Tennessee vs. Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, October 23. FEW gifts could have been better than the one the Tennessee swimming and diving team gave to head coach John Trembley on his birthday Friday. The Big Orange rolled past Louisville, setting four pool records en route to a 168-132 win.

“This was a great competition for a young team,” Trembley said. “We arrived at Louisville with one senior, but we went in there and swam lights out.”

Tennessee began the day with a win in the 200 medley relay. Led off by sophomore All-America Ricky Henahan, the team raced to a 1:30.00 mark to start the Vols off with a win. SEC Swimmer of the Week Brad Craig, junior All-America Michael DeRocco and freshman Herbie Behm followed.

Co-captain Geoff Sanders earned second place (9:28.58) in the 1000 freestyle with Carl Jones in fourth (9:32.31) and Scott Friderichs in sixth (9:46.50). All three times are season bests.

After earning his first collegiate win last week, Ryan Harrison again dominated the 200 freestyle with a 1:38.83 time. Junior Chris Winchell placed second (1:41.27) and Knoxville, Tenn., native Michael Zaczyk earned the first dual-meet points of his collegiate career in fourth (1:42.89).

Henahan arguably had the most impressive individual swim of the day in the 100 backstroke. His 48.06 time earned a pool record at Louisville’s Ralph Wright Natatorium. Henahan now leads the SEC and the NCAA in the 100 backstroke. Sophomore All-America Anders Storvik came from behind to place second at 50.64.
“I just really wanted to win it for our team,” Henahan said. “I knew the guys needed me to step up and it was great to help out team like that.”

In the 100 breaststroke, Craig placed second (55.82) to the Cardinals’ Carlos Almeida. Junior Mattias Kahlin finished third (57.32) with Jake Epperson in fifth (57.57).

Junior Patrick Beasley led the Vols’ 200 butterfly efforts placing fourth (1:52.52) while freshman Giles Smith placed fifth (1:52.77). Junior Forrest Leary finished seventh (1:59.99).

All-America Michael DeRocco won the 50 freestyle at 20.76. Freshmen Ed Walsh and Behm finished third (21.15) and fifth (21.49), respectively.

The dual-meet diving trend is seemingly in place with sophomore sensation Ryan Helms leading the way. Helms had a season high 328.20 on the one-meter with freshman Jordan Mauney in second (285.60) and co-captain Michael Muscari was third (282.90). On the three-meter, Helms scored a 371.02 with Muscari in second (362.25) and Mauney in third (334.05).

Harrison and Walsh placed third (45.91) and fourth (46.00), respectively, in the 100 freestyle. Freshmen Paschall Davis placed seventh (47.64).

After his impressive 100 back, Henahan was narrowly beat at the wall to earn second place in the 200 backstroke at 1:48.99. Teammates Storvik (1:50.03) and Zaczyk (1:53.76) finished third and fourth.

Craig earned a win in the 200 breaststroke. His 2:00.94 is the fastest time in the SEC and a Louisville pool record. Following Craig were Epperson in third (2:06.58) and Kahlin in fifth (2:08.34).

Earning his first win of the season, Sanders paced a 4:34.14 in the 500 freestyle. Jones finished fourth with a 4:39.11 mark and Friderichs was seventh at 4:49.53.

With his second win on the day, DeRocco raced to a 48.96 100 butterfly time that set the third pool record of the day. Smith had an impressive 49.89 second place time while Behm placed sixth at 53.68.

In the 200 I.M., the Vols were led by Craig in second (1:53.81) with Epperson in fifth (1:55.95) and Beasley in sixth (1:57.62).

To wrap up the meet, The Big Orange earned the relay sweep. With a pool-record 3:01.04 time, the team of DeRocco, Henahan, Harrison and Walsh earned the win in the 400 freestyle relay for Tennessee.

After a rigorous week of preparation, the Vols’ win possessed much underlying satisfaction for the team.

“We are sticking to our plan,” Trembley said. “We gained some confidence today and I think the win speaks to the excitement this team has about the season. We had some great improvement in the one week since our first meet.

The Vols welcome the Kentucky Wildcats to Rocky Top Oct. 30 for the home opener.

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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