Streamlined News: Feb. 17, 2012

PHOENIX, Arizona, February 17. The SEC Championships are in full swing in Knoxville, Tennessee.

On the ladies' side, Georgia dominated the 500 free to take a lead in the team race as they seek a third-straight conference championship.

Freshman Amber McDermott, the fastest swimmer in the country this year, took the win, while teammates Shannon Vreeland, Wendy Trott, and Kelsey Gaid took third, fourth, and fifth, respectively. Tennessee has surprisingly vaulted into second, and Auburn sits third.

A day after splitting 20.80 on the anchor leg of the 200 free relay, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace won the 50 free for Auburn and led the Tigers to a win in the 200 free relay. The Florida Gators are back in fourth place, despite Elizabeth Beisel's win in the 200 IM on Thursday.

For the men, Auburn has taken a slight lead over Florida as the Tigers seek a 16th straight SEC title. As is their usual, Auburn's sprint depth has earned them the lead, with a win in the 200 free relay and claiming four of the top five spots in the 50 free.

However, Florida sophomore Bradley deBorde won the individual 50 free, breaking an Auburn stranglehold on that title. The Tigers have dominated this event in recent years.

At the ACC Women's Championships, the University of Virginia has a big lead over North Carolina, but a Tar Heel did make the biggest splash of the night; Stephanie Peacock won the 500 free in 4:36.48 to beat out UVa's Rachel Naurath. Peacock has been slightly faster this season already and should challenge the tandem from Georgia for the NCAA title in the event next month.

Minnesota has a slight lead over Ohio State and Indiana at the women's Big-10 Championships, with Wisconsin just back in fourth.

Minnesota's Ashley Steenvoorden backed up her national title in the 400 free this summer with a 4:38.00 in the 500 free to put herself into contention for the NCAA title in what should be an epic race next month. For the Indiana Hoosiers, Alyssa Vavra put up the top swim with a win in the 200 IM.

In other news, LEN announced on Thursday that the European Swimming Championships set for May will now take place in Debrecen, Hungary, rather than in Antwerp, Belgian. The Belgian city cited high costs as the reason for its withdrawl from hosting.

The Synchronized Swimming portion of the competition, originally scheduled for Antwerp as well, will go to Eindhoven. The diving portion of the competition had been scheduled for Eindhoven all along.

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