2022 SEC Championships: Alabama Women, Florida Men Set Relay Marks

Kalia Antoniou; Photo Courtesy: NCAA Media

2022 SEC Championships: Alabama Women, Florida Men Set Relay Records

It took all of one event for the 2022 SEC Championships to live up to their hype Tuesday afternoon. A meet and conference record went by the wayside in the first event of the day, courtesy of the Alabama women’s 200 medley relay. The flying start is a promise of more to come in the four-day meet hosted by the University of Tennessee.

2022 SEC Championships Links

Women’s 200 medley relay

Roll Tide right out of the gates. The foursome of Rhyan White, Avery Wiseman, Morgan Scott and Kalia Antoniou were razor sharp in going 1:33.94 in the 200 medley relay. That takes down the SEC record of 1:34.10 set by Tennessee at NCAAs in 2019 and the 1:34.26 that same foursome set at SECs in 2019. The pickups were precise and a net negative thanks to Wiseman’s minus-.07 pickup.

Alabama and Tennessee, the holders of the two A cuts in the league, went 1-2, the Vols’ Irish connection leading to a 1:34.63 (Josephine Fuller, Mona McSharry, Ellen Walshe, AJ Kutsch).

Kentucky (third in 1:35.87) and Auburn (fourth in 1:35.96) both upgraded B cuts to auto cuts. Georgia was fifth.

Event 2  Women 200 Yard Medley Relay
==================================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:32.93  2/17/2021 Virginia
                          C. Gmelich, A. Wegner, A. Cuomo, K. Douglass
          SEC: S 1:34.10  3/22/2019 Tennessee
                          M Small, N Popov, M Banic, E Brown
     SEC Meet: M 1:34.26  2/19/2019 Tennessee
                          M. Small, N. Popov, M. Banic, E. Brown
         Pool: P 1:33.91  11/22/2019Virginia
                          C Gmelich, A Wenger, K Douglass, M Hill
                 1:36.40  A
                 1:37.05  B
    School                           Seed     Finals       Points 
==================================================================================
  1 Alabama-SE  'A'               1:35.01    1:33.94SA       64  
     1) White, Rhyan E SR             2) r:-0.07 Wiseman, Avery FR    
     3) r:0.02 Scott, Morgan SR       4) r:0.03 Antoniou, Kalia JR    
    r:+0.67  23.65        50.00 (26.35)
        1:12.37 (22.37)     1:33.94 (21.57)
  2 Tennessee-SE  'A'             1:35.89    1:34.63 A       56  
     1) Fuller, Josephine A FR        2) r:0.21 McSharry, Mona SO     
     3) r:0.26 Walshe, Ellen FR       4) r:0.21 Kutsch, AJ JR         
    r:+0.67  24.32        50.48 (26.16)
        1:13.41 (22.93)     1:34.63 (21.22)
  3 Kentucky-KY  'A'              1:36.89    1:35.87 A       54  
     1) Brooks, Caitlin P JR          2) r:0.36 Bonnett, Bailey       
     3) r:0.12 Gati, Izzy SR          4) r:0.26 Gaines, Riley SR      
    r:+0.51  23.96        50.82 (26.86)
        1:14.20 (23.38)     1:35.87 (21.67)
  4 Auburn-SE  'A'                1:36.77    1:35.96 A       52  
     1) Lee, Meghan R SO              2) r:0.30 Makarova, Anastasia   
     3) r:0.01 Thamm, Claudia JR      4) r:0.12 Hamilton, Rebekah FR  
    r:+0.66  23.94        50.81 (26.87)
        1:14.03 (23.22)     1:35.96 (21.93)
  5 Georgia-GA  'A'               1:36.82    1:36.41 B       50  
     1) McCarty, Eboni F FR           2) r:0.05 Evans, Angharad FR    
     3) r:0.09 Luther, Dakota SR      4) r:0.24 Fa'Amausili, Gabi     
    r:+0.70  24.66        51.44 (26.78)
        1:14.58 (23.14)     1:36.41 (21.83)
  6 Missouri-MV  'A'              1:36.41    1:36.63 B       48  
     1) Rees, Meredith A JR           2) r:0.19 Jones, Kayla SR       
     3) r:0.18 Thompson, Sarah SR     4) r:0.29 Keil, Megan SR        
    r:+0.59  24.28        52.16 (27.88)
        1:14.62 (22.46)     1:36.63 (22.01)
  7 Arkansas-AR  'A'              1:38.23    1:36.85 B       46  
     1) Sansores, Andrea A SR         2) r:0.21 Herrmann, Vanessa SR  
     3) r:0.22 Melton, Kobie SR       4) r:0.04 Barclay, Emily SR     
    r:+0.65  24.16        51.40 (27.24)
        1:15.07 (23.67)     1:36.85 (21.78)
  8 Texas A&M-GU  'A'             1:39.06    1:37.60         44  
     1) Owens, Kaitlyn M FR           2) r:0.25 Perttula, Andrea JR   
     3) r:0.18 Theall, Olivia SO      4) r:0.16 Kennett, Bobbi SO     
    r:+0.66  24.52        52.45 (27.93)
        1:15.68 (23.23)     1:37.60 (21.92)
  9 South Carolina-SC  'A'        1:38.62    1:37.64         40  
     1) Pantano, Bella L SO           2) r:0.07 Steele, Taylor JR     
     3) r:0.40 Toh, Nicholle SO       4) r:0.21 Smith, Janie JR       
    r:+0.65  24.69        51.87 (27.18)
        1:15.78 (23.91)     1:37.64 (21.86)
 10 Florida-FL  'A'               1:38.01    1:37.78         34  
     1) Mack, Katelyn G JR            2) r:0.26 Mathieu, Tylor JR     
     3) r:0.13 Peoples, Olivia FR     4) r:0.15 Cronk, Micayla FR     
    r:+0.69  24.91        52.65 (27.74)
        1:15.81 (23.16)     1:37.78 (21.97)
 11 LSU-LA  'A'                   1:41.19    1:37.96         32  
     1) Milutinovich, Katarina JR     2) r:0.29 Boll, Emilie JR       
     3) r:0.16 Howell, Maddie SO      4) r:0.16 Kucsan, Natalie SR    
    r:+0.69  25.08        52.13 (27.05)
        1:15.76 (23.63)     1:37.96 (22.20)
 12 Vanderbilt-SE  'A'            1:41.52    1:40.79         30  
     1) Burke, Abby E SR              2) r:0.18 Knelson, Faith        
     3) r:-0.03 Debeer, Tonner SR     4) r:0.29 Beers, Eleanor SO     
    r:+0.55  25.56        53.94 (28.38)
        1:17.80 (23.86)     1:40.79 (22.99)

