Jack Bauerle, McGee Moody Reach Coaching Milestones

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama, February 2. GEORGIA's swimming and diving teams swept a double dual meet against Alabama and South Carolina on Saturday, giving Coach Jack Bauerle another milestone in his already-storied career.

The Bulldogs (7-3, 3-2 SEC) knocked off South Carolina 209-85 and Alabama 205-93, boosting Bauerle to his 200th and 201st victories at Georgia. The Lady Bulldogs (10-1, 5-1) topped Alabama 219-79 and South Carolina 203-96. Bauerle is now 201-87-1 in 30 years with the Bulldogs and 287-33-1 in 34 years piloting the Lady Bulldogs.

“To reach 200 wins with the men means so much to me,” Bauerle said. “It's an accomplishment that I share with so many people, especially our swimmers and divers, coaching staff and support staff from throughout the years. There's no way my name is attached to something like this without those people, so I proudly share it with all of them.

“I thought the kids did a good job today. We raced hard. It was not spectacular, but it was very effective. I'm proud of them because they had a real sense of focus.”

Ty Stewart and Chase Kalisz were double winners for the Bulldogs. Stewart claimed the 100 backstroke in 49.52 and the 200 breaststroke in 2:04.18. Kalisz won the 200 butterfly in 1:47.63 and the 200 individual medley in 1:47.26.

Other winners for the Bulldogs included Matt Ellis in the 50 freestyle (20.72), Jameson Hill in the 200 freestyle (1:38.79), Matias Koski in the 500 freestyle (4:28.06), Will Freeman in the 1,000 freestyle (9:11.63), Jared Markham in the 200 backstroke (1:49.06), Nic Fink in the 100 breaststroke (56.25), and Yousef Alaskari and Doug Reynolds in the 100 butterfly (48.90).

Georgia won both relays. Luke Upchurch, Fink, Reynolds and Ellis claimed the 200 medley relay in 1:30.88, while Hill, Ellis, Reynolds and Koski won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:01.45.

Hali Flickinger paced the Lady Bulldogs with three wins: the 100 breaststroke in 56.06, the 100 butterfly in 55.63 and the 200 individual medley in 2:02.43. Double winners included Laura Ryan on 1-meter springboard (304.15) and 3-meter springboard (344.90) and Megan Romano in the 50 freestyle (23.02) and 200 freestyle (1:48.58).

Other winners for the Lady Bulldogs included Amber McDermott in the 500 freestyle (4:53.92), Jordan Mattern in the 1,000 freestyle, Annie Zhu in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.95) and Courtney Peters in the 200 butterfly (2:02.14).

The Lady Bulldogs also swept the relays. Kelsey Gaid, Zhu, Lauren Harrington and Jessica Graber took the 200 medley relay in 1:41.72, while Gaid, Brittany MacLean, Harrington and Romano stopped the clock in 3:23.59 to win the 400 freestyle relay.

Georgia's teams will return to action Feb. 19-23 in the SEC Championships in College Station, Texas.

The South Carolina women's swimming and diving team pulled out a thrilling 162-148 victory over Alabama on Saturday at the Alabama Aquatic Center, giving head coach McGee Moody his 100th career victory.

In the other three matchups, the Gamecocks lost to both Georgia squads and dropped a 157-143 decision to the Alabama men.

The Gamecocks trailed Alabama by two heading into the final two women's events but they closed out the meet in strong fashion. Juniors Rachael Schaffer and Abby Galbreath finished second and fourth, respectively, in the 200 IM, which was ahead of all the Alabama swimmers. In the 400 freestyle relay, the Gamecocks secured the victory with a fourth-place finish in 3:29.19, while the Crimson Tide placed fifth in the event with a time of 3:29.78. South Carolina outscored Alabama 26-10 down the stretch to capture Moody's milestone win.

“We've had a lot of kids that swam for us not only at South Carolina but at my previous head coaching position at William & Mary,” said Moody, who now has a 100-94 career record. “They've all been great kids and have all worked very hard. The 100th win is a great thing and fun to talk about, but at the same time we were hoping to come out a little bit better today.”

With the split, the South Carolina women wrap up the regular season at 6-7 overall and 1-4 in the SEC. On the men's side, the Gamecocks finish the year with a 6-6 overall record and a 1-3 mark in the conference.

On the afternoon, South Carolina won five individual events. Sophomore diver Cole Miller captured two of those wins for the Gamecocks as he swept the men's boards. Miller ran away with the men's one-meter competition with a score of 338.00, winning by 56.05 points. On the men's three-meter board, Miller placed first with a score of 337.05.

Sophomore Patricia Kranz finished third on both the women's boards as she posted a score of 283.90 in the one-meter competition and 310.75 in the three-meter competition.

Senior Matea Peteh swam to a victory in the women's 100 freestyle with a time of 49.77, which is a personal record and the fourth fastest time in school history.

Freshman Alicia Cheripka posted a PR in the women's 200 backstroke as she placed first with a mark of 2:00.98, which ranks eighth all-time in school history.

Junior Amanda Rutqvist recorded the final win in the pool for the Gamecocks as she captured the 200 breaststroke with a NCAA B cut of 2:15.37.

The Gamecocks will now begin to taper in preparation for the SEC Championships, which will be held Feb. 19-23 in College Station, Texas.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use