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[su_spacer size=”40″] GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Georgia swimming and diving teams recorded a pair of impressive early season wins on Friday as they swept Florida at the O’Connell Center. The No. 2 Bulldogs topped the No. 1 Gators 172.5-127.5, while the No. 1 Lady Bulldogs dispatched the No. 13 Lady Gators 169-129.
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The Bulldogs improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the SEC as they topped Florida for the second straight year. The Lady Bulldogs, also 2-0 and 1-0, won their ninth consecutive over Florida and improved to 24-0-1 in their last 25 overall dual meets.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “These were great wins for our teams,” said Harvey Humphries, Georgia’s senior associate head coach. “Florida has a tremendous program with world-class athletes and coaches, so we knew it would be a great competition. Winning both meets means a lot to us. We got off to a great start, which was the key, and the kids continued to compete hard in every event.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] Since this is an Olympic year, the teams chose to swim a 50-meter long course meet (as opposed to the traditional 25-yard short course college meet).
[su_spacer size=”40″] Pace Clark, Matias Koski and Jay Litherland had two individual wins apiece to lead the Bulldogs.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Clark won the 100-meter butterfly in 54.83 and tied for first in the 200-meter butterfly in 2:01.08 (reaching the Olympic Trials standard).
[su_spacer size=”40″] Koski stopped the clock in 1:51.69 and in 4:00.66 to claim the 200- and 400-meter freestyles, respectively.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Litherland got to the wall first in the 200-meter backstroke (sparking a 1-2-3 finish) with a time of 2:03.94 and in the 400-meter individual medley in a Trials-qualifying time of 4:25.32.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Other winners for the Bulldogs included Kevin Litherland in the 800-meter freestyle (8:16.34), Gunnar Bentz in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:05.86) and James Guest in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:23.14).
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Bulldogs swept the relays. Taylor Dale, Guest, Clark and Michael Trice stopped the clock in 1:43.51 in the 200-meter medley relay, while Trice, Clark, Koski and Bentz won the 400-meter freestyle relay in 3:27.79.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Hali Flickinger and Annie Zhu each won three events to pace the Lady Bulldogs.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Flickinger took the 200-meter freestyle in 2:01.92 (leading a 1-2-3-4 finish), the 200-meter butterfly in 2:12.26 (to spark a 1-2-3 effort) and the 200-meter backstroke in 2:11.83. Her 200 freestyle and 200 butterfly times were under the Olympic Trials standards.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Zhu won the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:12.70, the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:34.58 and the 400-yard individual medley in 4:54.38. The 200 breaststroke and 400 individual medley times met the Trials standards.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Brittany MacLean claimed victories in the 400-meter freestyle (4:18.70) and the 800-meter freestyle (8:44.35).
[su_spacer size=”40″] Olivia Ball won the 1-meter springboard with 307.35 points.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Lady Bulldogs also swept the relays. Kylie Stewart, Zhu, Courtney Weaver and Olivia Smoliga touched in 1:58.77 in the 200-meter medley relay, while Smoliga, Meaghan Raab, Flickinger and MacLean had the fastest time in the 400-meter freestyle relay at 3:50.69.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia’s teams will return to action Wednesday at 4 p.m. against Georgia Tech at Gabrielsen Natatorium. There is no cost for admission.
[su_spacer size=”40″] GEORGIADOGS.COM – University of Georgia Official Athletic Site – Swimming & Diving
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