Georgia Bulldogs Throw Down Gauntlet During Day One Prelims at NCAA Championships

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By David Rieder

GREENSBORO − The Georgia Bulldogs won the past two women’s NCAA team championships, and despite coming in as massive underdogs to California, the first day of prelims showed that they have their sights set on a third straight. The Bulldogs put eight swimmers in A-finals in a massive prelims performance.

Based on seeds from this morning, the Bulldogs are projected to score 187 points during day one finals, up 71 from a psych sheet projection of 117. Coming into the meet, Georgia had been projected to score 369 for the meet, well behind Cal’s 505, but if seeds from prelims were to hold in tonight’s finals and throughout the rest of the meet, the Bulldogs would just trail Cal by 52 points at the conclusion of racing on Saturday night.

Georgia improved across the board, starting with the 500 free where Hali Flickinger jumped from the 13th seed to sixth in prelims, Rachel Zilinskas moved from 27th to eighth, and Jordan Mattern from 22nd to 10th, to go along with favorites Amber McDermott and Brittany MacLean comfortably securing their spots in the championship heat.

Meanwhile, Annie Zhu entered seeded 35th in the 200 IM, and she ended up winning a swim-off for eighth, while teammates Emily Cameron and Meghan Raab moved up from 18th and 19th to 11th and 12th, respectively. And in the 50 free, Emily Smoliga jumped into the A-final, joining teammates Chantal Van Landeghem and Maddie Locus. To cap it off, the Bulldogs’ 200 medley relay cut three seconds from their seed time to qualify fourth (up from tenth) for the final.

Cal did not have a bad morning by any means, as they are projected to score just 13 less points on night one than the psych sheet projected. Half of that drop came from Cierra Runge dropping to the third seed in the 500 free, where she should still compete for the national title. Missy Franklin, Elizabeth Pelton, and Celina Li finished 1-2-3 in prelims in the 200 IM, and Cal has potential to move up after qualifying in the middle of the pack in both relays.

Despite Leah Smith’s NCAA record performance in the 500 free, Virginia lost 38 points compared to their psych sheet projection. Most of the damage came in the 200 IM, where, although Courtney Bartholomew qualified for the final, Ellen Williamson (seeded seventh) dropped to the consols, and Kaitlyn Jones (seeded fifth) did not score.

Florida had a disastrous morning, qualifying only one swimmer for finals, Jess Thielmann in the 500 free. Natalie Hinds fell from 10th to 18th in the 50 free, and neither Gator relay earned a second swim. Florida lost 51 points from their projection during day one prelims, though diver Kahlia Warner making one-meter finals did soften the blow.

Louisville, meanwhile, had a huge morning effort, nearly doubling their projected point total from the psych sheet. They are projected to score 83 tonight, after coming in seeded to score just 42. Both relays cut two seconds from their seed times; the Cardinals 200 free relay snuck into the A-final, while their 400 medley team of Tanja Kylliainen, Andee Cottrell, Kelsi Worrell, and Andrea Kneppers posted the second-best qualifying time in prelims (3:28.90).

Individually, Louisville will have Kylliainen swimming the 200 IM, where she is seeded seventh, and Worrell in the 50 free. Worrell, who posted a blazing 49.56 100 fly split on Louisville’s medley relay, moved up from 14th to seventh with a 21.70 in the splash-and-dash.

Scoring Projections from Day One Prelims vs. Psych Sheet – Swimming Only

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