SEC Championships, Day 2: Tennessee, Florida Scare Men’s NCAA Records, Texas Lowers 800 Free Relay American Record
The SEC Championships got off to a flying start Tuesday, with three teams in the expanded league field undercutting the existing meet record in the men’s 200 medley relay. The leader of them was the University of Tennessee, whose international quartet came within .07 seconds of taking down Florida’s NCAA record last spring. Later in the session, the Florida men came within a quarter-second of the NCAA mark in the 800 freestyle relay while second-place Texas lowered the American record.
The action from the first night of swimming competition at the University of Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium.
Women’s 200 medley relay
The University of Texas marked its arrival on the conference wasting no time in securing its first title, plus a meet record. Emma Sticklen, Piper Enge, Abigail Arens and Grace Cooper went 1:33.84. That’s a meet record, clipping a tenth off the mark set in 2022 by Alabama. Texas had been sixth at NCAAs in this event last year. Cooper dropped the hammer in 21.21 coming home.
Tennessee was second in 1:34.27, using a furious front half to hold off Florida. Josephine Fuller and McKenzie Siroky put them out front of Florida, with Mona McSharry reserved for sprint freestyle on the end. Florida, which won this event last year, was third in 1:34.34, .02 up on Alabama. Auburn and Texas A&M followed in NCAA A cuts.
Event 2 Women 200 Yard Medley Relay
==================================================================================
NCAA: N 1:31.51 3/15/2023 Virginia
G.Walsh, A. Walsh, A Cuomo, K. Douglass
SEC: S 1:33.29 3/16/2022 Alabama
R. White, A. Wiseman, M. Scott, K. Antoniou
SEC Meet: M 1:33.94 2022 Alabama
R. White, A. Wiseman, M. Scott, K. Antoniou
Pool: P 1:31.58 3/20/2024 Virginia
G. Walsh, Nocenti, Noveline, Parker
1:36.24 A
1:36.76 B
School Seed Finals Points
==================================================================================
1 Texas 1:34.06 1:33.84MA 64
1) Sticklen, Emma C GS 2) r:0.30 Enge, Piper FR
3) r:0.24 Arens, Abigail GS 4) r:0.16 Cooper, Grace GS
r:+0.54 11.39 23.38 (23.38)
35.12 (11.74) 49.80 (26.42)
1:00.06 (10.26) 1:12.63 (22.83)
1:22.40 (9.77) 1:33.84 (21.21)
2 Tennessee-SE 1:34.35 1:34.27 A 56
1) Fuller, Josephine A 2) r:0.37 Siroky, McKenzie
3) r:0.23 Stotler, Sara 4) r:0.23 McSharry, Mona
r:+0.66 11.63 23.65 (23.65)
35.02 (11.37) 49.33 (25.68)
59.67 (10.34) 1:12.42 (23.09)
1:22.58 (10.16) 1:34.27 (21.85)
3 FLOR-FL 1:35.16 1:34.34 A 54
1) Choate, Catie G SO 2) r:0.18 Bottazzo, Anita FR
3) r:0.03 Peoples, Olivia SR 4) r:0.14 Cronk, Micayla SR
r:+0.63 12.15 24.36 (24.36)
36.07 (11.71) 50.36 (26.00)
1:00.27 (9.91) 1:12.68 (22.32)
1:23.00 (10.32) 1:34.34 (21.66)
4 Alabama-SE 1:35.10 1:34.36 A 52
1) Jones, Emily JR 2) r:0.28 Wiseman, Avery SR
3) r:0.09 Scott, Jada SO 4) r:0.30 Vincent, Cadence SO
r:+0.61 11.65 23.59 (23.59)
35.48 (11.89) 50.16 (26.57)
1:00.40 (10.24) 1:13.09 (22.93)
1:23.27 (10.18) 1:34.36 (21.27)
5 Auburn-SE 1:35.62 1:34.89 A 50
1) Komoroczy, Lora F FR 2) r:0.02 Makarova, Stasya SR
3) r:0.17 Ficken, Lawson SO 4) r:-0.03 Mulvihill, Lexie SR
r:+0.51 11.46 23.60 (23.60)
35.47 (11.87) 50.37 (26.77)
1:00.51 (10.14) 1:13.45 (23.08)
1:23.36 (9.91) 1:34.89 (21.44)