Men’s 200 medley relay

Keep your 18-second 50 free splits, Florida’s Eric Friese says. A 19-second fly split is the new vogue swim.

Friese’s 19.64 fly split helped the Gators set a meet record in the relay, the foursome of Adam Chaney, Dillon Hillis, Friese and Alberto Mestre winning in 1:22.06. That’s also the Tennessee pool record, taking down a SwimMAC mark of 1:23.02 from 2013 that included Olympians Nick Thoman and Cullen Jones.

Second was Alabama, brought home by Jonathan Berneburg’s 18.81 to go 1:22.28. Tennessee was third, upgrading its B cut to an A. Georgia was fourth, with Luca Urlando going 19.57 on fly. Texas A&M went from no relay cut to an A cut in fifth in 1:24.00. And a low B cut from LSU in sixth might cost a chance to see Brooks Curry blast it at NCAAs in the event. He went 18.14 off the end.

The podium was only set after Auburn, which had posted the third-fastest time, was DQed for an early takeoff. The Tigers had already secured an A cut.

Event 3  Men 200 Yard Medley Relay
==================================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:21.54  3/24/2017 Texas
                          J. Shebat, W. Licon, J.Schooling, B. Ringgold
          SEC: S 1:21.89  3/24/2017 Alabama
                          C Oslin, P Romanov, L Kaliszak, Z Waddell
     SEC Meet: M 1:22.19  2/19/2019 Alabama
                          Z. Waddell, L. Bams, K. Auerbach, R. Howard
         Pool: P 1:23.02  12/6/2013 SwimMAC
                          N Thoman, E Knight, T Phillips, C Jones
                 1:24.22  A
                 1:24.83  B
    School                           Seed     Finals       Points 
==================================================================================
  1 Florida-FL  'A'               1:24.10    1:22.06MA       64  
     1) Chaney, Adam C SO             2) r:0.17 Hillis, Dillon SR     
     3) r:0.28 Friese, Eric JR        4) r:0.16 Mestre, Alberto JR    
    r:+0.67  20.32        43.48 (23.16)
        1:03.12 (19.64)     1:22.06 (18.94)
  2 Alabama-SE  'A'               1:23.38    1:22.28PA       56  
     1) Menke, Matthew T JR           2) r:0.04 Maas, Derek JR        
     3) r:0.15 Sesvold, Tyler SR      4) r:0.11 Berneburg, Jonathan SR
    r:+0.63  20.67        43.30 (22.63)
        1:03.47 (20.17)     1:22.28 (18.81)
  3 Tennessee-SE  'A'             1:24.69    1:23.35 A       54  
     1) Kammann, Bjoern               2) r:0.21 Houlie, Michael SR    
     3) r:0.03 Mota, Kayky SR         4) r:0.20 Crooks, Jordan FR     
    r:+0.72  21.11        44.22 (23.11)
        1:04.92 (20.70)     1:23.35 (18.43)
  4 Georgia-GA  'A'               1:23.97    1:23.92 A       52  
     1) Ng, Wesley Y SO               2) r:0.09 Wayner, Harrison SR   
     3) r:0.07 Urlando, Luca SO       4) r:0.28 Downing, Dillon JR    
    r:+0.62  21.57        45.49 (23.92)
        1:05.06 (19.57)     1:23.92 (18.86)
  5 Texas A&M-GU  'A'             1:25.40    1:24.00 A       50  
     1) Gogulski, Ethan D JR          2) r:0.24 Puente Bustamandres JR
     3) r:0.08 Brown, Jace JR         4) r:0.13 Reno, Seth FR         
    r:+0.79  21.12        44.38 (23.26)
        1:04.76 (20.38)     1:24.00 (19.24)
