UGA’s Thomas Askew Breaks Another Record En Route to Day 2 Double at College Club Champs

2024 COLLEGE CLUB SWIMMING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• April 5-7, 2024
• IU Natatorium, Indianapolis, Indiana
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Meet Central (including LiveStream link)
• Qualifying Times
• Meet Program/Heat Sheets
• 2023 Results
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

Georgia’s Thomas Askew broke another National Record en route to two individual race wins, and Virginia’s Emmett Hannam had a big come-from-behind win in the 200 free on day 2 of the College Club Swimming National Championships.

After breaking the 200 fly record on Friday, Askew took down the 50 fly mark on Saturday, swimming 21.14. That broke Peter Paulus‘ record of 21.35. Paulus is one of the best stories to ever come out of the College Club Swimming system, and the next season he earned a roster spot at the University of Texas.

Askew later won the 100 back in 49.49, beating out former D2 National Champion Bebe Wang (49.73). Wang, a grad student at Purdue, won the 50 free earlier in the session in 20.24.

One of the most-exciting races of the night came in the 200 free, where Virginia’s Emmett Hannam overcame a big deficit early in the race to win.

Hannam, who entered the meet as the top seed, was 7th at the first 50 of the race and 5th at the 100 yard mark, sitting almost a full-second behind Purdue’s Tyson Tucci.

But a 25.05 final 50 split for Hannam, eight-tenths better than anybody else in the field, dragged him back into the race and eventually gave him the win. Liberty’s Whittman Brown was 2nd in 1:39.88 while Tucci was 3rd in 1:40.14.

That’s a new lifetime best for Hannam and his third-straight CCS title in the 200 free.

Doubles piled up on Saturday evening. Katii Tang from the University of Michigan won the 50 free (23.87) and 200 free (1:52.96), and John Sita of Cal won his second (200 IM – 1:59.18/1:59.09 in prelims) and third (100 breast – 56.24/55.77 in prelims) events of the meet to keep pace with Askew in the high point race.

Rachel Soubier of Pitt added a win in the 1000 free (10:40.28) to her win in the 200 back from Friday, while Georgia Tech’s Ryan Altera took his first individual event win of the meet in the 1000 free in 9:28.78. He wasn’t able to match his 1:39.89 leadoff leg from Friday’s 800 free relay in the individual event, winding up 5th in 1:41.42.

Two other CCS Records were set on Saturday evening. The first came when Ohio State’s women’s 200 medley relay won in 1:46.82. That broke Georgia Tech’s 2019 record of 1:47.00, one of the oldest records on the books at the CCS meet.

One event later, the Purdue men won the same relay by almost two seconds in 1:29.27, breaking their own Meet and National Records of 1:29.32 from last season.

Other Day 2 Highlights and Winners

• Maya Hunter put the University of Colorado at Denver on the map with a win in the women’s 50 fly in 25.56. She just beat out Virginia’s Gabriela Belsol (25.74). Hunter was 4th in this race at last year’s meet.
• Virginia’s Anna Sheng, after big relay splits on Friday, won her first individual event on Saturday in the 200 IM. She swam 2:10.04. Later, she just-missed another win in the 200 free, finishing 2nd in 1:54.35 behind Tang.
• Ohio State’s Cate O’Haimhirgin, who swam a crucial leg of their record-setting medley relay, won the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.22 after a prelims mark of 1:04.91. That was a minor upset: O’Haimhirgin was 2nd at this meet last year, but Grand Canyon’s Isabella Parish won the 200 breast on Friday and entered the meet as the top seed. O’Haimhirgin was a National Catholic School champion in this event in high school.
• UCSD’s Erin Swift won the women’s 100 back in 57.92, just out-touching Cal’s Amanda Ng.
• Virginia’s women moved to four-for-four in relays with a 3:34.58 win in the 400 free relay.
• The Georgia Tech men won the 400 free relay in 3:03.07

Team Scores After Day 2

Men Top 5:

1. Purdue – 675
2. Liberty – 562
3. Georgia Tech – 539
4. Cal – 493
5. Grand Canyon – 299.5

Women Top 5:

1. Virginia – 569.5
2. Michigan – 415
3. Ohio State – 259.5
4. Northeastern – 256
5. Cal Poly – 253