G. Albiero Leads 3 Other Cardinals to 50 Podium on Day 1 of Speedo Sectionals-Greensboro

2023 ESSZ SUMMER LONG COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS – GREENSBORO

• July 13-16, 2023
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results 
  • Meet Results: 2023 ESSZ Summer Long Course Championship (greensboroaquaticcenter.com)
• Live Stream: Facebook

The first evening session of the Greensboro Speedo Sectionals is in the books, with the finals of the women’s and men’s 200 IM, 50 free, 200 fly, and 400 free relays being contested, as well as the fastest heats of the 800 timed final. As noted in the preview article, this sectional is rather on the small side, but with large contingents of swimmers from UNC and Louisville as well as from club teams, the meet surely is not lacking in speed or talent.

The session started off with the fastest heats of the 800s. The top time in the women’s 800 belonged to Clarke Neace. The 15-year-old representing SwimMAC Carolina grabbed the victory in the 8:58.01, less than a second off of her seed team. Finishing 2nd and 3rd in that final heat was Louisville’s Madison Luther (9:03.80) and Neace’s teammate Charlotte Lepage (9:07.29).

The fastest heat of the men’s 800 saw the top seed Ilia Sibirtsev take the win. His time of 8:15.50 was more than a five-second drop from his seed. Finishing 2nd in the event all the way from lane 2 was SwimMAC’s Santiago Alzate, whose time of 8:21.31 was an eight-second drop from his seed time. Rounding out the podium was Marlins of Raleigh swimmer Wilson Tuttle, who dropped 7 seconds from his seed touching the wall in 8:22.52.

In the finals of the women’s 200 IM, Canadian and Tennessee Aquatics swimmer Tessa Cieplucha put in a strong back half to finish 1st in a time of 2:15.57. Her winning time was only .37 off the time she swam to place 8th at the Canadian Trials. Cieplucha is the reigning Pan-Ams champion in the 400 IM so look for her in that event. Leading the way at the half and the eventual runner-up was Louisville’s Tristen Ulett, who finished in a time of 2:17.23

The men’s 200 IM was a tight finish with UNC’s Matthew Van Deusen taking the win in a time of 2:05.02 just ahead of the runner-up, Dalton Lowe. Lowe, a Louisville Cardinal, touched in 2:05.34, which represents a new personal best by over 13 seconds. To be fair, he entered the meet with a yards time of 1:53.00 and does not have any LCM 200 IM times in the USA Swimming database since 2019.

The women’s and men’s splash-and-dashes saw a pair of Cardinals atop the podium. Just off of her 7th place finishing time at U.S. Trials (28.76) was Gabi Albiero, who stopped the clock in Greensboro in 24.84. Behind her in 2nd was teammate Julia Dennis (25.52) and tying for 3rd were fellow Cardinals Christina Regenauer and Paige Hetrick (25.55). To note Hetrick’s time is a personal best by .36 and nips under the Olympic Trials standard of 25.69

Adding to the Cardinal dominance in the 50 was Caleb Duncan, who won the men’s 50 in 22.83. His teammate, Vladimir Dubinin, nabbed 3rd in 22.91, and splitting them was NC State product b in 22.88

The 200 fly saw UNC’s Aislin Farris nab gold in a time of 2:16.65, just off her seed time of 2:16.58. Nabbing 2nd was 17-year-old Sofia Plaza with a time of 2:17.09, which represents a three-second drop from her seed time.

In the last individual event, Jackson Millard of Louisville swam to gold touching in 2:03.55. Like his teammate Lowe, Millard entered with a yards time. Runner-up in the 200 fly was SwimMAC’s Alexander Cook who dropped over a second from his seed finishing with a time of 2:04.57.

The 400 free relay saw only three entrants with SwimMAC’s Molly Donian (57.81), Sofia Plaza (59.56), Caroline Mallard (59.90) and Clark Neace (58.58) nab the win in a time of 3:55.85. There were five teams in the men’s event with the SwimMAC B-relay, comprising of Caleb Maldari, Jack Haywood, Charles Heisig, and Alexander Ayers taking the win in 3:33.20.