  6 LSU-LA  'A'                   1:26.07    1:24.79 B       48  
     1) Curtis, Griffin M FR          2) r:0.14 Mason, Mitch SO       
     3) r:0.12 Hassling, Emil SO      4) r:0.16 Curry, Brooks JR      
    r:+0.71  22.26        46.04 (23.78)
        1:06.65 (20.61)     1:24.79 (18.14)
  7 Missouri-MV  'A'              1:25.22    1:24.95         46  
     1) Bochenski, Grant R            2) r:0.10 Patton, Ben JR        
     3) r:0.13 Kovac, Danny SR        4) r:0.25 Dahlgren, Jack SR     
    r:+0.58  22.08        45.62 (23.54)
        1:05.86 (20.24)     1:24.95 (19.09)
  8 South Carolina-SC  'A'        1:25.49    1:25.09         44  
     1) Laitarovsky, Michael FR       2) r:0.02 Massey, Luke SR       
     3) r:0.17 Gropper, Guy JR        4) r:0.19 Ross, AJ GR           
    r:+0.63  21.30        44.50 (23.20)
        1:05.53 (21.03)     1:25.09 (19.56)
  9 Kentucky-KY  'A'              1:29.27    1:29.51         40  
     1) Hamilton, Jack B FR           2) r:0.27 Barker, Kyle SR       
     3) r:0.53 Mussler, Jackson FR    4) r:0.16 Russell, Mac FR       
    r:+0.72  22.56        46.70 (24.14)
        1:08.92 (22.22)     1:29.51 (20.59)
 -- Auburn-SE  'A'                1:24.20         DQ        
      Early take-off swimmer #2
     1) Stoffle, Nathaniel L FR       2) r:-0.10 Mikuta, Reid SO      
     3) r:0.15 Yish, Matthew SR       4) r:0.16 Tirheimer, Logan SO   
    r:+0.64  21.08        43.86 (22.78)
        1:04.16 (20.30)          DQ (18.92)

Women’s 1-meter diving

The first diving event of the meet is all about the veterans, with upperclassmen taking four of the top five spots. South Carolina grad student Brooke Schultz led the way, clear of the field by more than 40 points in prelims and winning in 334.30. Freshman Chiara Pellacani of LSU broke the senior blockade by finishing second in 316.70. Kentucky’s Kyndal Knight finished third with Aimee Wilson of Texas A&M fourth.

Event 1  Women 1 mtr Diving
=========================================================================
          SEC: S 375.53  1/18/2019 Brooke Schultz, Arkansas
     SEC Meet: M 364.30  2/15/2017 Lauren Reedy, Missouri
         Pool: P 364.30  2/15/2017 Lauren Reedy, Missouri
                 265.00  A
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Schultz, Brooke  GR South Carolina-S   331.35     334.30 A       32  
  2 Pellacani, Chiara   LSU-LA             285.80     316.70 A       28  
  3 Knight, Kyndal   SR Kentucky-KY        288.85     309.25 A       27  
  4 Wilson, Aimee    SR Texas A&M-GU       287.30     307.70 A       26  
  5 Cable, Grace M   SR Tennessee-SE       279.50     290.65 A       25  
  6 Lavenant, Montserrat LSU-LA             286.35     287.95 A       24  
  7 Verzyl, Sophie   FR South Carolina-S   315.60     287.70 A       23  
  8 Wenzel, Meghan   SO Georgia-GA         274.50     283.70 A       22

Men’s 3-meter diving

Make it a six-pack for LSU’s Juan Celaya Hernandez, as the Mexican Olympian nabbed his sixth career SEC title. He scored 459.75 in the 3-meter to clear the field by 20 points. Texas A&M’s Kurtis Mathews was second. Tennessee used the home-board advantage to take third and fifth, with Bryden Hattie and Matt Wade, respectively.

