Feb. 26, 2011
ATLANTA – Highlighted by a third place showing in the 200-Breast by Anton Lagerqvist, the Georgia Tech men’s swimming and diving squads rounded out their time at the 2011 ACC Championships finishing in seventh place at the end of the four day meet.
“I am happy with the way that the night ended,” said Head Coach Courtney Shealy Hart. “The milers swan very well today, all dropping time. All of the breaststrokers and flyers made the finals and the relay swam their fastest time this year.”
Virginia, the leader from day one, easily won the meet earning 820 points and beating its closest competitor, North Carolina, by 232 points. Tech finished the meet with 247 points.
Lagerqvist began the day on a high note when he won the 200-Breast prelims with a then-career best time of 1:56.84. He continued his success in the finals of the same race earning a third place finish and making the podium in his first year on the Flats.
All four of the Yellow Jackets competing in the 200-Breast earned a spot in the finals as Matthew Vaughan finished 14th with a season best time of 2:01.19. Ryan Salmon touched the wall in a tie for 19th place in 2:03.36, while Max Randolph rounded out the pack in 24th place with a time of 2:05.09.
“We swam so well tonight,” said senior Garrett Robberson, who finished out the meet and his career as the anchor leg of the 400-Free Relay. “Watching Anton take third in his freshman year in the 200-Breast was awesome.”
Both 200-Flyers also earned a spot in the finals. Mike Hart and Ralph Long finished in 19th and 20th place respectively with times of 1:49.33 and 1:49.93.
Zach Tillman and Andreas Nilsson both tallied points for the Jackets in the 1,650-Free, also known as the Mile. Tillman was the first Jacket to touch the wall coming in 12th place with a time of 15:33.97 with Nilsson finishing just behind him in 16th in 15:41.95. Kevin Morgan tallied an 18th place finish with a time of 15:54.26.
“Zach dropped a second and made an NCAA `B’ cut,” continued Hart, “Kevin cut 20 seconds off of his personal best and Andreas cut his time by 25 seconds. That is very impressive.”
The 400-Free Relay team of Eric Chiu, Sully Lynch, Nigel Plummer and Robberson clocked the second fastest time in school history from heat one, coming across in 2:57.76 to boost themselves into a sixth place finish.
“I would have to say that my favorite memory from this weekend was in the 400-Medley Relay,” said Robberson. “I swam the first leg, the 100-Back, and that was the first time that I had ever done that in my career. I had a great final weekend of competition as a Jacket.”
