ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech men’s swim team completed a strong outing at the Georgia Invitational with two more school records and a number of top five finishes on the final day of competition. The three-day event was held at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga.
In his first competition of the year in the 1,650-yard freestyle, sophomore Shilo Ayalon made Sunday’s final a memorable one as he won the race with a time of 15:18.83. That bettered Ayalon’s school record of a year ago (15:21.11) by nearly three seconds. The time also met the NCAA B qualifying standard.
Leo Salinas placed 13th in the 1,650 free with a time of 16:22.87, and freshman Eduardo Oliver was 14th in a time of 16:38.04.
The Jackets’ other record-setting performance came in the 100 freestyle, as sophomore Josh Hersko set his third school record of the weekend with a time of 45.39 in the preliminaries. He then placed third in the final heat with a time of 45.58.
Jorge Oliver placed third in the consolation final with a time of 48.18, while Ricky Rauch was fourth in the bonus consolation with his 47.57 mark, and Brendan Forbes was seventh in that race with a 47.78.
Tomonori Tsuji placed third in the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:02.83, which was a season-best mark for Tech. Robbie Foster led a group of Yellow Jackets in the bonus consolation, as he won the race in a time of 2:07.25. Chris Biedrzycki was second in the bonus consolation with a time of 2:07.81, while Jordan Parker was third and Andy VanPelt fourth with times of 2:09.76 and 2:11.71 respectively.
Sophomore Scott Lenyk was sixth in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:56.55. Jorge Oliver who finished eighth with his time of 2:02.47 joined Lenyk in the final. He was unable to better his prelim time of 1:51.83.
James Salazar was fifth in the consolation final of the 200 back with his time of 1:53.89, while Carl Nylander was sixth in the consolation with a time of 1:56.46. Hank Longmire was second in the C final with a time of 1:57.27.
Junior David Laitala placed sixth in the 200 butterfly, with a time of 1:51.75. Tech had two swimmers in the 200 fly consolation final, as Brady Skaggs was third with a school season-best time of 1:51.58, and freshman Itai Eden was seventh with a time of 1:53.18.
In the 200 fly bonus consolation, Charles Gersbach was fourth with a time of 1:54.75 and Nylander and Salazar were seventh and eighth with times of 1:57.11 and 1:58.17 respectively.
In the 400 free relay, Tech’s team of Laitala, Hersko, Jorge Oliver and Rauch were fourth in a season-best time of 3:05.82.
The Yellow Jackets will be off until January 3, when they travel to Boca Raton, Fla., to compete in the Florida Atlantic Dual Meet Extravaganza against Florida Atlantic, Nebraska and Virginia Tech.
