Lense Splits 46.0 Fly, Bams Hits 200 Breast PB as OSU Defeats Alabama

OHIO STATE VS. ALABAMA

• Thursday, January 18th
• University of Alabama Natatorium
• Short course yards
• Results

TEAM SCORES

Women

• Ohio State 180, Alabama 118

Men

• Ohio State 168, Alabama 132

The Ohio State Buckeyes traveled south to race the Alabama Crimson Tide, and the team from up north got the win today on both the men’s and women’s side.

Seniors Liz Li and Meg Bailey led the charge on the women’s side, taking two wins each. Li, who was in China for the fall semester fulfilling national team obligations, completed her second meet back with the Buckeyes today. She swept the sprint free events, taking the 50 (22.51) and the 100 (49.75). Bailey was the only woman under two minutes in the 200 fly (1:58.74) and also won the 200 IM (2:00.46).

Sophomore Kathrin Demler was strong for Ohio State as well, earning two wins. She posted a 1:50.19 to take the 200 free and was 4:53.29 to win the 500 free.

The Bama women swam well, though, winning both the 400 free relay and the 400 medley relay, and getting a breaststroke sweep thanks to Justine Macfarlane going 1:01.55 in the 100 and 2:13.71 in the 200.

The men’s meet was closer, and the Alabama men came out with the hot hand, winning the 400 medley relay and then getting a win in an electric 200 freestyle. Bama’s Robert Howard went head-to-head with OSU freshman Paul Delakis, racing all the way to the final wall. Howard pulled off the win, going 1:36.67 to Delakis’s 1:36.70. Howard also went 43.60 to win the 100 free.

Noah Lense was big for OSU, taking both butterfly events. The sophomore was 47.20 in the 100 to lead a 1-2 OSU sweep, while he went 1:46.40 in the 200 fly as the Buckeyes went first through fifth. Lense also had an eye-popping relay split in the 400 medley– despite Alabama winning the race, Lense split a 46.02 swimming fly on the OSU B relay.

The Bama men had a couple impressive swims of their own, though. Zane Waddell won the 50 free with a 19.99, while Laurent Bams flexed in the breaststroke again, going 54.06 in the 100 and 1:58.81 in the 200– his best time in the latter event. Bams was also a 52.99 on Bama’s 400 medley relay, while he (43.34) and Waddell (42.99) had quick 400 free relay events (where Alabama also won).

PRESS RELEASE – OHIO STATE

Tuscaloosa, Ala. – The Ohio State swimming and diving program went down to Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Thursday afternoon and snagged a pair of Top 25 wins over Alabama at the Alabama Aquatic Center. The 11th-ranked women knocked off the No. 17 Crimson Tide by a tally of 180-118, and Ohio State’s No. 16 men defeated No. 23 Alabama by a score of 168-132.

Ohio State had four swimmers win multiple events during the Thursday afternoon matinee in Tuscaloosa. Kathrin Demler controlled the intermediate distance races with wins in the 200 freestyle (1:50.19) and 500 freestyle (4:53.29). Noah Lense performed flawlessly in the 100 and 200 butterfly, as has been the story all year long; he won the 100 with a time of 47.20 and registered a time of 1:46.40 in the 200.

A pair of seniors on the women’s side also captured two event titles on Thursday. Liz Liabsolutely dominated the 50 (22.51) and 100 free (49.75) for wins, and Meg Bailey won two 200-yard events; Bailey first won the 200 fly with a readout of 1:58.74 and followed that up with a 2:00.46 in the 200 individual medley to win the last individual race of the day for the Buckeyes.

The men’s distance trio of Brayden Seal, Nick Hogsed and Ryan Vandermeulen were well conditioned for Thursday’s afternoon festivities. The threesome started off the day by going one-two-three in the 1000 freestyle with Seal’s winning time of 9:15.13 followed by Hogsed (9:15.24) and Vandermeulen (9:28.78). In the final distance event of the day, the 500 freestyle, Hogsed took individual honors with a readout of 4:26.25 and was followed by Seal (4:31.65) and Vandermeulen (4:35.91) for another one-two-three finish.The most dominant swim of the day for the Buckeyes was arguably the 200 fly on the men’s side. With Lense winning gold, the Buckeye swimmers quartet of Henrique Painhas (1:47.73),Daniel Gloude (1:48.54), Michael Salazar (1:48.55) and Ching Hwang Lim (1:49.43) followed right behind him for the top five times in the event.

The diving crew brought their A-game down to the South and left with four victories on the day.Lara Tarvit (277.30) and Stephen Romanik (343.40) collected first-place finishes on the one-meter board, while Genevieve Angerame (285.10) and Jacob Siler (364.10) earned the sweep on the three-meter board.

Other individual event winners for the Buckeyes were Molly Kowal (1000 freestyle/9:58.32),Rebekah Bradley (100 backstroke/55.19), and Kristen Romano (200 backstroke/1:58.64).

Up Next
Senior Day on Saturday | McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion | 11:30 a.m. Senior Ceremony | Events Begin at 12 p.m. | Be There | #GoBucks

PRESS RELEASE – ALABAMA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama swimming and diving teams closed out its home schedule with losses to Ohio State Thursday afternoon in the Alabama Aquatic Center. The Crimson Tide men fell 168-132, while the women lost 180-118.

“We once again won all four relays, which was big and bodes well heading into the championship season when those relay points carry a lot of weight,” UA head coach Dennis Pursley said. “Our energy was really good to start off the meet and we rallied to finish strong, but we fell a little short in the middle. We also lost too many close races today, but those are things we can work on as we start down the stretch here.”

The Alabama men were led by juniors Laurent Bams and Robert Howard, while the women were led by junior Justine Macfarlane. Bams won the men’s 100 (54.06) and 200 (1:58.81) breaststrokes and swam legs on the Tide’s winning 400 medley (3:11.88) and freestyle (2:54.39) relays. Howard won the 100 (43.60) and 200 (1:36.67) freestyles and also swam on both winning relays. Macfarlane won the women’s 100 (1:01.55) and 200 (2:13.71) breaststroke and swam on the Tide’s winning 400 medley relay (3:37.73). Bams’ time in the 200 breaststroke was a career-best.

Prior to the meet, Alabama honored its 15-member senior class that includes Matthew Adams, Taylor Charles, Will Freeman, Luke Kaliszak, DJ Lang, Christina Lu, Paige Matherson, Lindsay Morrow, David Morton, Hannah Musser, Mia Nonnenberg, Christopher Reid, Bailey Scott, Temarie Tomley and Braxton Young.

Reid won the 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley in his last home meet, while Kaliszak won the 100 backstroke (47.98) and was part of the Tide’s winning 400 medley relay and Adams swam on the Tide’s winning men’s 400 freestyle relay in his their final collegiate dual meet. Tomley, Musser and Scott all swam legs on the Tide’s winning women’s 400 freestyle relay (3:19.68), while Scott anchored the women’s winning 400 medley relay.

Other Tide wins on the day included freshman Flora Molnar (100 butterfly/54.04) and sophomore Zane Waddell (50 freestyle/19.99).

Alabama closes out its regular season Feb. 2-4 at the Auburn Invitational in Auburn, Ala.

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