6 Texas A&M-GU 1:36.76 1:35.43 A 48
1) Owens, Kaitlyn M SR 2) r:0.12 Kennett, Bobbi GS
3) r:0.03 Theall, Liv GS 4) r:0.06 Stepanek, Chloe 5T
r:+0.88 11.70 23.78 (23.78)
36.29 (12.51) 51.11 (27.33)
1:01.15 (10.04) 1:13.90 (22.79)
1:24.09 (10.19) 1:35.43 (21.53)
7 UGA 1:37.96 1:36.50 B 46
1) McCarty, Eboni F JR 2) r:0.23 Headland, Charlotte FR
3) r:0.12 Sikes, Katie Belle FR 4) r:0.15 Jones, Helena FR
r:+0.74 11.97 24.05 (24.05)
36.65 (12.60) 51.98 (27.93)
1:02.10 (10.12) 1:15.09 (23.11)
1:25.19 (10.10) 1:36.50 (21.41)
8 South Carolina-SC 1:38.13 1:37.08 44
1) Scholes, Dylan JR 2) r:0.27 Goodwin-Birnie,beth FR
3) r:0.16 Pelzek, Greta SR 4) r:0.31 Curry, Peyton SR
r:+0.70 12.37 24.77 (24.77)
36.99 (12.22) 52.07 (27.30)
1:02.57 (10.50) 1:15.19 (23.12)
1:25.49 (10.30) 1:37.08 (21.89)
Men’s 200 medley relay
Florida may be the reigning NCAA champion, but Tennessee stated its intention from the get-go Tuesday. The quartet of Lamar Taylor, Kevin Houseman, Gui Caribe and Jordan Crooks went 1:20.22 to win. That’s .07 off the NCAA record set in 2024 by said winning Florida team. Crooks obliterated the anchor leg with a 17.42, after a 19.17 by Caribe on fly. Tennessee was fifth at NCAAs last year.
Florida was no slouch in this race, to be fair. The reigning conference champ went 1:20.66, which was much faster than the meet record of 1:21.43 set by UT in 2023. That still wasn’t enough, though the relay was without Josh Liendo, with Scotty Buff splitting 19.40 in fly and Ed Fullum-Huot 18.50 on the anchor. Julian Smith was the fastest breaststroker at 22.15.
Texas was third in 1:20.75. Will Modglin got them out in 20.34, and Chris Guiliano came back in 18.08, with a Hubert Kos 19.74 fly split in there.
LSU and Georgia added A cuts in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Event 3 Men 200 Yard Medley Relay
==================================================================================
NCAA: N 1:20.15 3/27/2024 Florida
A. Chaney, J. Smith, J. Liendo, M. McDuff
SEC: S 1:20.15 3/27/2024 Florida
A. Chaney, J. Smith, J. Liendo, M.McDuff
SEC Meet: M 1:21.43 2023 Tennessee
B. Kammann, M. Houlie, J.Crooks, G. Santos
Pool: P 1:21.49 11/21/2024Florida
Marshall, Smith, LIendo, Painter
1:23.62 A
1:23.90 B
School Seed Finals Points
==================================================================================
1 Tennessee-SE 1:21.71 1:20.22MA 64
1) Taylor, Lamar 2) r:0.08 Houseman, Kevin
3) r:0.11 Caribe, Gui 4) r:0.15 Crooks, Jordan
r:+0.66 10.18 20.76 (20.76)
30.87 (10.11) 43.63 (22.87)
52.09 (8.46) 1:02.80 (19.17)
1:10.88 (8.08) 1:20.22 (17.42)
2 FLOR-FL 1:21.49 1:20.66MA 56
1) Marshall, Jonny C SO 2) r:0.13 Smith, Julian SR
3) r:0.13 Buff, Scotty SO 4) r:0.07 Fullum-Huot, Ed JR
r:+0.73 10.07 20.61 (20.61)
30.23 (9.62) 42.76 (22.15)
51.40 (8.64) 1:02.16 (19.40)
1:10.74 (8.58) 1:20.66 (18.50)
3 Texas 1:22.43 1:20.75MA 54
1) Modglin, Will C SO 2) r:0.03 Germonprez, Nate SO
3) r:0.19 Kos, Hubert JR 4) r:0.10 Guiliano, Chris
r:+0.67 9.89 20.34 (20.34)
30.25 (9.91) 42.93 (22.59)
51.70 (8.77) 1:02.67 (19.74)
1:11.02 (8.35) 1:20.75 (18.08)
4 LSU-LA 1:23.44 1:23.05 A 52
1) Goncharov, Stepan JR 2) r:0.09 Mason, Mitch SR
3) r:0.15 Uryniuk, Pawel JR 4) Hribar, Jere SO
r:+0.62 10.17 20.75 (20.75)
31.21 (10.46) 44.23 (23.48)
53.43 (9.20) 1:04.89 (20.66)
1:13.45 (8.56) 1:23.05 (18.16)
5 UGA 1:23.55 1:23.21 A 50
