Auburn’s Fredriksson Goes 1:40.57 200 Back at Bulldog Invite

2017 Bulldog Invitation (UGA Last Chance Meet)

• Location: Athens, Georgia (Gabrielsen Natatorium)
• Date: Saturday, February 25, 2017 – Sunday, February 26, 2017
• Live Results
• 2017 NCAA Qualifying Time Standards
• What Qualified For 2016 NCAAs 

In addition to the host team, the meet showcased swimmers and divers from Alabama, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, Bucknell, Duke, East Carolina, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Liberty, Louisville, LSU, Navy, New Hampshire, North Carolina, NC State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Yale.

Day Two featured the 800 free relay, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, platform diving, and 400 free relay.

The second day of competition in Athens, Georgia, continued to deal some big time drops as swimmers vie for invitations to the NCAA Championships.

Women’s

• In the 100 free, Virginia’s Eryn Eddy swam a 49.06 in finals, which didn’t improve her 51st-place national ranking time of 48.71 from the ACC Championships. She’s in a danger zone for NCAA qualifying – a number of swimmers ahead of her probably won’t swim the 100 free individually at NCAAs, but it’s unlikely that it will be the 8-10 drops she needs for an invite.
• For the 200 breast, UNC’s Abby Fisher dropped more than a second to finish with a 2:10.57. That improves her to 42nd nationally, and squarely on the bubble. Only 39 or 40 were invited per event last year, but early math this year supposes those lines might go a touch deeper this year. Virginia’s Mary Claire Tansill came in second, dropping her season’s best from a 2:13.94 to a 2:11.28.
• Georgia’s Megan Kingsley swam a 1:55.35 in prelims of the 200 fly but then scratched the final (she was already easily invited with a 1:54 from SECs). Arkansas’ Chelsea Tatlow touched first in the final in 1:55.82, followed by Liberty’s Alicia Finnigan in 1:56.15 and Arkansas’ Jessie Garrison. Tatlow (23rd) and Finnigan (30th) will be in to NCAAs, but Garrison (59th) is likely out.
• In a time trial, Hawaii’s Bryndis Hansen swam a 48.55 in the 100 free. For the sophomore, that puts her at 41st nationally, and directly onto the bubble. Our educated guess at this point is that it will earn an invite, but that won’t be confirmed until the pre-selection sheets are out later this week.
• Georgia’s Katherine Parker swam a 57.54 in the 100 back, which ties her with teammate Chelsea Britt for the 37th-best time nationally. We expect at least 37 lines to be taken in each event, so both swimmers should be in for NCAAs.

Men’s

• Auburn’s Petter Fredriksson began the morning session by dropping almost 1.5 seconds off his 200 back seed time. He now boasts a 1:40.57 for the season, which ranks him 12th nationally. His teammate, Foster Ballard, had an even bigger drop in the 200 fly, lowering his mark of 1:44.82 to a 1:42.91, which bumps him up to 15th and in good stead for an NCAA invite.
• Georgia’s Powell Brooks also had a good 200 fly. He dropped his time of 1:44.07 from SEC Champs to a 1:43.46 over the course of prelims and finals sessions. That’s faster than what got invited last year by two tenths, but ranks him only 24th nationally – a precarious position with two big meets, plus several last chances, left to swim.Perhaps the biggest benefactor from the fast 200 fly field was Alabama’s Will Freeman. He came into the meet with a 1:48.18. In prelims he lowered his time to a 1:44.83, and then turned around in finals and swam a 1:43.89 – which won’t qualify, but at least gives him a “B” time in the event.
• In the 200 breast, Thomas Brewer from Auburn was the standout swimmer. He entered the meet with a 1:56.41, but finished the day with a 1:54.06, which ranks him 15th nationally and is very likely to qualify for NCAAs.
• In a time trial, Georgia’s Aidan Burns swam a 3:41.56, which jumped him up to 7th nationally. Even with the ACC and Pac-12 left to swim, that time locks him in for an NCAA invite.
• Hawaii’s Metin Aydin moved up to 28th in the nation with his 46.50 in the 100 back. He should be on the right side of the bubble for NCAAs based on his 1:41.03 in the 200 back on Saturday. He’s now 15th in that event with only Pac-12s and ACCs to go.