THE FLATS – Georgia Tech swimming and diving won handily from start to finish on Senior Day as it used a whopping 22 gold medals from 13 Jackets and four relay teams to sweep SCAD and Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at McAuley Aquatic Center.
The 24th-ranked men’s team won 164-97 over SCAD and 237-56 over Georgia Southern, while the women’s team won 214-79 over SCAD.
“I’m really proud of our team today, we did a great job competing,” said Toni M. and Richard L. Bergmark swimming and diving head coach Courtney Shealy Hart. “I’m happy for our seniors. It’s a bittersweet day knowing they’re coming to the end of their careers, but they’ve done so much to change the culture and move the needle for us and I’m excited for what future holds for them. Overall, we feel good about where we are as a team, but we’re not done yet as we get into championship season.”
Prior to the meet, the Yellow Jackets honored its 13 seniors with its annual ceremony. Those seniors were: Brennan Day, Carly Doi, Emily Dykstra, Kristen Hepler, Clay Hering, Emily Ilgenfritz, Joonas Koski, Caroline Lee, Chloe Miller, Aidan Pastel, Jordyn Sak, Tim Slanschek and Lindsay Wallace.
Georgia Tech kicked off and capped the days with impressive relay wins on both sides. The ranked men’s team began with a win in the 200 medley relay as Kyle Barone, Caio Pumputis, Christian Ferraro and Darren Lim swam a 1:28.96. Then to end the day, the team of Ferraro, Albert Zhi, Austin Daniel and Pumputis turned in a 1:21.92 to win the 200 free relay.
For the women’s team, the 200 medley relay race was taken handily by Allie Paschal, Nicole Williams, McKenzie Campbell and Catriona MacGregor with a time of 1:44.63. For the 200 free relay finale, the team of Brooke Switzer, Kyrsten Davis, Grace Mauldin and Paschal won with a 1:36.54.
In addition to the relays, the men’s team also took home eight individual crowns, led by Pumputis and Lim, who both won multiple events. Pumputis used a 54.28 to win the 100 breast before a 1:59.29 won him the 200 breast. Lim touched the wall first in the 50 free with a 21.13 before he won the 100 free with a time of 44.77.
The Jackets also got first-place finishes from Cale Russell in the 1000 free (9:31.07) and senior Hering in the 200 fly (1:47.48), while freshman Dylan Scott won the 500 free (4:27.57) and senior Day took the 400 IM (4:01.17).
The women’s team also had multi-event winners for the day, as Ilgenfritz, Paschal and Hepler all won two. Ilgenfritz won the 200 free with a time of 1:51.02 before touching first in the 500 free (4:56.50). Paschal then swept the backstroke events with a 55.64 100 back and 2:00.84 200 back. Hepler recorded a time of 1:04.30 to touch first in the 100 breast before taking the 200 IM with a time of 2:04.52.
The Jackets would land atop the podium four more times on the day as Morgan Johnson won the 1000 free (10:20.86) and Campbell won the 200 fly (2:02.46). Julia Shuford then finished first in the 200 breast with a time of 2:19.98 before senior Miller won the 100 fly (56.90).
Men’s Highlights
Leading the way for Tech among the many second-place finishers were Ferraro and Barone. Ferraro finished second in the 200 free (1:38.53) and 200 breast (2:00.37), while Barone took silver in both the 100 back (49.60) and 200 back (1:51.72).
Clark Wakeland then turned in a 9:36.36 to finish second in the 1000 free before Hering recorded his second top-2 finish with a 1:49.41 time in the 200 fly. In the 50 free, Tyler Branscombe swam a 21.21 for silver, while Austin Daniel recorded a second-place time of 45.99 in the 100 free.
Senior captain Koski also touched second in the 400 IM with a time of 4:02.71, before finishing third in the 500 free (4:33.12).
Zhi then continued his strong day when he captured third-place finishes in the 200 free and 50 free with times of 1:38.67 and 21.25, respectively. Daniel Jacobs used a 9:38.15 to touch third in the 1000 free, before Daniel and Branscombe took bronze in the 100 back (52.20) and 100 free (46.03), respectively.
Rounding out the many podium finishes for Tech was Leon Warnakulasuriya, who touched third in the 200 back with a time of 1:53.80, while Lim recorded a third-place time in the 100 fly (50.15) and senior Slanschek finished third in the 400 IM (4:08.60).
Women’s Highlights
Mauldin led the way for the Georgia Tech among silver medalists. She swept second-place honors in the backstroke events – 100 back (57.63), 200 back (2:09.08). Senior Wallace would then take second in the 1000 free with a time of 10:27.18 before freshman Imane El Barodi placed second in the 50 free with a time of 24.50.
On the boards, Tech swept both the 1-meter and 3-meter 1-2-3. In the 1-meter, freshman Carmen Woodruff led the way with a 294.15, before Carly Doi scored a 290.85 and Kelsey Dekshenieks scored a 262.88. Then in the 3-meter, the Jackets finished Camryn Hidalgo (371.25), Paige Gohr (275.48) and Doi (270.30).
Freshman Switzer continued her fine day when she touched second in the 100 free, swimming a 51.35. MacGregor soon followed suit with a second-place finish in the 200 breast (2:21.34), while Campbell took the silver in the 500 free (5:01.87).
Leading the way to 11 more podium finishes for the Yellow Jackets, Switzer and Nicole Williams both took bronze in two events. Switzer placed third in the 200 free (1:52.25) and 100 back (57.73), while Williams swept the breaststroke events – 100 breast (1:05.46), 200 breast (2:24.42).
Also placing third was Sara al Khatib, who swam a 10:51.01 in the 1000 free. Then Miller and Mauldin touched third in the 200 fly (2:07.58) and 50 free (24.51) events, respectively. Amanda Hoejberg then recorded a 53.37 for third place in the 100 free, while Hepler turned in a 5:05.30 for the bronze in the 500 free.
Finishing out the podium finishes for the day was Abby Cohen and MacGregor, who turned in third-place finishes in the 100 fly (58.81) and 200 IM (2:08.84) events, respectively.
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 A-T Fund’s Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes, and Athletics Initiative 2020, Georgia Tech athletics’ ongoing $125 million initiative to allow Tech to recruit the nation’s most elite student-athletes, build a better student-athlete once they arrive on The Flats and, ultimately, win! To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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