1) Urlando, Luca R SR 2) r:0.13 Pitshugin, Kristian SO
3) r:0.29 Ng, Wesley 5Y 4) r:0.16 Branzell, Reese SR
r:+0.91 10.35 21.03 (21.03)
31.22 (10.19) 44.05 (23.02)
53.02 (8.97) 1:04.33 (20.28)
1:13.25 (8.92) 1:23.21 (18.88)
6 Missouri-MV 1:24.19 1:23.77 B 48
1) Bochenski, Grant R SR 2) r:0.17 Spillane, Tyler SR
3) r:0.23 Zubik, Jan JR 4) r:0.20 Nebrich, Luke FR
r:+0.61 10.28 20.77 (20.77)
31.20 (10.43) 44.16 (23.39)
53.58 (9.42) 1:05.31 (21.15)
1:13.82 (8.51) 1:23.77 (18.46)
7 South Carolina-SC 1:25.39 1:23.79 B 46
1) Laitarovsky, Michael SR 2) r:0.23 Kerns, Liam SR
3) r:0.15 Usmonov, Eldor JR 4) r:0.00 Hufford, Ryan SO
r:+0.58 10.23 20.92 (20.92)
31.40 (10.48) 44.46 (23.54)
53.27 (8.81) 1:04.38 (19.92)
1:13.23 (8.85) 1:23.79 (19.41)
8 Texas A&M-GU 1:23.74 1:23.80 B 44
1) Shomper, Tommy 5T 2) r:0.32 Gulledge, Travis FR
3) r:0.29 Foote, Connor JR 4) r:0.19 Scholl, Ben SO
r:+0.71 10.63 21.62 (21.62)
32.38 (10.76) 45.51 (23.89)
54.33 (8.82) 1:05.15 (19.64)
1:13.75 (8.60) 1:23.80 (18.65)
Men’s 3-meter diving
In a reverse of the top two from last year, LSU’s Carson Paul managed to get the better of Conor Gesing this time around. The LSU junior scored 438.30, comfortably past Gesing’s repeat bid in which he scored 417.25. Gesing was just about to edge Bennett Greene of Tennessee, who finished third in 416.85. Allen Bottego of Texas A&M rounded out the quartet of 400-point scorers in fourth at 406.25.
Greene had been first in prelims at 392.15, but the top four were clustered within 7.2 points.
Georgia went fifth and sixth with Matthew Bray and Renato Calderaro. Texas had Luke Forester finish seventh, Nick Harris ninth and Jacob Jones 13th to jump into the team lead.
Event 4 Men 3 mtr Diving
=========================================================================
SEC: S 495.15 3/23/2018 Zhipeng (Colin) Zeng, Tennessee
SEC Meet: M 483.15 2019 Zhipeng (Colin) Zeng, Tennessee
Pool: P 492.90 1/26/2008 Chris Colwill, Georgia
320.00 B
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Paul, Carson J JR LSU-LA 385.00 438.30 B 32
2 Gesing, Conor SO FLOR-FL 389.75 417.25 B 28
3 Greene, Bennett Tennessee-SE 392.15 416.85 B 27
4 Bottego, Allen SR Texas A&M-GU 386.30 406.25 B 26
5 Bray, Matthew SO UGA 352.35 393.65 B 25
6 Calderaro, Renato JR UGA 365.70 386.55 B 24
7 Forester, Luke FR Texas 364.40 338.30 B 23
8 Duncan, Sam GS Kentucky-KY 351.35 321.15 B 22
=== B - Final ===
9 Harris, Nick JR Texas 321.75 372.30 B 20
10 Spencer, Max SO South Carolina-S 343.70 349.95 B 17
11 Stone, Nick G Tennessee-SE 322.55 347.55 B 16
12 Cryer, Colten SO Alabama-SE 329.70 337.85 B 15
13 Jones, Jacob FR Texas 346.70 336.85 B 14
14 Bayer, Charley JR South Carolina-S 332.45 333.10 B 13
15 Dyer, Collier JR Missouri-MV 350.80 315.05 12
16 Chambers, Nigel FR Alabama-SE 321.25 305.70 11
Women’s 800 freestyle relay
The Tennessee women got under the 6:50 barrier with a balanced effort, coming up just two tenths short of the meet record set by Florida last year. Brooklyn Douthwright, Camille Spink, Julia Mrozinski and Ella Jansen competed for Tennessee on the way to a time of 6:49.83, the second-quickest mark in the country behind the NCAA record of 6:44.13 set at the ACC Championships. Spink had the quickest split for the Lady Vols at 1:41.28 before Mrozinski and Jansen pulled away to secure first place.
