Oct. 3, 2014
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Senior Andrew Kosic broke a pair of pool records and Brad Homza won both diving events, but the Georgia Tech men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams dropped their season-openers Friday night at Penn State.
Scoring
• The men closed the meet strong by winning four of the final six events, but were edged by the Nittany Lions, 160.5-137.5. The women suffered a 170-119 setback.
Men’s Highlights
• Reigning All-American Andrew Kosic won the 50 free in a Penn State pool record time of 20.19. Kosic also broke the pool’s record in the 100 free (44.10) in leading off the 400 free relay.
• Senior Nico van Duijn and sophomore Ben Southern swept the top two spots in both fly events with Southern winning the 200 (1:49.66) and van Duijn taking the 100 (49.42).
• Homza swept the diving events, scoring 302.32 points to win the 1-meter and 303.00 points on the 3-meter.
• Freshman Alex Kimpel won the 200 breast in his collegiate debut in a time of 2:06.77, while junior Yuval Safra won the 500 free (4:31.48).
Women’s Highlights
• Junior diving Shannon Lumbra (275.40) and freshman Ellen Posch (235.41) finished first and third, respectively, in on the 1-meter board.
• Junior Efrat Rotsztejn was strong in the breaststroke, finishing second in both the 100 (1:04.81) and the 200 (2:21.53).
Quotes from head coach Courtney Shealy Hart
• “The men were a little slow out of the gate, but certainly got stronger as the meet progressed. Andrew (Kosic) broke a pair of pool records and I think he helped get some other guys going. Nico and Ben went 1-2 in the 100 and 200 fly and Yuval did a good job.”
• “Our women were a little sluggish today and hopefully it’s a good learning experience for them as we have to turn around and swim again tomorrow. We just need to keep getting better each time we’re in the pool. But I was proud of Shannon winning the 1-meter and Efrat was strong in the breaststroke.”
• “Overall, it was good to get back in the pool and competing against a good team like Penn State. We have a quick turnaround and we will be tested again tomorrow at Navy.”
Up Next
• The men and women remain on the road to battle Navy tomorrow at 11 a.m.
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