University of Georgia swimming and diving returned from a three-week hiatus to sweep the University of North Carolina Friday afternoon at Koury Natatorium. The Lady Bulldogs (2-0, 1-0 SEC) improved to 25-1 all-time against the Tar Heels with a 176-124 result, while the Bulldogs (2-0, 1-0 SEC) pulled away late for a 163-137 win.
Team Scores:
- Men: Georgia 163, North Carolina 137
- Women: Georgia 176, North Carolina 124
Georgia Swimming and Diving Press Release
The Lady Bulldogs were powered by freshman Zoie Hartman, who followed up her terrific debut at Alabama with a team-leading three victories, including a second-consecutive breaststroke sweep (100: 1:00.84 / 200: 2:12.32) along with the 200 IM (1:59.50). In the 200 breaststroke, Hartman led a clean sweep of the race, as Danielle Della Torre, Sofia Carnevale and Ashley McCauley followed just behind.
Sophomore Dakota Luther also swept the butterfly events with a mark of 54.59 in the 100 and 1:57.39 in the 200, using a dramatic final burst to take the 100 by .31 seconds. Junior Courtney Harnish was victorious in the 200 freestyle (1:48.55) and 500 freestyle (4:51.44) for the second-straight meet, while fellow junior Olivia Anderson took the 1,000 free with a personal-best time of 9:51.38.
Senior Veronica Burchill posted a winning time of 49.72 in the 100 free and junior Gabi Fa’amausili took first with a 22.90 in the 50 free, giving the Lady Bulldogs a complete sweep of the individual freestyle events. Additionally, Della Torre provided a consistent presence with three top-three finishes in the 50 freestyle, 200 breaststroke and 200 IM.
At the diving well, senior McKensi Austin earned her first victory of the season in the 1-meter springboard, finishing with a zone-qualifying score of 277.58, while also placing fourth in the 3-meter with a mark of 263.10. Senior teammate Freida Lim performed solidly as she finished fourth in the 1-meter (249.38) and third in the 3-meter (265.28).
On the men’s side, sophomore Andrew Abruzzo reached the Georgia record books for the second time as an individual with his winning time of 9:01.71 in the 1000 freestyle, placing him ninth in school history. Abruzzo later closed out the afternoon with a meet-sealing win in the 200 IM (1:48.78). Junior Grant Norgan was impressive with two wins: a career-best 1:37.86 in the 200 freestyle and a dominant three-second victory in the 500 freestyle. Norgan was joined by teammates Greg Reed, Walker Higgins and Kevin Miller in sweeping the top four in the 500.
Junior Camden Murphy remained unbeaten this season in the butterfly as he grabbed the 200 with a time of 1:48.35, followed by a 49.04 in the 100. In the 200, Murphy combined with Clayton Forde, Caleb Harrington and Ananda Lim to post one of the Bulldogs’ four top-four sweeps of the day. Georgia’s freshmen continued to impress with three wins: two by Harry Homans in both backstroke events (100: 49.49 / 200: 1:46.27) and one by Zach Hils in the 100 freestyle (45.07), with Hils just over a tenth of a second behind in the 100 backstroke.
North Carolina Press Release
Valdas Abaliksta, Sophie Lindner and Alex Hart were double event winners to lead the North Carolina swimming and diving teams in a pair of losses to visiting Georgia Friday afternoon at Koury Natatorium. The 14th-ranked Bulldog men won by a 163-137 score while the No. 12 UGA women scored a 176-124 victory.
“Georgia is a perennial powerhouse, so to get up and compete against a team that has such a rich history, it means a lot to me as a coach,” head coach Mark Gangloff said after the meet. “I think we represented UNC really well today. We fought tough when we needed to, so it was great.”
Abaliksta swept the men’s breaststroke events with a pair of season-best times. The 6-8 junior from Lithuania held off teammate Sterling Smith to take the 100 breast in 54.94 before besting Georgia’s Jack Dalmolin to win the 200 in 1:59.65.
Lindner continued her strong start to her sophomore campaign with a sweep of the backstroke events for the second time in as many meets. She (53.83) and teammate Grace Countie went 1-2 in the 100 back before Lindner took the 200 in a season-best 1:57.88.
Alex Hart made his Carolina debut a memorable one with a pair of dominant victories in men’s diving. The freshman from Vienna, Austria, scored 383.77 points in taking the 3-meter competition before posting a score of 341.03 in the 1-meter dive. Fellow newcomer Fabian Stepinski was second in both events.
“It was a pretty solid day,” head diving coach Yaidel Gambao said. “I’m happy with the overall outcome of the divers on both sides, men and women. It’s just the beginning of the season so everyone is trying to pick up the rhythm, but we had some really good dives…Overall, I’m very pleased with the performance today.”
Carolina’s relay teams were strong again on Friday, winning all four relays to bookend the meet. The quartet of Grace Countie, Allie Reiter, Lindner and Emma Cole opened the day with a win in the women’s 200 medley, with Cole out-touching Veronica Burchill of Georgia to get the victory in 1:40.58. Tucker Burhans, Sterling Smith, Tyler Hill and Jack Messenger then matched their counterparts with an impressive swim in the men’s 200 medley in 1:28.95.
Messenger gave the alumni weekend crowd a shot of energy in the men’s 50 free, winning with a late burst to touch the wall in 20.46, just off a personal best. He then led off the men’s 400 free relay that ended the day with a victory, posting a time of 3:00.21. The women’s foursome of Caroline Hauder, Cole, Countie and Heidi Lowe also won, besting UGA by more than a second in 3:21.77.
Emily Grund had a win and a runner-up finish in the women’s diving competition, taking the 3-meter event with a score of 308.85. Teammate Taylor Hockenberry was second in the 3-meter, with Grund and Hockenberry going 2-3 in the 1-meter event.
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