Texas placed second in 6:51.61. Olympian Erin Gemmell led off in 1:42.49, and then Lillie Nesty had the team’s quickest split at 1:41.70. Campbell Chase and Ava Longi rounded out the group, which clocked 6:51.61. Florida placed third in 6:53.53 with Julie Brousseau, Bella Sims, Emma Weyant and Micayla Cronk. On the second leg, Sims blasted a 1:39.55 split, a mark that only Mallory Comerford has ever surpassed. The Gators won last year’s national title in the event with a team consisting of Sims, Isabel Ivey, Weyant and Cronk.
Event 5 Women 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
NCAA: N 6:45.91 3/16/2017 Stanford
S. Manuel, L. Neal, E. Eastin, K. Ledecky
SEC: S 6:48.59 3/20/2024 Florida
B. Sims, I. Ivey, E. Weyant, M. Cronk
SEC Meet: M 6:49.65 2024 Florida
B.Sims, I. Ivey, E. Weyant, M. Cronk
Pool: P 6:48.59 3/20/2024 Florida
Sims, Ivey, Weyant, Cronk
7:00.86 A
7:05.56 B
School Seed Finals Points
==================================================================================
1 Tennessee-SE 6:55.71 6:49.83 A 64
1) Douthwright, Brooklyn E 2) r:0.17 Spink, Camille
3) r:0.30 Mrozinski, Julia 4) r:0.32 Jansen, Ella
r:+0.62 24.13 49.70 (49.70)
1:16.06 (1:16.06) 1:42.94 (1:42.94)
2:05.58 (22.64) 2:31.30 (48.36)
2:57.73 (1:14.79) 3:24.22 (1:41.28)
3:47.68 (23.46) 4:13.73 (49.51)
4:40.70 (1:16.48) 5:07.50 (1:43.28)
5:30.64 (23.14) 5:56.37 (48.87)
6:22.92 (1:15.42) 6:49.83 (1:42.33)
2 Texas 6:55.46 6:51.61 A 56
1) Gemmell, Erin M SO 2) r:0.25 Nesty, Lillian FR
3) r:0.37 Chase, Campbell FR 4) r:0.14 Longi, Ava GS
r:+0.76 23.85 50.08 (50.08)
1:16.41 (1:16.41) 1:42.49 (1:42.49)
2:05.98 (23.49) 2:31.72 (49.23)
2:57.92 (1:15.43) 3:24.19 (1:41.70)
3:48.22 (24.03) 4:14.28 (50.09)
4:41.09 (1:16.90) 5:08.21 (1:44.02)
5:31.04 (22.83) 5:56.77 (48.56)
6:23.69 (1:15.48) 6:51.61 (1:43.40)
3 FLOR-FL 6:56.63 6:53.53 A 54
1) Brousseau, Julie M 2) r:0.11 Sims, Bella SO
3) r:0.20 Weyant, Emma SR 4) r:0.27 Cronk, Micayla SR
r:+0.74 23.94 49.87 (49.87)
1:16.95 (1:16.95) 1:44.18 (1:44.18)
2:06.58 (22.40) 2:31.49 (47.31)
2:57.41 (1:13.23) 3:23.73 (1:39.55)
3:47.75 (24.02) 4:13.81 (50.08)
4:40.62 (1:16.89) 5:07.69 (1:43.96)
5:30.84 (23.15) 5:56.84 (49.15)
6:24.18 (1:16.49) 6:53.53 (1:45.84)
4 UGA 6:56.92 6:57.77 A 52
1) Coetzee, Dune JR 2) r:0.49 Landreneau, Marie FR
3) r:0.32 Stege, Rachel JR 4) r:0.42 Maluka, Ieva JR
r:+0.68 24.33 50.57 (50.57)
1:17.25 (1:17.25) 1:44.16 (1:44.16)
2:08.18 (24.02) 2:34.62 (50.46)
3:01.82 (1:17.66) 3:28.94 (1:44.78)
3:52.80 (23.86) 4:18.92 (49.98)
4:46.25 (1:17.31) 5:13.58 (1:44.64)
5:37.51 (23.93) 6:03.77 (50.19)
6:30.58 (1:17.00) 6:57.77 (1:44.19)
5 LSU-LA 7:10.62 6:59.66 A 50
1) Osborne, Reagan R GR 2) r:0.39 Barnes, Megan JR
3) r:0.21 Santuliana, Nicole FR 4) r:0.42 Palmer, Grace FR
r:+0.63 24.28 50.53 (50.53)
1:17.26 (1:17.26) 1:44.43 (1:44.43)
2:08.16 (23.73) 2:34.66 (50.23)
3:01.41 (1:16.98) 3:27.71 (1:43.28)
