2018 SEC Championships: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2018 SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 14 – Sunday, February 18
• Rec Center Natatorium, College Station, TX (Central Time Zone)
• Prelims 10AM / Finals 6PM
• Defending Champion: Florida (5x) (results)
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheet
• Live results
• Live Video (finals)

The 2018 SEC Championships continue tonight in College Station, Texas. Swimmers are set to compete individually in the 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 free. We’ll also see the men’s 1-meter and the 200 free relays at the end of the session. Look out for Florida’s Caeleb Dressel in the 200 IM and Tennessee’s fast-rising Erika Brown in the 50 free.

WOMEN’S 500 FREE:

1. GOLD: Geena Freriks, Kentucky, 4:37.60
2. SILVER: Courtney Harnish, Georgia, 4:38.21
3. BRONZE: Claire Rasmus, Texas A&M, 4:39.23

Kentucky’s Geena Freriks set the pace early on, leading the whole way through. Georgia freshman Courtney Harnish started to make up some ground at the 400-yard mark, but Freriks pushed ahead again with a 26.98 closing split to win it. Texas A&M’s Claire Rasmus also showed some impressive closing speed with a 26.87 final split for the bronze ahead of Georgia’s Meryn McCann (4:40.50) Florida freshman Taylor Ault rounded out the top 5 in 4:41.64.

MEN’S 500 FREE:

1. GOLD: Fynn Minuth, South Carolina, 4:10.55
2. SILVER: Akaram Mahmoud, South Carolina, 4:11.47
3. BRONZE: Khader Baqlah, Florida, 4:14.48

South Carolina’s Fynn Minuth was out like a light in 1:37.92, holding off teammate Akaram Mahmoud through the back half as he successfully defended his SEC title. Florida’s Khader Baqlah knocked over 2 seconds off his lifetime best for the bronze. Teammate Ben Lawless followed with a 4:17.35 for 4th, while Georgia’s Jay Litherland (4:17.92) rounded out the top 5. Notably, South Carolina’s Brandonn Almeida and Cody Bekemeyer had the 4th and 5th fastest times of the night from the B final in 4:16.21 and 4:17.10 respectively.

WOMEN’S 200 IM:

1. GOLD: Sydney Pickrem, Texas A&M, 1:52.69
2. SILVER: Asia Seidt, Kentucky, 1:53.04
3. BRONZE: Meghan Small, Tennessee, 1:53.05

There were a few lead changes throughout the 200 IM, with Asia Seidt taking the edge through backstroke. Defending champ Meghan Small made up enough ground to take over on the breast leg, with Sydney Pickrem trailing by a tenth. Down the final stretch, Pickrem made her move, winning the event in a new Pool Record and Meet Record. Seidt came from behind to out-touch Small for the silver.

MEN’S 200 IM:

1. GOLD: Caeleb Dressel, Florida, 1:38.13
2. SILVER: Hugo Gonzalez, Auburn, 1:40.67
3. BRONZE: Mark Szaranek, Florida, 1:41.00

Caeleb Dressel put together an eye-popping 1:38.13, shattering the American Record and becoming the fastest man in history by over a second. The former record stood as a 1:39.38 done by David Nolan in 2015. Dressel’s splits were as follows:

• Fly- 21.03
• Back- 25.01
• Breast- 28.37
• Free- 23.72

Auburn freshman Hugo Gonzalez also had a big swim, tying the time it took to win NCAAs last season and dropping a second from the best time he set this morning. Florida’s reigning NCAA champ Mark Szaranek was also in the mix tonight, touching in 3rd ahead of teammate Jan Switkowski (1:41.89). The top 4 men all hit the NCAA ‘A’ cut. Texas A&M’s Brock Bonetti (1:42.32) nabbed another best time to take 5th, followed by Georgia’s Gunnar Bentz (1:43.94). A&M’s Austin Van Overdam dropped over a second from the B final to take 9th in 1:43.54, making him the 6th fastest man of the night.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE:

1. GOLD: Erika Brown, Tennessee, 21.39
2. SILVER: Aly Tetzloff, Auburn, 21.94
3. BRONZE: Bailey Scott, Alabama, 21.96

Tennessee’s Erika Brown continues to impress. She blew away the field tonight, winning in a quick 21.39. That makes her the 8th fastest performer in history. Auburn’s Aly Tetzloff and Alabama’s Bailey Scott each snuck under 22 to pick up the remaining podium spots. Tennessee’s Maddy Banic was just off the podium in 22.07.

