CSL Match 6: Tennessee Captures SEC Classic, Books Finals Spot
The sixth and final regular-season match of the inaugural College Swimming League season was a Volunteer party, with Tennessee winning to book one of the three places in the final.
Tennessee picked up one skins, one super skins and 16 events to accrue 668 points, a monstrous win over Alabama (382), Georgia (353) and Auburn (316).
The so-called SEC Classic brought together four schools from the Southeastern Conference before a sold-out Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, the first sellout of the first-year racing circuit.
Entering the meet, all four schools needed help to advance, with one guaranteed spot in the Match 8 finals still open and two Wild Card berths open. None was eliminated at the start of the day. Ultimately, the parity helped no one, with all three of the others eliminated, allowing Stanford and Louisville to join California and Indiana in next week’s Wild Card match.
The meet set up some fast swimming in absolute terms. Women’s skins winner Charlotte Crush of Tennessee lowered her program record in the 200 backstroke to 1:48.31. She was part of a Volunteers’ 200 free relay that set the program record, joining Camille Spink, Jillian Crooks and Leah Tigert in 1:25.66. Spink’s time of 45.91 seconds in the 100 free was the fastest of the CSL season.
Kennedi Dobson of Georgia set the program’s record in the 500 freestyle, her time of 4:30.48 resetting the record board.
All the meet results:
200 backstroke
Charlotte Crush crushed it out of the gates, going 1:48.31, the school record. Second was Tennessee’s Madison Kryger in 1:50.03. Georgia went 3-4, led by Maya Schweikert in third in 1:51.85.
Hayden Meyers of Georgia won the men’s race in 1:39.38. Tommy Hagar of Alabama was second in 1:40.28, then a gap back to the tie between Tennessee swimmers Tony Laurito and Ben Bricca in third at 1:42.47.
200 breaststroke
American international McKenzie Siroky blitzed the field in the women’s 200 breast in 2:07.45. She was nearly two seconds up on Georgia’s Elizabeth Nawrocki, who took second in 2:09.17, and Siroky’s mate Molly Sweeney was third. Auburn’s Zoey Zeller zipped into third in 2:09.21.
Tennessee went 1-3 in the men’s race, Gabe Nunziata outtouching Bama’s Steijn Louter by .11 for the win in 1:52.69. Andrew Eubanks was third. Georgia managed only fourth and eighth.
500 freestyle
The Bulldogs were ready for the distance. Kennedi Dobson was way out in front with her best time of 4:30.48 for the school record. But it was a nice consolation prize that Marie Landreneau added a best time of 4:37.27 to edge Tennessee’s Ella Jansen by .13 seconds. Jansen third and Meredith Whelehan in fourth wasn’t bad damage limitation for the Vols.
Alabama got on the board with a win thanks to Leonardo Alcantara. He went 4:13.19 to get the better of Tomas Koski’s 4:14.01 by nearly a second. Georgia was 2-3, with Sean Green following. Bama went 1-4.
200 freestyle relay
Tennessee’s women took no prisoners with the 1:25.66, 1.36 seconds up on Alabama. Georgia and Auburn followed, with Tennessee’s B team fifth.
Auburn turned in an impressive performance on the men’s side, the foursome of Warner Russ, Mike Rice, Matthew Hamiton and Nicolas Gama going 1:16.28. It’s all about consistency, with three legs from 19.00 to 19.13. Tennessee split its teams, taking second and third, with Georgia fourth and Alabama fifth.
With each relay win came the choice of that gender’s skins race.
200 butterfly
Emily Brown picked up another win for Tennessee at CSL Match 6 in 1:53.44, edging Alabama’s Gaby van Brunt by three tenths. Zetta Grace Bartee was third for Auburn. Bama went 2-4.
Minnesota transfer Jacob Johnson picked up the win for Georgia on the men’s side, the junior going 1:41.66 to dominate the field. He was 1.6 ticks ahead of Alabama’s Gabriel Moura, with the Crimson Tide going 2-3, Bogdan Zverev following.
100 individual medley
A huge 1-2 for Tennessee, with sophomore Mizuki Hirai going 53.58 to win the event. She was followed closely by Jansen in 54.06, the junior outtouching Jada Scott of Alabama by a tenth. Maddie Thornton was fourth for Georgia.
Auburn picked up another sprint win via Gabriel Machuco in 47.14. He was six tenths ahead of Tennessee’s Julian Koch, which weathered the disappointment of Nunziata in eighth. Drew Hitchcock of Georgia was third with Alabama’s Eric-Stefan Andries fourth.
100 backstroke
Crush and Kryger were 1-3 this time around for the Volunteers, Crush winning in 50.09, the second-best performance in program history. Kryger clocked in at 50.99. In between was Emily Jones of Alabama in 50.53, the Tide going 2-5.
Tennessee secured 1-4 in the men’s result, Ulises Saravia winning it in 45.15. Bricca was fourth. In between was Meyers for Georgia in 45.68 and Hagar for Alabama at 46.07.
