Rhyan White Dominates Backstrokes as Bama Bounces Back Against Vanderbilt

VANDERBILT VS. ALABAMA

• October 5, 2019
• Nashville, TN
• Meet results

SCORES 

• Alabama 146, Vanderbilt 105
• Alabama swam exhibition beginning with Event #12 of 16

Rhyan White dominated the backstroke events as Alabama took out SEC opponent Vanderbilt in Nashville. This was their second meet in as many days, coming off of a dual at home against Georgia the day before where the women lost.

White, a sophomore returning after placing 6th in the 100 back at the 2019 SEC Championships as a freshman, won both back events yesterday. She was 53.79 in the 100, winning by almost two seconds, then obliterated the field in the 200 back with a 1:56.14, winning by nearly six full seconds. White also led off Alabama’s victorious 200 medley relay (1:42.11) with a 25.64 and took second in the 100 fly (55.89) behind teammate Flora Molnar (55.29).

Molnar, a junior, tied her season-best from Friday’s meet with Georgia with a win in the 100 free (50.14). The fact she’s gone that time twice in October is impressive given her 100 free at 2019 NCAAs was only 50.12. Her best time is a 48.51 from 2019 SECs. Molnar was also 24.16 fly on Alabama’s winning 200 medley relay and split a 50.75 as Alabama won the 400 free relay (3:25.56).

Freshman Caitlin Reynera swept the breaststrokes (1:03.97/2:19.30), sophomore distance specialist Kensey McMahon took the 500 free (5:02.79) and 1000 free (10:13.15), and senior Alexis Preski doubled up with a win in the 200 free (1:53.15) and 200 IM (2:05.02).

Lizzy Colwell, a Vanderbilt sophomore, tested the Alabama swimmers in the 100 breast and 200 IM. She nearly pulled off upset wins, going 1:04.25 in the 100 breast and 2:05.58 in the 200 IM.

PRESS RELEASE – ALABAMA

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Alabama women’s swimming and diving team swept the individual races and both relays against Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, beating the Commodores 146-105. It was the Crimson Tide’s second meet in two days after opening Southeastern Conference competition against Georgia in Birmingham on Friday.

Sophomore Rhyan White once again won both backstroke events, boosting her two-day individual win total to five, while classmate Kensey McMahon swept the distance freestyle events for the second meet in a row after winning the 500 and 1,000 freestyles against the Dogs and Commodores.

In all, Alabama won nine events against Georgia and 14 against Vanderbilt for a total of 23 across the two meets. Against Vanderbilt, Alabama took the top-two spots in eight races, including both relays.

HEAD COACH COLEY STICKELS SAID

“Having two meets in two days in two different cities can be a challenge, but our ladies kept their focus and swam hard today, giving us two good days of competition. We looked at back to back meets as a prelims/finals scenario that we will ultimately face later on during championship season. From here, we just need to keep our momentum moving in the right direction and continue to train hard as we move forward through the season.”

MEET HIGHLIGHTS

• Sophomore Rhyan White followed a three-win day against Georgia with a pair of individual wins against Vanderbilt, taking first in the 100 and 200 backstrokes, going 53.79 and 1:56.17, respectively against the Commodores
• Sophomore Kensey McMahon doubled up her distances freestyle win total for the weekend after taking top honors in the 500 (5:02.79) and 1,000 (10:13.15) in Nashville
• Freshman Caitlin Reynera won the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, clocking times of 1:03.97 and 2:19.30
• Senior Alexis Preski showed her range, winning the 200 freestyle (1:53.15) and the 200 individual medley (2:05.02)
• Junior Flora Molnar won the 100 freestyle (50.14) and the 100 butterfly (55.29)
• Sophomore Cat Wright (200 butterfly/2:04.28) and senior Allie Surrency (50 freestyle/23.54) also contributed wins to the Tide’s sweep
• White, Reynera, Molnar and Surrency opened the meet by winning the 200 medley relay (1:42.11), while Surrency and Molnar combined with sophomores Morgan Scott and Kalia Antoniou combined to touch first to close the meet in the 400 freestyle relay (3:25.26)

UP AHEAD

• After opening the season with back-to-back (or in the women’s case, back-to-back-to-back) dual meets, Alabama returns to action with the Georgia Tech Invitational Nov. 22-24 in Atlanta, Ga.
• Alabama closes the fall semester with a pair of trips to Auburn, Ala., taking on the Tigers in a dual meet on Dec. 5, before returning Dec. 17-19 for the Auburn Diving Invite

PRESS RELEASE – VANDERBILT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s swim team opened up its season by coming up short to SEC foe Alabama, 146-105, Saturday at the Centennial Sportsplex.

“Overall, a really good first meet of the year for everybody. There are a lot of things we have to work on, but overall we performed really well,” said head coach Jeremy Organ. “I think there were a lot of good races and a lot of really good things we can take forward going into next week.”

The Dores started strong in the opening 200-yard medley relay with Vanderbilt A-relay — Abby Burke, Alina Jones, Tonner DeBeer and Allison Bauer — notching a podium finish for the Dores by touching the wall third (1:45.85).

Dominating in the 1,000-yard freestyle, freshman Alix Roy claimed second by touching in 10:24.26. The win marked Roy’s first as a Commodore. The freshman continued to have a strong meet by picking up another second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (5:06.17) to close out her first collegiate outing.

Fellow freshman Kristen Nutter also tabbed a second-place finish in her collegiate debut, racing to a 2:06.85 in the 200-yard butterfly.

“For the freshmen’s first meet coming out of the gate, I thought they really did well. Alabama is a very good and deep team, so I thought that everybody rose to the occasion and did a great job setting the tone for the rest of the season,” said Organ.

In the 100-yard backstroke, Tonner DeBeer earned an eager start to her sophomore campaign by clocking a 55.52 to claim second. DeBeer continued by touching fourth in the 100-yard butterfly (57.04).

Junior Lauren Bergmann set the tone for her season by claiming third in the 200-yard backstroke (2:06.82).

Closing out the season opener, sophomore Lizzy Colwell placed second in the 200-yard individual medley by marking a 2:05.58. Maintaining a successful first meet, Colwell also tabbed a second-place finish in the 100 breast (1:04.25).

The Commodores will be back in action on Oct. 12 by competing in the Grizzlie Relays in Oakland, Michigan.

Stay updated with the Dores as they prepare by following @VandySwimming on Twitter and Instagram.