3:52.01 (24.30) 4:19.12 (51.41)
4:46.40 (1:18.69) 5:14.05 (1:46.34)
5:38.22 (24.17) 6:04.54 (50.49)
6:32.03 (1:17.98) 6:59.66 (1:45.61)
6 Texas A&M-GU 7:05.38 7:04.07 B 48
1) Stepanek, Chloe 5T 2) r:0.17 Buechler, Jordan GS
3) r:0.47 Walker, Katie SO 4) r:0.43 Miller, Hayden JR
r:+0.68 24.02 49.99 (49.99)
1:16.55 (1:16.55) 1:43.82 (1:43.82)
2:07.61 (23.79) 2:34.56 (50.74)
3:01.99 (1:18.17) 3:29.04 (1:45.22)
3:53.62 (24.58) 4:20.60 (51.56)
4:48.79 (1:19.75) 5:18.03 (1:48.99)
5:42.67 (24.64) 6:09.34 (51.31)
6:36.66 (1:18.63) 7:04.07 (1:46.04)
7 South Carolina-SC 7:05.79 7:04.29 B 46
1) Ottem, Ellery SO 2) r:0.18 Riordan, Amy JR
3) r:0.29 Agliano, Jordan JR 4) r:0.36 Harnish, Meaghan JR
r:+0.71 24.57 50.90 (50.90)
1:17.93 (1:17.93) 1:45.66 (1:45.66)
2:09.65 (23.99) 2:35.90 (50.24)
3:03.12 (1:17.46) 3:31.31 (1:45.65)
3:55.82 (24.51) 4:22.79 (51.48)
4:50.17 (1:18.86) 5:17.87 (1:46.56)
5:42.31 (24.44) 6:09.19 (51.32)
6:36.61 (1:18.74) 7:04.29 (1:46.42)
8 Auburn-SE 7:04.61 7:05.27 B 44
1) Nevmovenko, Polina SR 2) r:0.25 Strojnowska, Julia FR
3) r:0.56 McGuire, Maggie SO 4) r:0.18 Ekk, Isabella FR
r:+0.72 24.55 50.75 (50.75)
1:17.97 (1:17.97) 1:45.67 (1:45.67)
2:10.05 (24.38) 2:36.71 (51.04)
3:04.01 (1:18.34) 3:31.21 (1:45.54)
3:55.91 (24.70) 4:22.68 (51.47)
4:50.25 (1:19.04) 5:18.14 (1:46.93)
5:42.79 (24.65) 6:10.12 (51.98)
6:37.49 (1:19.35) 7:05.27 (1:47.13)
Men’s 800 freestyle relay
Loaded teams squared off in the men’s relay to conclude the night, and the result was Florida nearly knocking off the NCAA and U.S. Open records, the Gators’ final time of 6:02.50 falling just 24-hundredths off the mark set by Cal at last season’s NCAA Championships. Alex Painter led off for Florida in 1:31.21 before Josh Liendo powered to a 1:30.19 split and Julian Smith went sub-1:30 for the first time at 1:29.67. Jake Mitchell came home in 1:31.43, and Florida finished in 6:02.50.
Texas could not keep pace with Florida’s middle swimmers, but the Longhorns still recorded an American record on the way to second place. Luke Hobson, the two-time defending NCAA champion in the 200 free and fastest swimmer ever in the event ,clocked 1:30.45, and Chris Guiliano sizzled on the third leg with a 1:30.04 split. Rex Maurer and Coby Carrozza also contributed to a team that finished in 6:03.24, two tenths under an American record set by a Texas team also including Hobson and Carrozza in 2023.
The University of Georgia came in third in 6:05.43. Luca Urlando led off in 1:31.81, and then Tomas Koski broke 1:30 on the second leg with a 1:29.64 split. Jake Magahey and Reese Branzell finished off the effort as Georgia, like the top-two teams, came in under the previous SEC meet record of 6:05.59 set by the Bulldogs in 2022.
Alabama put up a time of 6:06.77 for fourth place, fueled by Charlie Hawke leading off narrowly ahead of Hobson in 1:30.44.
