THE FLATS – Tech swimming and diving closed day one of its dual meet against ACC foe Duke with 12 event wins, including a multiple event wins from senior Berke Saka and sophomore Max Fowler.
After day one, the Tech men hold a 160-45 lead over Duke, while the Tech women trail 70-113 to Duke.
Saka continued his strong senior season with two events wins, taking the 100 back (47.09) and the 200 IM (1:45.20).
On the boards, Fowler continued his winning ways Friday, taking the platform event with a score of 346.35, before also winning the 1-meter event with a 354.68.
In the relays, the Tech women took second in the 400 freestyle, with the foursome of Anna Hadjiloizou, Nina Stanisavljevic, Sophie Murphy and Jillian Ferrari clocking a 3:17.35. The Tech men took the top spot in the men’s 400 free, with Leandro Odorici, Robin Yeboah, Berke Saka and David Gapinski swimming a time of 2:53.84. Tech also took second in the race.
The Tech men also had a one-two finish in the 200 medley relay, with the team of Saka, Uros Zivanovic, Odorici and Gapinski taking first (1:26.40), while Chris Richardson, Joao Caballero, Stephen Jones and Yeboah took second (1:28.10). The women finished second in their 200 medley relay, where Vivien Rothwell, Sabyne Brisson, Zora Ripkova and Hadjiloizou swam a 1:38.74.
The first individual event win of the day came from veteran distance swimmer Mert Kilavuz, who took the 1650 free with a time of 15:16.46. This event was the first of six podium sweeps for Tech, as Lukas Vetkoetter finished second (15:22.57) and Charles Perks took third (15:33.79).
Following Saka in the 100 back was Chris Richardson in second (48.19) and Cade Martin in third (48.73). The next podium sweep came in the 100 breast, where freshman Zivanovic got the second win of his career (53:21), while Caballero took second (54:09) and Odorici claimed third (54.46).
Senior Antonio Romero took the 200 fly (1:46.58), before Tech’s fourth podium sweep, this time the men’s 50 free, where Yeboah touched first (20.05), followed by Odorici (20.17) and Gapinski (20.40).
Another one-two-three finish came for the Yellow Jackets in the women’s 200 free, where senior Sophie Murphy led the pack with a time of 1:46.57, followed by Phoebe Wright in second (1:47.60) and Zara Masud in third (1:48.53).
Tech’s sixth and final podium sweep came in the men’s 200 free, where the trio of Vitor Sega (1st, 1:37.09), Chris Richardson (2nd, 1:37.57) and Ricky Balduccini (3rd, 1:38.62) led the way in the water.
Tech will close their home slate on Saturday at 11 a.m., with Senior Day beginning at 10:30 a.m.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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