If the Georgia Bulldogs are going to catch the Cal Golden Bears at this year’s NCAA Championships, their battle has gotten a bit harder. That’s because All-American Jana Mangimelli has left the program, a school official confirmed Saturday.
“Jana Mangimelli is no longer a member of the Georgia swimming and diving team,” Georgia said in a statement. “We appreciate the contributions she made to our program and we wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”
Mangimelli, who is a senior for the Bulldogs, placed 8th at last year’s NCAA Championships in the 400 IM and 12th in the 200 breaststroke. She was also 22nd in the 200 IM. Her 4:05.31 from the 2010 NCAA Championship meet set the Georgia school record in the event.
Her 16 points at last year’s NCAA Championship meet came despite not having a great prelims swim in the 200 IM. At her best, she’s a top-8 finisher in the 200 IM, and easily had the potential to score upward of 30 points at this year’s NCAA Championship meet.
The silver lining is that Melanie Margalis, who has a very similar lineup to Mangimelli, is swimming very, very well this year, having broken Mangimelli’s record in the 400 IM at the Georgia Invite. Still, this is one more stroke against the Bulldogs this year, going along with the injury to distance star Amber McDermott.
Mangimelli swam for three meets early in the year for the ‘Dawgs. That includes a 1:03.3 in the 100 breaststroke against Florida and a 2:02.4 in the 200 IM in the same meet.
Staab completed the duration of his eligibility at Stanford and competed in trials last summer.
yeah and what about Austin Staab? anyone know what happened there
It’s wrong to try to stir up something when athletes and programs part ways for various reasons. It is tough regardless of when these things happen, but please don’t try to compare the perceived issues at Florida to Georgia. While my child doesn’t swim for Gregg Troy, I do have a lot of respect for his coaching and results. We will miss Jana at UGA as a swimmer and competitor. However, we look forward to strong performances at SEC’s and NCAA’s by the DAWGS.
Where are all the incendiary comments by people with an ax to grind against Georgia? Come and tell us that the sky is falling like you did in the Nick Caldwell thread. Make no mistake that this team has had its fair share of injuries too.
there is multiple reasons, outside of the pool, why she could have left abruptly. One of her family members could be very sick, someone close to her died, etc. Its not always about the pool.
very odd that she wouldn’t leave BEFORE her senior season and not a couple months prior to her grand finale.
I can say from personal experience that swimming is the type of sport that can drive a person away very abruptly. Not saying that’s what happened here, just sayin’…
That’s weird timing- less than three months to go in an NCAA career, and she leaves at that point. I’m enough of a gossip to wonder about the reasons.