Program records fell once again Thursday as the University of Georgia swimming and diving team continued competition at the 2020 Georgia Invitational at Gabrielsen Natatorium.
The Bulldogs placed first in 14 events as they continued to register on the national times rankings, including eight marks that now rank fastest in the nation. Through two days of competition against No. 16/25 Florida State and Georgia Tech (No. 22 in men’s poll), the newly minted No. 1 Georgia women leads with 983.5 points, while the third-ranked men top the field with 1,043 points.
Just as they did on Wednesday evening, the Bulldogs’ relay teams opened competition with nation-leading times. The men’s A team of seniors Javier Acevedo, Jack Dalmolin, Camden Murphy, and sophomore Dillon Downing set a new school record in the 200 medley relay with an A-cut time of 1:23.60, topping the previous mark set at the 2016 NCAA Championships. After trailing by over half a second through two legs, Murphy’s 19.77 butterfly leg and Downing’s 18.86 freestyle leg helped the Bulldogs comfortably take first. Earlier, in the women’s relay, the top squad of senior Gabi Fa’amausili, sophomore Zoie Hartman, senior Courtney Harnish, and freshman Maxine Parker took first with a B-cut of 1:36.85, placing them ninth in program history.
Following his outstanding performance in the medley relay, Murphy rewrote the record books with a blistering A-cut swim of 44.89 in the 100 butterfly, setting new program and natatorium records in the process. Murphy was pushed by freshman teammate Luca Urlando, who had challenged his record in prelims with a time of 45.10 that now ranks second all-time. In the women’s 100 fly, junior Dakota Luther narrowly missed out on victory with her B-cut time of 52.68, finishing just one-hundredth of a second behind Florida State’s Jenny Halden.
Harnish also reached the top of the national standings with a season-best B-cut of 1:45.22 in the 200 freestyle, dropping over a second from her prelim time. Sophomore Jillian Barczyk followed behind at 1:46.30, posting a personal-best B-cut. In the men’s 200 free, freshman Jake Magahey picked up his second individual win of the invitational with a B-cut of 1:33.50, ranking second in program history and third nationally.
In the 100 breaststroke, Hartman automatically qualified for NCAAs with a season-best time of 58.34, besting senior Danielle Della Torre, whose time of 59.22 is now second in the nation. In the men’s 100 breaststroke, Dalmolin turned in a personal-best time of 52.25, moving him into third in program history and second nationally. Junior Harrison Wayner was also impressive with a B-cut time of 53.22, ranking him sixth all-time.
Juniors Andrew Abruzzo and Callie Dickinson continued Georgia’s success in the individual medley, with each winning with personal-best B-cut times. Abruzzo led the 400 IM with a time of 3:42.78, the 10th-fastest in school history, while Dickinson topped the field at 4:10.56, placing her third nationally. She was followed closely by junior teammate Maddie Homovich, whose PR time of 4:14.14 places her fourth in the nation. In the 100 backstroke, Acevedo and Fa’amausili remained dominant with B-cut winning times of 45.60 and 53.18, respectively.
In the closing 800 freestyle relay, Georgia became one of the first Division I programs to post times in the event this season. In the women’s race, Harnish, Barczyk, Dickinson, and Hartman placed first with a B-cut of 7:03.94, followed by an A-cut of 6:16.42 from Urlando, Acevedo, sophomore Bradley Dunham, and Magahey.
At the diving well, the Bulldogs closed out competition with solid outings from its top performers. On the men’s 3-meter, senior Zach Allen earned his first win of the season in the event with a Zone-qualifying score of 353.70, posting a 63.00 score on his final dive to seal the victory by just 1.30 points. On the women’s platform, freshman Meghan Wenzel finished third with a Zone-qualifying mark of 226.40, while junior Ellie Crump took third on 1-meter with a score of 259.15.
The Georgia Invitational concludes Friday with the final six events of the meet, including the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 1,650 freestyle, and the 400 freestyle relay. Prelims will begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by the finals session at 3 p.m. Live coverage of each session will be available on SEC Network+, with results available on GeorgiaDogs.com and to subscribers on the MeetMobile app.