Event 4  Men 3 mtr Diving
=========================================================================
          SEC: S 495.15  3/23/2018 Zhipeng Zeng, Tennessee
     SEC Meet: M 483.15  2/21/2019 Zhipeng Zeng, Tennessee
         Pool: P 522.10  12/19/2012Kristian Ipsen, Stanford
                 320.00  A
    Name           Year School            Prelims     Finals       Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Celaya Hernande     LSU-LA             433.10     459.75 A       32  
  2 Mathews, Kurtis  SR Texas A&M-GU       407.35     437.80 A       28  
  3 Hattie, Bryden   SO Tennessee-SE       401.85     414.00 A       27  
  4 Pruitt, Conner   SR Auburn-SE          381.55     411.70 A       26  
  5 Wade, Matt T     SR Tennessee-SE       375.05     380.30 A       25  
  6 Romero, Rodrigo  JR Kentucky-KY        352.35     375.90 A       24  
  7 Povzner, Victor  SO Texas A&M-GU       400.05     365.00 A       23  
  8 Abadia Garcia,   FR LSU-LA             373.15     360.20 A       22

Women’s 800 freestyle relay

With social distancing limiting relay finals to just three squads per heat, the dynamic of chaser and chased shifts. And it opens the chance for instances like Tuesday, where Tennessee can leap from the penultimate heat to the top step of the podium.

The Vols dropped more than 10 seconds off their seed time to go 6:56.81, the foursome of Julia Mrozinski, Ellen Walshe, Trude Rothrock and Tjasa Pintar. The time sets a pool record, downing Georgia’s 6:57.09 from 2012. The Vols were seeded fifth.

It’s also an A cut for the Vols, with no foursome entering the 2022 SEC Championships having an A cut in the event. Kentucky also put up an auto time to finish second, from the final heat, in 6:57.60. Riley Gaines’ 1:41.92 on the second leg was the fastest of the competition. There was only one 1:42 (Texas A&M leadoff Chloe Stepanek, 1:42.40) and one 1:43 (Mrozinski, 1:43.21) in the field. Kentucky had had a B cut.

Georgia improved its B cut by 4.5 seconds to 7:01.34. Florida (7:01.77), Alabama (an improved B cut by a second to 7:03.06) and A&M (7:04.12) joined the consideration times.

