighted by the effort of Homza, who set a school record of 436.25 in the platform finals to take the top spot in the competition and the school record. Additionally, he was named Most Valuable Diver by the coaches.
“Brad was great today,” diving coach John Ames said. “He put himself in position to win, and had to do the most difficult dive in his list at the end for 7’s to win, and he came through with 8’s. Earning MVP was icing on the cake, but even more important was that all the divers contributed to put the men’s team solidly in second place going into the swimming portion next week. For the women, Maddy Young dove very well on platform, finishing in 12th. I was very proud of all the divers this week.”
In the pool, Iris Wang broke the 100 free record on three separate occasions. She recorded a time of 49.28 in the prelims, only to surpass it in the B final of the event with a time of 49.26. She would break it a third time during her leg of the 400 free relay, lowering the record to 48.98. Wang, Efrat Rotsztejn, Kira de Bruyn and Chiara Ruiu also broke the 400 free relay school record in that race with a time of 3:20.51.
Another record came in the 200 breast when Darelle Cowley set a school-best mark of 2:14.24 in the prelims. However, Ruiu would break it in the B final of the event, recording a time of 2:13.30.
The men’s swimmers will be in action at the ACC Championships Feb. 24-27 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
For the second time in program history, Georgia Tech and the McAuley Aquatic Center will serve as the host site for the 2016 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. The Women’s Championships will be held March 16-19, followed by the Men’s Championships March 23-26. Georgia Tech previously hosted the 2006 NCAA Championships and the CRC was also the site of the 1996 Summer Olympics swimming and diving competitions.
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