The Tennessee men kept charging along on day 3, and though they slipped to 3rd place on the men’s side, it seems as though interim coach Lars Jorgensen has done anything he can possibly do to retain the position on a full-time basis, if he wants to. But it’s the Tennessee women who are even more shocking, as they’re holding onto 2nd place headed into the final day of the meet. And that’s a final day where they should at the least be competitive.
Without an Auburn medley DQ, the meet would be tighter, but Tennessee is still solidly in 2nd. They’ll have to hold out on Florida, 70 points back, who is expected to have a massive final day with Sara Bateman in the 100 free, and Beisel and Crippen (among others) in the 200 yard races.
Women’s 400 IM
Elizabeth Beisel showed that she’s not prepared to back down, despite the apparent dominance of USC’s Katinka Hosszu, in the 400 IM. She swam the second-fastest 400 yard IM in history to win the SEC title in 3:58.35 – which is a new SEC Record. That’s only a tenth away from Julia Smit’s American, NCAA, and U.S. Open Record of 3:58.23.
Mark it down – it’s going to take a 3:57, or maybe even a 3:56, to win this race at NCAA’s.
Her huge time should not overshadow another pair of impressive swims in the top 3. Georgia sophomore Melanie Margalis took 2nd in 4:05.88, and Beisel’s teammate Teresa Crippen took 3rd in 4:05.88. For Margalis, that’s right on a lifetime best swum from this same meet last year, though this season the Bulldogs seem decidedly more rested this season.
Men’s 400 IM
The Florida men swept the medals and went 1-2-3 in the 400 IM, topped by a huge swim from freshman Eduardo Solaeche Gomez in 3:43.57. That’s an NCAA Automatic Qualifying time. This is a major introduction to a young Spanish swimmer who is quietly the best IM’er in the class, and is definitely the best IM’er in Spain.
Another Florida freshman, Dan Wallace, took 2nd in 3:45.02. Florida sophomore Connor Signorin placed 3rd in 3:45.86.
Women’ 100 Fly
Tennessee’s Jenny Connolly kicked off a 100 fly-100 back double with a win in this event in 51.49. In prelims, she swam a 51.21, which is two-tenths of a second off of the Tennessee and SEC Records held by the great Christine Magnuson.
This final from top-to-bottom lived up to its lofty billing. Auburn’s Olivia Scott took 2nd in 52.04 to just out-touch Anna Vanderpool-Wallace in 52.08. Earlier this year, Scott took away Vanderpool-Wallace’s school record, and she topped her again in this 100 fly.
Tennessee and Auburn dominated the top 4 – Kelsey Floyd, the 200 specialist, tied Vanderpool-Wallace for 3rd.
Amanda Kendall and Sara Bateman, the sprint freestylers, took 52.48 and 52.80 respectively.
Men’ 100 Fly
The Georgia men went 1-2 in the men’s 100 fly, topped by Doug Reynolds in 46.41. That’s a huge lifetime best from him, and is over half-a-second better than his previous lifetime best. It’s also a full two seconds better than he’s been this year. If he can repeat that performance in the medley relay, it will be significant for Georgia’s chance at NCAA’s. With a relay start tacked on, that would prove as an upgrade even from Mark Dylla’s swim last year.
His teammate Michael Arnold took 2nd in 46.49, which gives them another good relay option.
Kentucky’s Lucas Gerotto placed 3rd in 47.00.
Women’s 200 Free
Georgia’s Megan Romano seems ready to also attempt a tough double at NCAA’s. She kicked it off by winning the 200 free in 1:43.03. That’s a lifetime best for her by 7-tenths. The challenge of her double (as compared to Connolly’s) is that her events are back-to-back, whereas Connolly has an off event in-between.
Lindsay Gendron took 2nd in 1:44.51, and Shannon Vreeland was 3rd in 1:44.57. The Bulldogs’ dominance in this event wasn’t quite what it was in the 500, but they still had half (four) of the A-Finalists.
Men’s 200 Free
As a bit of a surprise entry, Florida’s Marcin Cieslak swam, and won, the men’s 200 free on the 3rd day of competition in 1:34.49. The tough sophomore didn’t go out ultra-fast in this race, but he closed incredibly well (49.27 on the back-half) to take the win. There was some susceptibility in this race at the SEC level, so it would be a surprise if he swam this event again (instead of the 100 fly) at NCAA’s.
Alabama’s BJ Hornikel took 2nd in 1:34.81. That time is a great makeup for a great relay split that was spoiled by a DQ. Auburn’s James Disney-May touched 3rd in 1:35.03.
Auburn’s Zane Grothe showed his versatility to take 5th here in 1:35.80. He missed the A-Final in the 500, but ended up with the 2nd-best time. This is a huge sign that he will play spoiler in his best event, the mile, on Saturday.
Women’s 100 Breast
Tennessee seemed to have maybe a bit of a hole in the breaststrokes coming into this season, but Molly Hannis has quickly sealed that up. The freshman won the SEC title in 59.60. Michelle McKeehan took 2nd in 1:00.21.
This race was loaded with freshman, with 5 out of the top 8 swimmers as rookies. The highest-finishing of these was Auburn’s Abby Duncan in 1:00.70.