Event 5  Women 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
         NCAA: N 6:45.91  3/15/2017 Stanford
                          S. Manuel, L. Neal, E. Eastin, K. Ledecky
          SEC: S 6:51.80  3/16/2016 Georgia
                          H Flickinger, K Stewart, M Raab, B MacLean
     SEC Meet: M 6:52.64  2/19/2013 Georgia
                          S. Vreeland, M. Romano, J. Mattern, A. Schmitt
         Pool: P 6:57.09  2/14/2012 Georgia
                          S Vreeland, M Margalis, J Mattern, M Romano
                 7:00.86  A
                 7:05.88  B
    School                           Seed     Finals       Points 
==================================================================================
  1 Tennessee-SE  'A'             7:07.02    6:56.81PA       64  
     1) Mrozinski, Julia M FR         2) r:0.40 Walshe, Ellen FR      
     3) r:0.26 Rothrock, Trude SR     4) r:0.24 Pintar, Tjasa SR      
    r:+0.63  23.69        49.60 (49.60)
      1:16.38 (1:16.38)   1:43.21 (1:43.21)
        2:07.16 (23.95)     2:33.51 (50.30)
      3:00.66 (1:17.45)   3:27.27 (1:44.06)
        3:50.78 (23.51)     4:16.83 (49.56)
      4:44.35 (1:17.08)   5:12.49 (1:45.22)
        5:36.53 (24.04)     6:02.66 (50.17)
      6:29.78 (1:17.29)   6:56.81 (1:44.32)
  2 Kentucky-KY  'A'              7:03.45    6:57.60 A       56  
     1) Gati, Izzy G SR               2) r:0.25 Gaines, Riley SR      
     3) r:0.26 Sorenson, Sophie SR    4) r:0.23 Wheeler, Kaitlynn JR  
    r:+0.62  24.32        50.84 (50.84)
      1:18.04 (1:18.04)   1:45.36 (1:45.36)
        2:08.82 (23.46)     2:34.58 (49.22)
      3:00.28 (1:14.92)   3:27.28 (1:41.92)
        3:51.03 (23.75)     4:17.34 (50.06)
      4:44.46 (1:17.18)   5:11.69 (1:44.41)
        5:35.47 (23.78)     6:01.78 (50.09)
      6:29.16 (1:17.47)   6:57.60 (1:45.91)
  3 Georgia-GA  'A'               7:05.71    7:01.34 B       54  
     1) Hartman, Zoie E JR            2) r:0.63 Parker, Maxine SO     
     3) r:0.33 Dickinson, Callie SR   4) r:0.36 Coetzee, Dune FR      
    r:+0.74  23.89        50.01 (50.01)
      1:16.85 (1:16.85)   1:44.33 (1:44.33)
        2:08.37 (24.04)     2:34.42 (50.09)
      3:01.69 (1:17.36)   3:30.21 (1:45.88)
        3:54.45 (24.24)     4:21.29 (51.08)
      4:48.90 (1:18.69)   5:16.35 (1:46.14)
        5:40.59 (24.24)     6:06.82 (50.47)
      6:34.00 (1:17.65)   7:01.34 (1:44.99)
  4 Florida-FL  'A'               7:08.50    7:01.77 B       52  
     1) Bates, Talia B JR             2) r:0.48 Nikonova, Ekaterina FR
     3) r:0.13 Cronk, Micayla FR      4) r:0.22 Miller, Nikki SR      
    r:+0.73  23.78        49.94 (49.94)
      1:17.53 (1:17.53)   1:45.09 (1:45.09)
        2:03.70 (18.61)     2:35.42 (50.33)
      3:02.98 (1:17.89)   3:30.40 (1:45.31)
        3:53.75 (23.35)     4:19.94 (49.54)
      4:47.61 (1:17.21)   5:16.12 (1:45.72)
        5:35.55 (19.43)     6:06.79 (50.67)
      6:34.24 (1:18.12)   7:01.77 (1:45.65)
  5 Alabama-SE  'A'               7:04.06    7:03.06 B       50  
     1) Delmenico, Mela M FR          2) r:0.30 Dupre, Cora JR        
     3) r:0.29 Antoniou, Kalia JR     4) r:0.17 Felner, Gracie SO     
    r:+0.70  24.46        50.99 (50.99)
      1:18.61 (1:18.61)   1:45.77 (1:45.77)
        2:09.57 (23.80)     2:35.87 (50.10)
      3:02.66 (1:16.89)   3:29.84 (1:44.07)
        3:53.54 (23.70)     4:19.89 (50.05)
      4:48.67 (1:18.83)   5:16.92 (1:47.08)
        5:40.88 (23.96)     6:07.91 (50.99)
      6:35.28 (1:18.36)   7:03.06 (1:46.14)
  6 Texas A&M-GU  'A'             7:13.30    7:04.12 B       48  
     1) Stepanek, Chloe M SO          2) r:0.27 Buechler, Jordan SO   
     3) r:0.20 Barzelay, Aviv FR      4) r:0.07 Hepler, Danielle SR   