MEN’S 50 FREE:

1. GOLD: Zach Apple, Auburn. 19.08
2. SILVER: Kyle Decoursey, Tennessee, 19.12
3. BRONZE: Robert Howard, Alabama, 19.14

Auburn’s Zach Apple made waves tonight, touching just .15 shy of his lifetime best to clip Tennessee’s Kyle Decoursey and Alabama’s Robert Howard for the gold. Bama’s Zane Waddell was the next man to the wall, out-touching Texas A&M’s Adam Koster 19.43 to 19.45. Tennessee’s Alec Connolly had the 6th fastest time of t he night with a 19.48 from the B final.

MEN’S 1-METER DIVING:

1. GOLD: Juan Celaya Hernandez, LSU, 479.10
2. SILVER: Zhipeng Zheng, Tennessee, 455.60
3. BRONZE: Sam Thornton, Texas A&M, 406.35

LSU’s Juan Celaya Hernandez added yet another SEC title to his resume, breaking the Pool Record and Meet Record in the process. Tennessee picked up a lot of points here, with Zhipeng Zheng taking silver and teammates Liam Stone (T-6) and William Hallam (8th) also picking up top 8 points. The Aggies had 2 men score as well. Sam Thornton brought in bronze, while Tyler Henschel took 5th.

WOMEN’S 200 FREE RELAY:

1. GOLD: Tennessee, 1:27.26
2. SILVER: Auburn, 1:28.10
3. BRONZE: Alabama, 1:28.11

Tennessee dominated with a pair of 21s from Erika Brown (21.40) and Bailey Grinter (21.74) on the middle legs. Auburn’s Aly Tetzloff popped off a 21.87 on the leadoff. Teammates Ashton Ellzey (21.84) and Robyn Clevenger (21.95) put up a pair of 21s on the back half, narrowly holding off Alabama by a hundredth. The Tide took 3rd as Lindsay Morrow (21.87) and Bailey Scott (21.61) took on the closing legs.

MEN’S 200 FREE RELAY:

1. GOLD: Alabama, 1:16.38
2. SILVER: Florida, 1:16.59
3. BRONZE: Tennessee, 1:17.00

50 free champ Zach Apple got Auburn off to a good start with a personal best 18.91 on the leadoff. The Tigers were the first to the wall in 1:15.83, but were ultimately DQed for a false start on the 3rd leg.

Zane Waddell popped an 18.63 on the 2nd leg to help Bama to victory. The Gators wound up 2nd with an 18.23 from Caeleb Dressel on the 2nd leg. Tennessee got their fastest split on that leg as well, with Kyle Decoursey contributing an 18.69.

WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES THROUGH DAY 2:

  1. Texas A&M University              469   2. University of Georgia             361
  3. University of Tennessee         337.5   4. Auburn University               250.5
  5. University of Kentucky            250   6. University of Alabama             241
  7. University of Missouri            236   8. University of Florida           219.5
  9. University of South Carolina    218.5  10. University of Arkansas            188
 11. Louisiana State University        161  12. Vanderbilt University             106

MEN’S TEAM SCORES THROUGH DAY 2:

  1. University of Florida             432   2. University of Tennessee           411
  3. Texas A&M University              409   4. University of Georgia             365
  5. University of Kentucky            298   6. University of South Carolina      285
  7. Auburn University               283.5   8. University of Alabama           268.5
  9. University of Missouri          267.5  10. Louisiana State University      220.5