Southeastern Conference Championships, Day Four

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, February 18. THE Auburn men and the Georgia women took home team titles Saturday at the 2012 Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships hosted by the University of Tennessee’s Allan Jones Aquatic Center.

The Auburn men won their 16th consecutive SEC men’s swimming and diving title, scoring 730.5 total points. Florida was second with 700 points, while Georgia was third with 521 points.

“It was just an extraordinary effort,” Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. “Sixteen in a row for us is just hard to believe. The team worked so hard, and the coaching staff put in numerous hours putting this together. When it comes together like this, it’s just a great feeling.”

The Georgia women won their third consecutive SEC women’s swimming and diving title, charting an impressive 781 points. Tennessee was second with 629.5 points, while Florida was third with 509.5 points. Georgia’s SEC women’s title is the ninth in program history and the third consecutive title is the second-longest streak in school history, behind the five the Bulldogs earned from 1997-2001.

“This was a great meet and I could not be prouder of our ladies,” Georgia coach Jack Bauerle said. “It’s always nice to get to hold that trophy on the last day. Winning a title in this conference is no small feat. Teams just keep fighting and fighting. That’s what I like our team. We have fighters too, and they don’t back down from a challenge.”

Florida swept the SEC Commissioner’s Trophies, awarded to the high-points scorers on both the men’s and women’s sides, as Marcin Cieslak won the men’s trophy and Elizabeth Beisel captured the women’s trophy.

Georgia senior Wendy Trott became the first person in SEC history to win four consecutive titles in the women’s 1,650-yard freestyle, capturing the event in an SEC meet-record time of 15:47.04. She broke her own SEC meet record in that event of 15:47.55 set in 2010.

Georgia junior Martin Grodzki won the SEC men’s 1,650-yard freestyle crown for the third consecutive year, doing so in a time of 14:48.26. A Georgia athlete has claimed that event for nine years in a row at the SEC Championships.

Beisel, a Florida sophomore, captured the women’s 200-yard backstroke title for the second consecutive year, doing so in a time of 1:49.82. Her time goes down as the third-fastest in NCAA history in that event.

Auburn’s Kyle Owens claimed the men’s 200-yard backstroke title, breaking a five-year streak of championships in that event by Florida. He finished in a time of 1:41.67 to take home the crown. Owens also claimed championships in the 100-yard backstroke, the 400-yard medley relay, the 200-yard medley relay, the 800-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Georgia junior Megan Romano took home the women’s 100-yard freestyle title, becoming the first UGA athlete to do so since Morgan Scroggy in 2009. Romano did so in a time of 47.65, coming on the heels of winning the women’s 200-yard freestyle event on Friday evening.

Auburn sophomore Marcelo Chierighini captured the men’s 100-yard freestyle event in a time of 42.25, which went down as the second-fastest time in the nation so far this season. The Tigers picked up major points in the men’s 100-yard freestyle, going 1-3-5-7-8 in the event.

Georgia senior Michelle McKeehan won the women’s 200-yard breaststroke title in a time of 2:08.73, knocking off defending champion Amanda Rutqvist of South Carolina, who also holds the SEC meet record. McKeehan is the first Georgia athlete to win that event since Kristy Kowal won four 200-yard breaststroke titles in a row from 1997-2000.

Georgia freshman Nicolas Fink took home the men’s 200-yard breaststroke crown in a time of 1:55.01, becoming the first UGA athlete to win that event since meet record-holder Neil Versfeld claimed the title in 2009.

Tennessee junior Kelsey Floyd won the women’s 200-yard butterfly event in a time of 1:54.65, breaking a streak of three consecutive titles in that event by Florida. She becomes the first Tennessee athlete to win the women’s 200-yard butterfly since Monica Shannahan in 1999.

Cieslak used the nation’s fastest time this season – 1:42.43 – to take home the men’s 200-yard butterfly event. The Gators gained major points in that event with a 1-2-4 finish. It was Florida’s first title in that event since Shaune Fraser won in 2007. Georgia’s Mark Dylla, who concluded his eligibility last season, had won four consecutive titles in the men’s 200-yard butterfly.

Tennessee redshirt sophomore Victoria Lamp, competing in her first career SEC meet, won the women’s platform diving event with an SEC meet-record score of 335.50. It was the first title for Tennessee in that event since Kylee Wells was victorious in 2003.

Auburn garnered its second consecutive crown in the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay, which marked the program’s fifth such title in the last six years. The quartet of Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Hannah Riordan, Megan Fonteno and Haley Krakoski clocked a time of 3:12.85 en route to the victory. It marked the second-fastest time in the country in that event and, in the process, Vanderpool-Wallace broke the NCAA record in the 100 freestyle with a time of 46.61.

The Tigers clinched the team title, winning the men’s 400-yard freestyle relay in a time of 2:51.66 with a quartet of Drew Modrov, James Disney-May, Owens and Marcelo Chierighini. It marked Auburn’s seventh consecutive title in that event.

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.

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