THE FLATS – Three Yellow Jackets will travel to Melbourne, Australia to compete in the 16th FINA World Swimming Short Course Championships for their respective countries. Tech also has one former and one future swimmer competing at the meet. The event will take place from Tuesday, Dec. 13 to Sunday, Dec. 18 at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC).
Deniz Ertan, Mert Kilavuz and Zora Ripkova will represent Georgia Tech swimming and diving at the championships. Ertan and Kilavuz will compete for Turkey while Ripkova is set to compete for Slovakia.
Ertan is scheduled to swim in four of the women’s events; the 1500 free, 800 free, 400 free and 400 IM. Kilavuz will swim in two of the men’s distance free events, the 1500 and 800 free. Ripkova’s event lineup includes the 100 fly, 200 fly, 4×200 free, 4×100 free and 4×100 medley.
Former Tech standout Caio Pumputis will compete in the men’s 100 breast, 200 breast, 100 IM and 200 IM for Brazil. Future Yellow Jacket, Anna Hadjiloizou is set to represent Cyprus in both the women’s 50 and 100 free.
The Championships will be staged over 6 days with heats in the morning sessions then the semifinals and finals in the evening session. In order to compete, all athletes were required to meet specific qualifying standards put in place by the Fédération Internationale de Natation.
Competitive Drive Initiative
In a unified endeavor, Georgia Tech, the Georgia Tech Foundation, Georgia Tech athletics and the Alexander-Tharpe Fund have come together to accelerate funding for student-athlete scholarships with the launch of the Competitive Drive Initiative. The initiative met its initial fundraising goal of $2.5 million in less than six weeks and has extended its target to $3.5 million raised by Dec. 31. Any new gift to the A-T Fund’s Athletic Scholarship Fund made through Dec. 31 will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Georgia Tech Foundation, meaning that if the $3.5 million fundraising goal is met, the matching gift would result in a $7 million impact for Georgia Tech athletics. To learn more and to contribute online, visit atfund.org/accelerate.
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