University of Georgia Athletics
2002-03 Season Recaps for Men and Women
April 14, 2003 | Swimming & Diving
Georgia finishes 14th, Margalis wins title at NCAAs
The Bulldogs wrapped up the 2002-03 season at the 2003 NCAA Championships at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center in Austin. Georgia finished in 14th place with 104 total points. Robert Margalis became Georgia's first individual national champion since 1997 as he won the 400y individual medley Friday night.
After the butterfly and backstroke legs, the sophomore from St. Petersburg, Fla., was in fourth place and slightly more than a second and a half behind the leader, but he turned in amazing splits in both the breaststroke and freestyle to overtake defending champion and 2000 Olympian Erik Vendt from Southern Cal. Margalis touched the wall in 3:39.92 to lower his personal best and the Georgia record, previously 3:41.42 that he established at least year's NCAAs.
Margalis also finished second in the 500y free and 15th in the 200y fly. Kyle Salyards finished seventh in the 200y breast, Scott Gardner took 14th in the 100y breast and all five relays posted top-16 finishes.
Georgia got a big boost by having two divers in the finals for the first time in the program's history. Senior Kris Daugherty earned his first All-America distinction with a sixth-place finish in his first NCAA final with an overall score of 343.50 on the 1-meter. Todd Avery reached the 1-meter final in his first NCAA appearance, finishing eighth with a score of 285.90.
Bulldogs take third at SECs
The Georgia men amassed a total of 492.5 points to claim third place at the 2003 SEC Championships in Auburn. It marked the team's second consecutive third-place finish. Margalis began Thursday's competition with a win in the 500-yard freestyle with a Georgia-record setting
Lady Bulldogs post second straight runner-up finish at NCAAs
Senior Maritza Correia put the finishing touches on a career filled with titles and broken records, while Mary DeScenza gave the swimming world a glimpse of what is to come as the Georgia women's swimming and diving team amassed 373 points for a runner-up finish at the 2003 Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center in Auburn.
Correia put an exclamation point on a career that will go down as one of the best in Georgia history as well as collegiate swimming. The senior from Valrico, Fla., led from beginning to end and stopped the clock in a personal-best 47.29 to win the 100-yard freestyle relay for the second consecutive year and lowered the pool, school, NCAA, U.S. Open and American record. Correia has now won 11 total NCAA titles - five individual championships and six relay titles. She holds more NCAA hardware than any other Lady Bulldog in history, and her five individual titles are second only to All-American, NCAA Champion and Olympic medalist Kristy Kowal.
While one NCAA swimming career is coming to an end, another is just beginning. Freshman Mary DeScenza capped a brilliant rookie campaign by breaking the school record and winning her first NCAA individual title with a time of 1:53.51 in the 200-yard butterfly - Georgia's first national champion in the event. DeScenza finished second in the 100-yard butterfly and eighth in the 200-yard individual medley at the championships.
Georgia won the 200-yard freestyle relay to open the weekend championship, and Sarah Poewe, Lauren Gettel, Paige Kearns, Samantha Arsenault, Neka Mabry and Julie Hardt also earned All-America honors.
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