Ohio State women extended their lead on the second day of the first ever Florida Gulf Coast Classic to win the meet, topping the host team 410 to 394.5. South Carolina finished third with a total of 346 points.
On the men’s side, South Carolina had a strong showing, overtaking Grand Canyon to win the meet 427 points to 414 points. Buffalo finished in third with 353 points.
Florida Gulf Coast very nearly completed a clean sweep of the women’s relays after winning the 400 medley relay. The Ohio State women, however, would seal up their overall meet title in the 200 freestyle relay, winning by over a second in 1:32.85. That included a 22.59 anchor from sophomore Zhesi Li to cap the victory.
On the men’s side, Grand Canyon held off South Carolina by more than two seconds to win the men’s 400 medley relay with a 3:17.76.
One of the newest events to college swimming, the 100 IM, was decided by a tie between FGCU’s Barbara Caraballo and Rutgers’ Morgan Pfaff. Both swimmers finishing with a final time of 57.94.
South Carolina’s Kevin Leithold provided the Gamecocks with early momentum, claiming their first individual event of the day with a 51.02 to win the men’s 100 IM. He would later add another victory in the men’s 100 freestyle with a 45.37. His teammate, Akaram Mahmoud, destroyed the next event: the 500 freestyle. Mahmoud missed the NCAA B cut by .03, finishing with a final time of 4:25.02. Mahmoud also doubled up, winning the 200 fly later with a 1:49.27.
Rutgers’ Joanna Wu was quick in the women’s 100 back, winning with an NCAA B cut time of 54.93.
In the women’s 100 freestyle, OSU’s Zhesi Li was just shy of 49 seconds, winning the event in 50.04.
South Carolina’s Paige Maynard just missed the NCAA B time standard with her winning 200 butterfly time of 2:00.25. That’s a very strong time for the freshman flyer.
Lindsey Clary won her second event of the day, the 200 IM, after winning the 500 freestyle with a 4:52. She completed her sweep of the IM events with a time of 2:02.72.
The final men’s event of the day was won by the winner of the 200 breaststroke, Nils Wich-Glasen of South Carolina. He posted a time of 1:51.79 to win the IM.
Other event winners include:
- Women’s 500 Freestyle – Lindsey Clary, Ohio State – 4:52.75
- Women’s 200 Breaststroke – Taylor Vargo, Ohio State – 2:16.24
- Men’s 200 Breaststroke – Nils Wich-Glasen – 2:03.19
- Men’s 100 Backstroke – Mark Nikolaev – 49.44
For the complete results from the first FGCU Classic, click here.
Ohio State won both, A and B, 200 Free Relay.