THE FLATS – Georgia Tech swimming and diving lost a hard-fought meet against Florida State. The No. 19 men’s side fell 150-148 to the No. 15 men’s side of Florida State and the women’s side lost 159-141. Freshman Defne Tacyildiz set a new freshman record in the 200 fly (1:59.14) while earning a B cut in the event.
“I set a goal to get the freshman record and when I saw I got the record I was happy. It was good the finish first and second in the event with McKenzie,” Tacyildiz said on her performance.
The men’s side took the lead after event 10 when Caio Pumputis won the 100 breaststroke (52.96), good for a B cut. Pumputis would later earn a B cut in the 200 breaststroke as well. Daniel Kertesz and Matt Steele finished third and fourth in the event to give Tech a 47-46 lead. Christian Ferraro took the next event on the men’s side with a 1:45.05 time in the 200 butterfly, good for a B cut. David Gapinski turned in a 1:53.56 time in the event to keep tech up 57-55.
Tech lost the lead after that event but kept it close only being behind seven points going into the final event. It came down to the final event, the 400 free relay. The White and Gold would need to win the event and place either second or third as well to win the meet. Kertesz, Batur Ünlü, Ferraro and Pumputis won the event but the Jackets fell 0.46 seconds shy of touching in third in the event therefore losing the meet to Florida State.
The women’s side took an 87-82 lead in event 17 when Sophie Murphy won the 100 free (51.34) but would not see the lead for the rest of the meet. The Yellow Jackets finished strong in the final event when Rachel Fulton, Murphy, Zora Ripkova and Brooke Switzer took the 400 free relay by 1.51 seconds.
Diving competed on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards. On the women’s side, Camryn Hidalgo was the top diver on the day with a score of 362.55 on the 3-meter board and a score of 307.35 on the 1-meter board. Captain Carmen Woodruff had the second best score on the 3-meter board (314.63) and was proud of her team’s performance.
“I think that, as a team, we started off at a way higher place than we started off last year. We have really improved. Thinking about where we were compared to last year makes me really excited for the rest of the meets,” Woodruff said.
The men’s divers were led by freshman Allen Mann who had the top scores for Tech on the 3-meter board (333.08) and 1-meter board (298.80).
“This was my first meet with Georgia Tech. You see your teammates diving in practice and you can have mock meet scenarios but I have never seen them in a meet. Getting to see everybody hit their dives was super motivating for the future meets,” Mann said on his first experience diving for the Jackets.
Berke Saka took first in the 200 back (1:46.66), Ünlü won the 200 free (1:36.54) and Mert Kilavuz finished first in the 500 free (4:27.59) and 1000 free (9:07.83).
“The event went very well. I put in a lot of hard work for this and set some target times. Thank you to Angie [Nicolletta]. She always believes in me and thank you to all of my teammates,” Kilavuz said after the meet.
Switzer touched first in the 200 free (1:50.77), Fulton took home first in the 50 free (23.33) and Tacyildiz secured the top spot in the 500 free (4:58.84).
The event was a pink out to raise awareness for breast cancer. The first 200 fans in attendance received pink Georgia Tech Swimming and Diving shirts. Next up for the Yellow Jackets is a trip to North Carolina when they take on North Carolina on Nov. 5 and Duke on Nov. 6. On Oct. 30 McAuley Aquatic Center will be the site for the Alumni Meet.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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