Men’s 100 Breast
Georgia freshman Nic Fink is part of a big freshman breaststroking class nationwide, and he won the 100 in 52.81, which is an NCAA Automatic Qualifying time.
Auburn’s Stuart Ferguson took 2nd in 53.08.
In a tie for 3rd were two relative unknowns – Tennessee’s Renato Prono and LSU’s Andrei Tuomola.
Women’s 100 Backstroke
In a matchup of the two double-doubles in the SEC, Jenny Connolly, who had an extra two-events’ worth of rest, came out on top in 51.37. Romano was just behind in 52.07. It would be great to see those two go at it again at Nationals, especially Romano, because at full-strength, those two might be the ones who can challenge Cal’s dominance in the 100.
Men’s 100 Backstroke
Auburn’s Kyle Owens and Tennessee’s Sam Rairden took out the first 50 of this race in a dead-heat. After that point, however, Owens took off and catapulted his way to a dominant win in 46.09. He was a touch faster in prelims, and sits 3rd in the country this season (only a pair of Arizona Wildcats rank ahead; aside from that he’s well clear of the country – pending results of the Big Ten).
Rairden, despite falling off of the pace for a 2nd-place finish in 46.68, still continues an impressive run by the Tennessee men. His teammate Ricky Henahan and Max Murphy tied for 3rd in 47.17.
Men’s Platform
The Tennessee men completed a sweep of the men’s diving competition, though this time it was freshman Mauricio Robles winning the title on the platform in a dominant 438.35. That put him better than 50 points ahead of runner-up John Santeiu from Auburn.
Women’s 400 Medley Relay
The Tennessee women may be 90 points of meet-leaders Georgia, but they are certainly making a huge impression on the record books. That’s their 2nd SEC Relay Record of the meet, in addition to their meet-opening mark in the 200 medley. The quartet of Jenny Connolly, Molly Hannis, Kelsey Floyd, and Lindsay Gendron. As holders of three out of the four 100 yard titles, the win wasn’t a huge surprise, but the dominating fashion by which they broke the record was impressive.
Tennessee actually were the previous holders of this record too from last season.
The Auburn women hurt themselves in the team standings thanks to a DQ in this relay that would have been 2nd. Auburn (either men or women) is usually good for one major DQ each championship season.
That left Georgia in 2nd in 3:33.28, including a 46.99 anchor split from Romano – impressive on her 3rd swim in 3 events (with diving in between).
Men’s 400 Medley Relay
Auburn cruised to a win in the men’s 400 medley relay in 3:08.36. They had three solid swims to start the race off (notably a 47.2 from Marcelo Chierighini on the butterfly leg), but James Disney-May has been brilliant in this meet, and he anchored the race in a 42.23. He had a tough go as a freshman, as his only race at NCAA’s (the 800 free relay) resulted in a DQ from him taking off early. In the pressure-cooker that is Auburn, he could have let that bother him (it’s even pointed out on his official Auburn bio that the relay was disqualified), but he’s instead rebounded to become one of the best short-freestylers in the country.
Florida sprinter Bradley deBorde swam tough for the Gators on the anchor of 42.64, but he was unable to run down Michael Arnold and the Bulldogs for 2nd. Georgia’s time was 3:10.27, and Florida’s was 3:10.45. The Gators had a monster 45.64. That further reinforces that he’s gotta make the move back to the 100 IM for Nationals.
Standings
Women
1. Georgia 528
2. Tennessee 436.5
3. Florida 361.5
4. Auburn University 358
5. LSU 254
6. Alabama 183
7. South Carolina 165
8. Arkansas 162
9. Kentucky 82
10. Vanderbilt 64
Men
1. Auburn 535
2. Florida 515
3. Tennessee 363
4. Georgia 362
5. LSU 295
6. Kentucky 207.5
7. Alabama 175
8. South Carolina 152.5
frenchy…not sure why you are saying alabama looks good? they are next to last on the men’s side in a weaker than normal SEC year!
Agree with don about Elizabeth Beisel. But she will have to swim faster to win NCAA championships. And agree with Frank, the women’s 400 IM will be the race of the meet. Race between olympic contenders. Katinka Hosszu, Elizabeth Beisel, Caitlin Leverenz and Maya DiRado are fantastic swimmers and I don’t know today who’ll win. In long course, for me no question, I pick Elizabeth Beisel but in yards it will be very close.
Megan Romano becomes for me a big force in american swimming. Her 200 free was great. She has the speed to attack it. She can be a contender for american relays this summer.
And yes the women’s races are by far faster than men’s races.
The lady Dawgs are proving the critics wrong. I guess getting knocked down to #5 when they beat all the competition during the year (except a rested Texas by 10 pts) was a great motivation tool. Hopefully now TSC will give UGA the credit they deserve for the deep team they have this year. Imagine if they had Allison Schmitt!
LETS GO DAWGS!
The 400 IM is going to be the best battle at NCAAs. I think there will be four: hosszu, beisel, leverenz, and dirado all under 4. Very impressive!!! I think winner will forsure be 357
Wow, huge gaffe by the Auburn coaches with AVW’s 100 free. Looks like it will be a battle between Romano and Kendall tonight in that race.
That was an amazing swim by Biesel, powerful and great turns.I think the women are swimming faster than the men
I expected the mens side, particularly the 2/5 frees to be quicker.