GREENSBORO, N.C. – Georgia Tech diving & women’s swimming wrapped up the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center with multiple student-athletes reaching finals in their respective events.
Sophomore McKenzie Campbell set a new school record in the 200 fly, while five women in total advanced to finals. Fellow sophomore Ruben Lechuga qualified for the platform event finals, marking the third diving event that he has reached the finals in this year at ACCs.
“Today was a great way to finish off the week with another school record by McKenzie Campbell in the 200 fly,” said Toni M. and Richard L. Bergmark Swimming & Diving Head Coach Courtney Shealy Hart. “I am so proud of the way the team competed. They had great focus and fantastic energy. We scored more points than we ever have before at ACCs. We had multiple B cuts and many life-time best times. We fought hard, and I look forward to the future with these ladies.”
Campbell clocked in at 1:56.52 in the 200 fly, breaking the previous record of 1:57.45 set by Laura Branton in 2017. Her final split of 30.36 was the fastest in her heat as she took 11th-place bringing in 16 points for the Jackets, earning an NCAA B cut in the process. This is the second record Campbell has broken at the 2021 ACC Championships as she also set a new school record in the 400 IM (4:12.02) yesterday.
Lechuga qualified for finals in the 1m, 3m and platform events at conference this year. He punched his ticket to the finals with a preliminary score of 341.25 and went on to place eighth overall in the platform today, finishing with a score of 296.65. Lechuga is the first Yellow Jacket men’s diver to qualify for all three events at ACCs since Brad Homza did so in 2016. Senior Jacob Kreider also scored points for the Jackets in the platform as he finished in 18th-place.
Senior Allie Paschal (1:59.43) and true freshman Astrid Dirkzwager (1:59.94) both qualified for the 200 back finals, taking 19th-place and 21st-place, respectively, combining for 10 points towards Tech’s total.
Sophomore Brooke Switzer found herself in the finals again for the third time this weekend as she finished 18th in the 100 free at 49.72. She also qualified for the 500 free and 200 free finals prior to Saturday’s action.
True freshman Claudia Butterfield qualified for finals in the 200 breast, coming in at 2:15.12 in finals to place 22nd overall. Butterfield also reached the finals in the 100 breast yesterday, earning an NCAA B cut in that event. Classmate Arianna Sakellaris was Techs’ top performer in the 1650 free as she touched the wall at 16:45.71.
Switzer & Sakellaris teamed up with seniors Grace Mauldin and Catriona MacGregor to close out the weekend in the 400 free relay, where Tech finished eighth with a mark of 3:19.43.
The Georgia Tech women finished the weekend in ninth-place on the team leaderboard at 498 points.
“I want to thank our team, staff and administrators for helping us get to this point in the season,” Shealy Hart added. “It has been a unique year, and I am grateful that we had the opportunity to compete at the championships. Next week we are back in Greensboro for Men’s ACCs. Our male divers did a great job setting us up for the men’s team competition. Go Jackets!”
FINAL STANDINGS
- Virginia – 1486
- NC State – 1317
- Louisville – 1006.5
- Virginia Tech – 832
- Notre Dame – 716
- Duke – 647
- Florida State – 551
- North Carolina – 516.5
- Georgia Tech – 498
- Miami – 375
- Pittsburgh – 360
- Boston College – 177
The Yellow Jacket men will head to Greensboro this upcoming week to pick up the momentum where Lechuga and Kreider left off. ACC men’s swimming championships will take place on Feb. 24-27 in Greensboro. The entirety of the 2021 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
NOTE: ACC Network Extra (ACCNX) programming is available online via the ESPN app or WatchESPN.com. Viewers must subscribe to a cable/satellite/digital provider that carries the ACC Network to view ACCNX programming.
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