Oct. 23, 2009
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s swimming & diving team lost to national power Florida, 161-123 on Friday evening at the Aquatic Center. With the loss, the Yellow Jackets fall to 3-1 on the year, while the Gators improve to 2-0 with the win
Top finishers overall for Georgia Tech on the night included Nigel Plummer, who was a first place finisher in the 50-free with a time of 20.41 and freshman diver Brandon Makinson, who finished first in the three-meter spring board dive with a 303.45 effort.
“I’m very proud of what Brandon accomplished tonight,” said diving head coach John Ames. “I’m proud of his performance both because he is a freshman and has been battling through an illness. To have an effort like this from our team against a team like Florida is a huge accomplishment and will give us confidence as we go through the season.”
The first event of the day was the 200-medley relay, as the team of Ilia Ayzenshtok, Jeremy Jackson, Sullivan Lynch and Plummer hit the wall in 1:32.50 to finish just behind Florida and earn four team points for the Yellow Jackets. Next in the 1000-free, Kevin Morgan was the top finisher Georgia Tech finishing in 9:55.07.
In the 200-free, Travis Wagner was Tech’s top finisher, hitting the wall in 1:41.54 to earn a fourth-place finish. In the 100-back, Ayzenshtok finished in 51.49 to earn three points for the Yellow Jackets, while in the 100-breast, Matthew Vaughan hit the wall in 57.78 to also earn three points for Georgia Tech.
In the 200-fly, Ralph Long was the Jackets’ top finisher in 1:54.62, while in the 50-free, Garret Robberson finished third in 20.69.
In the one-meter springboard dive, Makinson registered his first strong finish of the day with a 325.95 effort that just missed a 327.68 effort by Florida. The mark for Makinson in the event was 30 points better than his previous best.
In the 200-back, Ayzenshtok was once again Georgia Tech’s top finisher, hitting the wall in 1:54.77. Senor Way Joe Lee finished right behind Ayzenshtok in 1:55.63. In the 200-breast, Vaughan registered the top time for the Yellow Jackets, hitting the wall in 2:10.95.
In the 500-free, Colin Schouten finished second in 4:53.31, while Kevin Morgan finished third in 4:53.97. Rounding out the events on the day was the three-meter springboard dive that Makinson was victorious in. Fellow freshman Chris Khosravi also had a strong performance placing second in the event with a 284.70 effort.
The Yellow Jackets return action on Oct. 30 when they take on ACC-rival Duke and Houston in Durham, N.C. Action begins at 6 p.m.
