Oct. 29, 2009
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech swimming & diving teams hit the road for the first time on the 2009-10 season this weekend. First, the Yellow Jacket visit Durham, N.C. to take on host Duke and Houston on Friday, then travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. to face ACC-foe North Carolina on Saturday. The Duke-Houston duel meet is set to begin at 6 p.m., while the UNC meet will start at noon.
“We are excited about getting back to ACC competition this weekend,” said swimming head coach Courtney Shealy Hart. “Duke and North Carolina are great programs; we are excited about racing them. UNC is hosting the ACC championships later on in the year, so it will be a good opportunity to swim in that pool before February.”
“Duke has quickly become one of the top diving programs in the nation and Houston is fielding a team which includes the second-place finisher on 3-meter at the NCAA Championships last year,” said diving coach John Ames. “As far as North Carolina goes, they always field a strong group of divers. If things go well for us, we should be able to compete this weekend.”
The men’s team comes into the weekend with a 3-2 record after dropping their last meet to Florida 161-123 on Oct. 23rd. Top performers on the day were sophomore Nigel Plummer, who finished first in the 50-free in 20:41 and freshman diver Brandon Makinson, who was first in the one-meter springboard dive with a 303.45 performance.
The women’s team is 3-2-1 on the year and is competing for the first time this weekend since Oct. 10th, when they dropped Miami (156-130), tied Western Kentucky (150-150) and lost to Clemson (160-138). Senior diver Hannah Krimm led the way in the meet, as she broke the school record in the one-meter springboard with a 307.60 performance.
Duke’s men’s team comes into their meet with the Yellow Jackets with a 2-1 record, while the women are 1-2. Houston’s women’s squad is 2-0 on the year, while the North Carolina men are a perfect 4-0 and the women are 3-1.
All-time, Duke has a 25-20 advantage over Georgia Tech men, while North Carolina has a 19-1 edge. For the women, the Yellow Jackets won their only previous meeting with Duke and lost their only meeting with North Carolina. The Georgia Tech women will be dueling against Houston for the first time in school history.
