Feb. 17, 2016
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Georgia Tech divers and women’s swimmers had a big opening day at the ACC Championships, recording a personal-best dive and multiple school records in the pool.
After Day 1 of the ACC Championships, the Georgia Tech women are in 11th place with 85.5 points, while men’s divers recorded 51 points.
“I’m fired up about the great night we just had. We broke three school records in two events,” head coach Courtney Shealy Hart said. “Maddie Paschal also led off with a school-best 50 backstroke in the 200 medley relay. Obviously, Andrea Demick scoring for us was great, and getting our men’s meet started off with Brad Homza, Omar Eteiba and Matt Casillas scoring for us was very important, as well. It was a great way to start the meet, and we’re looking forward to tomorrow morning.”
The 200 medley relay team of Maddie Paschal, Florina Ilie, Laura Branton and Iris Wang broke the school-best mark with a time of 1:39.92, finishing 10th in the event. The previous record was set earlier this season at the Georgia Tech Invitational when Paschal, Ilie, Wang and Morgan Lyons recorded a time of 1:41.25. Paschal’s 50 backstroke leg in Greensboro was the best in school history.
In the 800 free relay, the quartet of Wang, Chiara Ruiu, Efrat Rotsztjen and Kira de Bruyn set the school record with a time of 7:12.73, finishing seventh overall. Wang opened the event with a school record, recording a 200 free time of 1:46.94.
In the men’s 3-meter dive, Brad Homza advanced to the finals with a personal-best score of 393.80 in the preliminaries. Homza finished sixth in the finals with a score of 330.30.
“Brad did a really great job getting into the final with a personal-best score,” diving coach John Ames said. “He hit his dives the best I’ve seen him do it. Unfortunately, in the final he landed halfway off the board on one of his dives and just couldn’t recover the dive. But he came back with his next tow dives really strong, so I’m very proud of him.”
In the women’s 1-meter, Andrea Demick was the best finisher for Tech, placing 19th with a score of 262.10.
Live results for Thursday’s events can be followed at http://theacc.co/SDlivestats. Thursday’s finals can be viewed on ESPN3 (http://es.pn/1VjCr08).
Thursday Schedule of Events:
10:00 a.m.: 500 Freestyle (prelim), 200 IM (prelim), 50 Freestyle (prelim)
12:00 p.m.: Men’s 1-meter Diving (prelim)
6:00 p.m.: 500 Freestyle, 200 IM, 50 Freestyle, Men’s 1-meter Diving, 200 Freestyle Relay
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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