    r:+0.65  23.90        49.72 (49.72)
      1:15.91 (1:15.91)   1:42.40 (1:42.40)
        2:06.85 (24.45)     2:34.84 (52.44)
      3:02.74 (1:20.34)   3:29.61 (1:47.21)
        3:54.15 (24.54)     4:21.34 (51.73)
      4:49.26 (1:19.65)   5:17.51 (1:47.90)
        5:42.16 (24.65)     6:09.77 (52.26)
      6:37.31 (1:19.80)   7:04.12 (1:46.61)
  7 Auburn-SE  'A'                7:06.75    7:06.14         46  
     1) Leehy, Mykenzie J             2) r:0.24 Merritt, Kensley SO   
     3) r:0.20 Hamilton, Rebekah FR   4) r:0.24 Hetzer, Emily SR      
    r:+0.67  24.44        50.64 (50.64)
      1:17.77 (1:17.77)   1:45.36 (1:45.36)
        2:09.74 (24.38)     2:36.36 (51.00)
      3:03.87 (1:18.51)   3:32.66 (1:47.30)
        3:56.90 (24.24)     4:23.46 (50.80)
      4:50.83 (1:18.17)   5:19.24 (1:46.58)
        5:43.88 (24.64)     6:10.93 (51.69)
      6:38.50 (1:19.26)   7:06.14 (1:46.90)
  8 South Carolina-SC  'A'        7:10.84    7:07.60         44  
     1) Kraus, Mari L SR              2) r:0.34 Parker, Riley SO      
     3) r:0.29 Alexander, Emma JR     4) r:0.22 Smith, Janie JR       
    r:+0.70  24.74        51.19 (51.19)
      1:18.22 (1:18.22)   1:45.68 (1:45.68)
        2:10.89 (25.21)     2:38.19 (52.51)
      3:06.36 (1:20.68)   3:34.48 (1:48.80)
        3:59.01 (24.53)     4:25.62 (51.14)
      4:53.10 (1:18.62)   5:20.78 (1:46.30)
        5:44.71 (23.93)     6:11.68 (50.90)
      6:39.66 (1:18.88)   7:07.60 (1:46.82)
  9 Missouri-MV  'A'              7:10.44    7:11.08         40  
     1) Gowans, Molly L SR            2) r:0.24 Feddersen, Amy JR     
     3) r:0.14 Rink, Macy             4) r:0.30 Bloebaum, Allison SR  
    r:+0.67  25.01        51.93 (51.93)
      1:19.55 (1:19.55)   1:47.38 (1:47.38)
        2:11.24 (23.86)     2:38.05 (50.67)
      3:06.68 (1:19.30)   3:35.59 (1:48.21)
        4:00.22 (24.63)     4:27.00 (51.41)
      4:54.76 (1:19.17)   5:22.95 (1:47.36)
        5:47.86 (24.91)     6:15.20 (52.25)
      6:43.04 (1:20.09)   7:11.08 (1:48.13)
 10 LSU-LA  'A'                   7:17.78    7:16.38         34  
     1) Osborne, Reagan R SO          2) r:0.20 Liles, Jolee JR       
     3) r:0.08 Curry, Peyton FR       4) r:0.35 Thompson, Sarahrace SO
    r:+0.64  24.42        50.78 (50.78)
      1:18.56 (1:18.56)   1:46.97 (1:46.97)
        2:11.89 (24.92)     2:39.07 (52.10)
      3:07.01 (1:20.04)   3:35.04 (1:48.07)
        3:59.56 (24.52)     4:27.50 (52.46)
      4:56.34 (1:21.30)   5:24.79 (1:49.75)
        5:50.40 (25.61)     6:19.15 (54.36)
      6:47.83 (1:23.04)   7:16.38 (1:51.59)
 11 Arkansas-AR  'A'              7:28.65    7:18.37         32  
     1) Camisa, Eleonora FR           2) r:0.15 Herrmann, Vanessa SR  
     3) r:0.50 Simpson, Rebecca FR    4) r:0.38 Vavrinova, Adela JR   
    r:+0.68  24.61        51.44 (51.44)
      1:19.94 (1:19.94)   1:49.66 (1:49.66)
        2:14.84 (25.18)     2:42.75 (53.09)
      3:11.10 (1:21.44)   3:39.60 (1:49.94)
        4:03.94 (24.34)     4:30.95 (51.35)
      4:59.97 (1:20.37)   5:29.69 (1:50.09)
        5:54.45 (24.76)     6:21.84 (52.15)
      6:49.95 (1:20.26)   7:18.37 (1:48.68)
 12 Vanderbilt-SE  'A'            7:31.65    7:25.81         30  
     1) Beers, Eleanor D SO           2) r:0.14 Ward, Taylor JR       
     3) r:0.05 Stout, Alina SO        4) r:0.25 Traba, Mercedes FR    
    r:+0.73  25.29        52.90 (52.90)
      1:21.14 (1:21.14)   1:50.14 (1:50.14)
        2:15.11 (24.97)     2:43.80 (53.66)
      3:13.20 (1:23.06)   3:42.48 (1:52.34)
        4:07.11 (24.63)     4:35.31 (52.83)
      5:04.81 (1:22.33)   5:34.79 (1:52.31)
        6:00.72 (25.93)     6:29.17 (54.38)
      6:57.62 (1:22.83)   7:25.81 (1:51.02)

