Women Take Bronze in 800 Free Relay on Opening Day of SECs

Tuesday, February 14

Bryan-College Station, Texas

11:30 a.m. (Prelims) | 5:20 p.m. (Finals)

University of Georgia

SEC Swimming & Diving Championships

Women Take Bronze in 800 Free Relay on Opening Day of SECs

February 14, 2023 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Tuesday Results Wednesday Prelims Heat Sheet

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – With both a school record and a trip to the podium, the University of Georgia men's and women's swimming teams opened the 2023 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships in solid fashion Tuesday at the Texas A&M Campus Recreation Center Natatorium.

In the highlight of the day, the women's 800 freestyle relay team of junior Sloane Reinstein, sophomore Duné Coetzee, and seniors Jillian Barczyk and Zoie Hartman earned the bronze medal with an A-cut time of 6:58.90. Reinstein opened the race with a personal-best 200 freestyle leg of 1:46.25, but the Bulldogs found themselves in fifth place following the second leg. Barczyk moved Georgia into third with a split of 1:44.51, followed by Hartman's anchor leg of 1:43.38.

Earlier in the men's 200 medley relay, senior Bradley Dunham, freshman Kristian Pitshugin, junior Wesley Ng, and senior Dillon Downing set a new school record of 1:23.01, finishing fourth with an A-cut time. The quartet bested the previous record of 1:23.07 set at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Dunham led off with a personal-best 50 backstroke split of 21.23, while Ng dropped a 19.96 50 fly split and Downing closed with a 18.83 50 free leg.

Dunham later joined junior Jake Magahey, senior Zach Hils, and sophomore Mitchell Norton to also finish fourth in the 800 freestyle relay, notching an A-cut time of 6:14.05 and moving into sixth all-time in program history. Magahey led off with a B-cut 200 freestyle leg of 1:33.35, followed by a 1:32.82 from Hils. In the opening women's 200 medley relay, graduates Marie Schobel and Callie Dickinson teamed with Hartman and Reinstein to finish seventh with a B-cut of 1:36.49, the seventh-fastest relay in school history.

In the morning time trials session, sophomore Sam Parker dropped nearly two seconds from his prior PB in the 200 backstroke, earning a B-cut with his time of 1:43.39.

At the diving well, junior Meghan Wenzel placed 18^th on 3-meter with a score of 259.10, while freshman Hannah Stumpf finished 30^th at 221.10. Sophomore Nolan Lewis finished 19^th on 1-meter with a mark of 261.45, followed by fellow sophomore Rhett Hopkins in 22^nd at 257.95 and graduate Kevin Li in 25^th at 252.00.

The SEC Championships continue Wednesday with the first full day of competition, including the 200 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, and women's 1-meter diving. Swimming prelims begin at 10:30 a.m. EST, followed by diving prelims at 1 p.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m. Live coverage of the meet is available on SEC Network+.

STANDINGS
Men

Texas A&M, 229
Auburn, 166
Tennessee, 159
Florida, 138
Missouri, 126
South Carolina, 115
Georgia, 113
Alabama, 107
Kentucky, 86
LSU, 65

Women

LSU, 178
Florida, 150
Kentucky, 149
South Carolina, 142
Tennessee, 136
Alabama, 131
Auburn, 119
Georgia, 107
Missouri, 105
Arkansas, 97
Vanderbilt, 62
Texas A&M, 56

RESULTS
Men's 1-meter
Gold: Victor Povzner (Texas A&M) – 357.50
Silver: Bryden Hattie (Tennessee) – 364.40
Bronze: Rhett Hensley (Texas A&M) – 343.60

Women's 200 Medley Relay
Gold: Alabama – 1:34.20
Silver: Florida – 1:34.76
Bronze: Tennessee – 1:36.02

Men's 200 Medley Relay
Gold: Tennessee – 1:21.43
Silver: Florida – 1:21.73
Bronze: Auburn – 1:22.98

Women's 3-meter
Gold: Brooke Schultz (South Carolina) – 356.35
Silver: Sophia Verzyl (South Carolina) – 349.65
Bronze: Chiara Pellacani (LSU) – 341.85

Women's 800 Freestyle Relay
Gold: Florida – 6:57.11
Silver: Tennessee – 6:58.26
Bronze: Georgia – 6:58.90

Men's 800 Freestyle Relay
Gold: Florida – 6:08.64
Silver: Auburn – 6:12.39
Bronze: Alabama – 6:12.46