Florida State Men Earn First Dual Meet Victory Over Alabama Since 2013

Florida State vs. Alabama vs. LSU

• Nov. 4, 2023
• Morcom Aquatics Center
  • Tallahassee, Florida
• SCY (25 yards)
• Dual meet scores:
  • Men:
    • FSU 151, Alabama 149
    • FSU 170, LSU 130
    • Alabama 152, LSU 148
  • Women
    • Alabama 183, FSU 117
    • Alabama 219, LSU 81
    • FSU 211, LSU 89
• PDF results

The unranked Florida State men earned their first dual meet win against SEC foe Alabama in a decade, sneaking past the Crimson Tide, 151-149, during a double dual meet on Saturday in Tallahassee, Florida.

Alabama is ranked No. 24 in SwimSwam’s preseason power rankings and No. 19 in last month’s CSCAA poll. Both the Crimson Tide and Seminoles also beat the LSU men by scores of 152-48 and 170-130, respectively.

Peter Varjasi (43.84 100 free) and Max Wilson (47.79 100 back) each claimed individual crowns for the FSU men, who were just a couple weeks removed from a tight victory over Georgia Tech. At the end of the meet, the Seminoles split their top relay teams and the strategy paid off as their ‘B’ squad edged Alabama’s ‘B’ team by a couple tenths of a second for 4th place in the 200 free relay.

“I’m so proud with how we competed,” FSU head coach Neal Studd said. “The energy, the passion, they were really great. We’re taking home wins from two SEC schools. It was a great day.”

Among the highlights from the Alabama men were a triple by Tommy Hagar (1:46.94 200 fly, 1:45.87 200 back, and 1:49.47 200 IM) and a double by Charlie Hawke (1:37.32 200 free and 4:23.32 500 free).

The Tide women came away from the road trip with a pair of victories over FSU and LSU. They were led by MacKenzie Brandt, Jada Scott, and Avery Wiseman, who each collected multiple 1st-place finishes in individual events. Brandt swept the distance events (4:53.95 500 free and 10:03.94 1000 free), Scott took the 100 back (54.44) and 50 free (22.55) titles, and Wiseman prevailed in both breaststroke races (1:01.38 100 breast, 2:12.41 200 breast). Cadence Vincent also touched first in the 100 free (49.29) and Diana Petkova triumphed in the 200 IM (2:00.81) for the No. 22 Alabama women (No. 20 in CSCAA poll).

“I’m happy with how we raced today and the way we showed up for each other,” Alabama head coach Margo Geer said. “This was a good step forward across the board. There is still room for improvement before we go into the Tennessee Invite, but I’m excited with how we are progressing this season.”

For LSU, transfer Jacob Pishko won the 100 free in 9:06.92, moving up to No. 2 in program history. The Tiger men also brought home individual titles courtesy of Mitch Mason (54.60 100 breast) and Croatian freshman Jere Hribar (19.94 50 free).