Men’s 800 freestyle relay

Even the arrival of Matt Sates and the absence of Bobby Finke couldn’t shut down the Florida relay train.

The Gators’ quest for a 10th straight SEC title on the men’s side got a double-relay-double-point boost with the 800 free relay holding off a charge from Georgia to take the win.

The Gators went 6:08.00, the squad of Kieran Smith, Trey Freeman, Oskar Lindholm and Alfonso Mestre doing the damage. Smith went 1:30.42 off the front, while Mestre turned in a 1:33.33 on the end to hold off Georgia.

That takes down the conference record set at NCAAs in 2019 by the Gators at 6:09.14 (featuring Smith and Freeman) and the SEC meet record set in 2020 at 6:09.91 (with Smith leading off). It also downs the 2017 pool mark which also belonged to a Gators foursome.

Georgia gave them a push, though, upgrading a B cut to an A in 6:09.32. Sates started it with a 1:31.82 to put the pressure on Smith, Luca Urlando (1:32.24) got a step on Freeman before the Florida junior rallied and Jake Magahey exerted pressure on the end at 1:32.33. Zach Hils swam a sub-1:33 third leg.

Kentucky and Alabama both secured auto cuts to finish third and fourth, respectively. Auburn upgraded to an A cut in fifth.

Event 6  Men 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
         NCAA: N 6:05.08  3/27/2019 Texas
                          D. Kilber, A. Katz, J. Newkirk, T. Haas
          SEC: S 6:09.14  3/27/2019 Florida
                          K Baqlah, K Smith, T Freeman, M Rooney
     SEC Meet: M 6:09.91  2/18/2020 Florida
                          K. Smith, G.Quinn, K. Baqlah, C. Beach
         Pool: P 6:12.18  2/14/2017 Florida
                          K Baqlah, M Rooney, M D'Arrigo, M Szaranek
                 6:16.80  A
                 6:21.32  B
    School                           Seed     Finals       Points 
==================================================================================
  1 Florida-FL  'A'               6:14.99    6:08.00SA       64  
     1) Smith, Kieran S SR            2) r:0.42 Freeman, Trey JR      
     3) r:0.41 Lindholm, Oskar FR     4) r:0.42 Mestre, Alfonso JR    
    r:+0.68  20.82        43.52 (43.52)
      1:06.93 (1:06.93)   1:30.42 (1:30.42)
        1:51.65 (21.23)     2:15.00 (44.58)
      2:38.88 (1:08.46)   3:02.38 (1:31.96)
        3:23.74 (21.36)     3:47.33 (44.95)
      4:11.05 (1:08.67)   4:34.67 (1:32.29)
        4:55.67 (21.00)     5:19.01 (44.34)
      5:43.49 (1:08.82)   6:08.00 (1:33.33)
  2 Georgia-GA  'A'               6:21.08    6:09.32MA       56  
     1) Sates, Matthew E FR           2) r:0.24 Urlando, Luca SO      
     3) r:0.27 Hils, Zach JR          4) r:0.27 Magahey, Jake SO      
    r:+0.63  20.97        44.14 (44.14)
      1:07.93 (1:07.93)   1:31.82 (1:31.82)
        1:52.10 (20.28)     2:15.05 (43.23)
      2:38.71 (1:06.89)   3:04.06 (1:32.24)
        3:24.78 (20.72)     3:48.01 (43.95)
      4:12.14 (1:08.08)   4:36.99 (1:32.93)
        4:57.59 (20.60)     5:20.60 (43.61)
      5:44.41 (1:07.42)   6:09.32 (1:32.33)
  3 Kentucky-KY  'A'              6:24.75    6:14.35 A       54  
     1) Berg, Max SO                  2) r:0.22 Wilby, Mason SR       
     3) r:0.25 Martin Roig, Victor FR 4) r:0.24 Clark, Jakob JR       
    r:+0.63  21.25        44.87 (44.87)
      1:08.96 (1:08.96)   1:33.17 (1:33.17)
        1:54.29 (21.12)     2:17.87 (44.70)
      2:42.05 (1:08.88)   3:06.59 (1:33.42)
        3:27.72 (21.13)     3:50.98 (44.39)
      4:15.11 (1:08.52)   4:39.61 (1:33.02)
        5:01.14 (21.53)     5:25.14 (45.53)
      5:49.75 (1:10.14)   6:14.35 (1:34.74)
  4 Alabama-SE  'A'               6:22.54    6:14.94 A       52  
     1) Alves, Kaique K FR            2) r:0.42 Hawke, Charlie FR     
     3) r:0.32 Auerbach, Cam JR       4) r:0.33 Piotrowski, Kacper SO 
    r:+0.65  22.03        45.55 (45.55)
      1:09.59 (1:09.59)   1:33.28 (1:33.28)
        1:54.05 (20.77)     2:17.39 (44.11)
      2:41.70 (1:08.42)   3:06.57 (1:33.29)
        3:27.57 (21.00)     3:51.21 (44.64)
      4:15.49 (1:08.92)   4:40.98 (1:34.41)
        5:02.09 (21.11)     5:26.01 (45.03)
      5:50.33 (1:09.35)   6:14.94 (1:33.96)
  5 Auburn-SE  'A'                6:18.20    6:15.96 A       50  
     1) Sztolcman, Christian M SR     2) r:0.18 Husband, Ryan SO      
     3) r:0.37 Rathle, Jacques FR     4) r:0.00 Bonson, Michael SO    
    r:+0.68  20.94        44.54 (44.54)
      1:09.60 (1:09.60)   1:35.36 (1:35.36)
        1:56.71 (21.35)     2:20.52 (45.16)
      2:44.89 (1:09.53)   3:09.23 (1:33.87)
