Records Tumble at Major Conference Meets

By Lauren Sampl

BOULDER, Colorado, February 19. SWIMMERS across the country shattered season best times and swam to new NCAA, conference and meet records as some of the nation's top teams suited up for their respective conference championships. Here are some highlights from the weekend.

There were plenty of eye-popping times at the SEC Championships, hosted by the University of Tennessee. The Auburn men emerged with their 16th consecutive title and the Georgia women claimed their third in a row.

Elizabeth Beisel of Florida was victorious in three events, posting insanely fast times of 1:54.89 in the 200 IM, 3:58.35 in the 400 IM and 1:49.82 in the 200 back, along with claiming the high point award. Beisel's time in the 400 IM was an SEC record and just missed Julia Smit's NCAA, American and US Open record of 3:58.23.

Auburn's Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace continued her domination of the sprint events, becoming the first woman to split under 21 seconds in the 50 free on Auburn's 200 medley relay with a 20.80 effort. Additionally, she claimed a title in the 50 free in 21.35 and set a new NCAA and US Open record of 46.61 in the 100 free leading off Auburn's 400 free relay team.

On the men's side, Florida's Marcin Cieslak took home the high point trophy after posting wins in the 200 IM (1:43.01), 200 free (1:34.49) and 200 fly (1:42.43).

Kyle Owens earned key victories for the Auburn men in their run to the overall title, as he swam to first place finishes in the 200 back (1:41.67) and 100 back (46.09).

Martin Grodzki contributed two wins for the Georgia men, capturing titles in the 500 free (4:16.94) and 1650 free (14:48.26).

Meanwhile, in Iowa City, the Minnesota women were crowned Big Ten champions after besting a strong Indiana Hoosier squad by less than 30 points.

Indiana's Allyssa Vavra was named Swimmer of the Meet after her wins in the 200 IM (1:55.44) and 400 IM (4:01.41), both Big Ten records.

Tess Behrens led the Minnesota women with two victories in the 100 back (52.35) and 200 back (1:53.34) and Rebecca Thompson took home the sprint titles, winning the 50 free in 22.04 and the 100 free in 48.28 for Wisconsin.

Virginia dominated the women's ACC Championships, winning their fifth consecutive team title.

Stephanie Peacock of North Carolina earned Swimmer of the Meet honors after claiming a trifecta of victories in the 200 free (1:45.11), 500 free (4:36.48) and 1650 free (15:46.12, ACC record).

Lauren Perdue (100 free, 48.27), Sarah White (200 IM, 1:57.74), Megan Fox (400 IM, 4:08.01; 200 fly, 1:56.02) and Meredith Cavalier (200 back, 1:54.70) all won events to lead the Virginia women.

For more college dual meet results, check out the College Channel.

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