100 freestyle
Spink was at her best in the 100, going 45.91 to win handily, more than a second clear of Alabama’s Cadence Vincent in 47.16. It was a tidy add on that fellow Vol Tigert went 47.82, outtouching Helena Jones by .09 seconds for third.
The Tennessee men added a win thanks to Nikoli Blackman going 41.10. He was .58 up on Auburn’s Alexey Glivinsky, the sprint-heavy Tigers managing just 2-6 in the event. Alabama’s Toni Dragoja was third, with Koby Bujak-Upton of Tennessee fourth ahead of Koski.
Women’s skins
Tennessee go the choice and went with butterfly, a gambit that very much paid off. Georgia was without a semifinalist after the first round. Two tenths separated Hirai in the lead at 23.68 and Crush in fourth at 23.88, then another two tenths back to Emily Jones of Alabama in fifth. The two UT swimmers advanced with Scott of Bama (23.79) and Auburn’s Isabel Iwasyk (23.86).
Crush was 23.54 and Hirai 23.77 in the second round, with the two Auburn swimmers eliminated to leave Jones and Scott. Crush went 23.52 and Hirai 23.68 in the semifinal before Crush won the finale in 24.05, .11 up on her Japanese teammate.
Men’s skins
Men’s skins was just about the opposite, with the two Volunteers axed in the first round after Auburn opted for freestyle. It started tepidly enough for the Tigers, with Warner Russ third and Gama fifth. Dragoja won the first round in 19.56, with Georgia’s Jayson Ross second in 19.68.
Dragoja slowed to 20.07 for the second round, with Russ second in 20.35 and Gama eliminated. Russ went to the front for the semifinal in 20.19, with Dragoja second in 20.41. The two Georgians, Ross and Luke Sandberg, couldn’t keep pace. The Iron Bowl finale went to Russ, in 20.63, outlasting Dragoja’s 20.74.
200 individual medley
Brown grabbed her second with for Tennessee, a 1-2 with Jansen. Brown went 1:55.00, Jansen 1:55.31. Dobson was third in 1:57.08, ahead of teammate Thornton.
Machucho doubled up on the IMs for Auburn, in 1:42.96, a winning margin of two seconds. Tennessee was 2-4 via Voya Gavrysh and Laurito, with Georgia’s Hitchcock between.
100 breaststroke
Siroky capped the double on the women’s side in 58.27, Tennessee teammate Simone Moll third in 59.66. In between was Zallen for Bama in 59.18.
Eubanks stepped for a win for the Vols, with Nunziata fourth. Eubanks went 51.92, .22 seconds up on Louter of Bama. Auburn pushed Kaua Carvalho into third.
50 freestyle
Another race, another win for Spink, who went 21.04. She was well ahead of Vincent’s time of 21.63, and Crooks added a time of 21.78 for third for the Volunteers. Helena Jones was fourth for Georgia.
The repeat of men’s skins brought some new blood. Russ was fifth, in 19.90. Instead, the win went to the fresher Blackman for Tennessee in 19.26, with teammate Miles Blackson-Dunbar in 19.69 for third. In between was Auburn’s Rice, who did skins, in 19.43, and fourth was another skins swimmer in Alabama’s Jonathan Hoole.
100 butterfly
No worse for their skins wear, Crush and Hirai went 1-2 again. This time Crush won in 51.06, outtouching Hirai’s 51.11. Alabama got the next two places via Van Brunt (51.87) and Victoria Raymond.
On the men’s side, Johnson doubled his fly wins by going 45.30, and Hitchcock was fifth to give the Bulldogs a boost. Tennessee was steady as she goes, Lucio Paula second in 45.87 and Abdul Jabar Adama third in 45.97.
200 freestyle
Chalk up another win for Dobson, who routed the field in 1:42.06. This time, Landreneau was just fourth for the Bulldogs. In between was the almost rhyming Canadian duo from Knoxville: Kryger in 1:43.23 and Tigert in 1:43.86.
Koski made it a second win for Georgia in its specialty, the Finnish international going 1:33.26. He was a full second clear of Auburn’s Daniel Krichevsky, with Alcantara third.
Women’s super skins
A disqualification was all that could rain on Tennessee’s parade, though the meet was long decided. The Vols A squad led the way in the first heat at 1:35.35, with Alabama second and UT’s B team third. That was the order in the second heat, at 1:36.30, and in the semifinals, the Vols speeding up to 1:36.02 and Alabama at 1:37.13.
In the final, the Bama team of Emily Jones, Zallen, Van Brunt and Vincent went 1:39.89, capitalizing on a Tennessee DQ. The Vols’ A squad had been Crush, Siroky, Jansen and Spink.
Men’s super skins
There was no such disappointment for the Volunteers men’s team. That Vols were 1-3 in the first heat, the A team in 1:26.11, only Auburn’s 1:26.23 between them. Georgia jumped to second in the second round, with Auburn third but still Tennessee’s Saravia, Nunziata, Koch and Blackman leading in 1:26.56.
A DQ to Auburn’s A squad aided Tennessee (1:26.73) and Georgia (1:27.19) reaching the final, with the Vols captured in 1:27.06. Georgia hung tough in 1:27.62.