        3:30.74 (21.51)     3:53.89 (44.66)
      4:18.28 (1:09.05)   4:43.27 (1:34.04)
        5:03.75 (20.48)     5:27.05 (43.78)
      5:51.09 (1:07.82)   6:15.96 (1:32.69)
  6 Missouri-MV  'A'              6:21.78    6:18.74 B       48  
     1) Dubois, Jack R SR             2) r:0.10 Dahlgren, Jack SR     
     3) r:0.43 Rindshoej, Freddie     4) r:0.31 Kovac, Danny SR       
    r:+0.70  22.21        45.91 (45.91)
      1:10.45 (1:10.45)   1:35.44 (1:35.44)
        1:56.60 (21.16)     2:20.01 (44.57)
      2:43.57 (1:08.13)   3:07.67 (1:32.23)
        3:29.25 (21.58)     3:52.83 (45.16)
      4:17.38 (1:09.71)   4:42.80 (1:35.13)
        5:03.57 (20.77)     5:27.02 (44.22)
      5:51.91 (1:09.11)   6:18.74 (1:35.94)
  7 Texas A&M-GU  'A'             6:25.63    6:19.13 B       46  
     1) Bratanov, Kaloyan D SR        2) r:0.14 SchnippenkoetteMark SR
     3) r:0.10 Dickey, Trey FR        4) r:0.29 Bobo, Clayton SR      
    r:+0.68  21.74        45.36 (45.36)
      1:08.85 (1:08.85)   1:32.63 (1:32.63)
        1:54.45 (21.82)     2:18.35 (45.72)
      2:42.77 (1:10.14)   3:07.22 (1:34.59)
        3:28.62 (21.40)     3:52.76 (45.54)
      4:18.35 (1:11.13)   4:43.85 (1:36.63)
        5:05.39 (21.54)     5:28.99 (45.14)
      5:53.67 (1:09.82)   6:19.13 (1:35.28)
  8 Tennessee-SE  'A'             6:26.25    6:21.01 B       44  
     1) Bailey, Seth S SR             2) r:0.30 Vargas, Joaquin       
     3) r:0.32 Jackson, Will SO       4) r:0.16 Tarasenko, Aleksey    
    r:+0.60  21.82        45.63 (45.63)
      1:10.61 (1:10.61)   1:36.45 (1:36.45)
        1:58.42 (21.97)     2:22.60 (46.15)
      2:47.15 (1:10.70)   3:11.57 (1:35.12)
        3:32.81 (21.24)     3:56.70 (45.13)
      4:21.19 (1:09.62)   4:46.49 (1:34.92)
        5:08.00 (21.51)     5:31.71 (45.22)
      5:55.73 (1:09.24)   6:21.01 (1:34.52)
  9 South Carolina-SC  'A'        6:25.40    6:22.72         40  
     1) Costin, Phil SR               2) r:0.35 Novoszath, Tamas GR   
     3) r:0.35 Daniels, Connor SO     4) r:0.27 Davila, Rafael SR     
    r:+0.74  21.68        45.04 (45.04)
      1:09.26 (1:09.26)   1:34.48 (1:34.48)
        1:56.17 (21.69)     2:19.96 (45.48)
      2:44.87 (1:10.39)   3:10.85 (1:36.37)
        3:32.48 (21.63)     3:56.75 (45.90)
      4:21.74 (1:10.89)   4:46.55 (1:35.70)
        5:08.30 (21.75)     5:32.45 (45.90)
      5:57.51 (1:10.96)   6:22.72 (1:36.17)
 10 LSU-LA  'A'                   6:26.73    6:28.89         34  
     1) Thompson, Joel D SO           2) r:0.10 Adrian, Spencer JR    
     3) r:0.24 Warmbier, Ryan FR      4) r:0.12 Vikstrom, Isak JR     
    r:+0.61  22.14        46.43 (46.43)
      1:11.47 (1:11.47)   1:37.26 (1:37.26)
        1:58.93 (21.67)     2:23.15 (45.89)
      2:47.69 (1:10.43)   3:12.77 (1:35.51)
        3:35.04 (22.27)     3:59.83 (47.06)
      4:25.20 (1:12.43)   4:50.91 (1:38.14)
        5:12.44 (21.53)     5:37.12 (46.21)
      6:02.71 (1:11.80)   6:28.89 (1:37.98)

Women’s team standings

The Aggies are up after the first day of competition with 155 points, ahead of LSU with its diving prowess. But Kentucky and Tennessee are lurking in third and fourth, respectively.

Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 5                      
 
  1. Texas A&M University              155   2. Louisiana State University        150
  3. Kentucky, University of           148   4. University of Tennessee           145
  5. South Carolina, University of,    139   5. Georgia, University of            139
  7. University of Florida             130   8. University of Alabama             114
  9. Auburn University                 107  10. Missouri                           97
 11. University of Arkansas             78  12. Vanderbilt University              60

Men’s team standings

A diving deficit means Florida sits sixth, with Texas A&M and Tennessee leading the way after Day 1. But the Gators have done their work in the pool, and are 19 points clear of Georgia after the first session.

  Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 6                       
 
  1. Texas A&M University              156   2. University of Tennessee           155
  3. Kentucky, University of           153   4. Louisiana State University        139
  5. Universityof Alabama              137   6. University of Florida             133
  7. Missouri                          122   8. Georgia, University of            114
  9. South Carolina, University of,    105  10. Auburn University                  90

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