No. 7/12 Georgia Sweeps No. 16/23 Florida State and Vanderbilt

Saturday, January 13

Athens, Ga.

11 a.m.

University of Georgia

193

107

Florida State

Photo by: Kari Hodges/UGAAA

No. 7/12 Georgia Sweeps No. 16/23 Florida State and Vanderbilt

January 13, 2024 | Swimming & Diving, Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Results

ATHENS, Ga. – On a day honoring former head coach Jack Bauerle, the University of Georgia swimming and diving teams turned in a dominant performance in sweeping the Florida State men and women and the Vanderbilt women Saturday at Bauerle Pool at Gabrielsen Natatorium.

In a suited meet, the seventh-ranked Georgia men (4-4) topped the No. 16 Seminoles by a 193-107 margin, while the No. 12 Georgia women (8-1) bested No. 23 FSU, 180-117, and defeated Vanderbilt, 219-61.

Prior to the meet, the competition pool at Gabrielsen Natatorium was officially dedicated in honor of Bauerle, who was joined in the ceremony by University of Georgia president Jere W. Morehead and J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Josh Brooks, along with his family and multiple UGAAA dignitaries.

Women | No. 12 Georgia 180, No. 23 Florida State 117 | No. 12 Georgia 219, Vanderbilt 61

Bauerle's honor proved to not be the only historic moment on the day for the Georgia women as junior Abby McCulloh posted a remarkable swim in the 1,000y freestyle. McCulloh took first in the 1,000y with a personal-best mark of 9:30.61, setting a pool record, the nation's fastest time, and the second-fastest time in program history. Fifth-year senior Jillian Barczyk (9:49.47) and Shea Furse (9:57.49) rounded out the top-three sweep.

McCulloh later led another top-four sweep in the 500y freestyle with a winning B-cut time of 4:39.58, followed by junior Sloane Reinstein in second with a B-cut of 4:40.76. Reinstein took first in the 200y freestyle with a B-cut time of 1:45.25, leading another top-four sweep for the dominant Bulldog distance group.

The sprint freestyle group also excelled with junior Eboni McCarty taking the 50y freestyle with a season-best B-cut of 22.63 and SEC Freshman of the Week Helena Jones winning the 100y freestyle with a season-best 48.43. McCarty also prevailed in the 100y backstroke with a season-best B-cut of 51.57, followed by Jones in second with a B-cut of 53.75.

Fifth-year Zoie Hartman swept both breaststroke events, posting a season-best 59.18 in the 100. Graduate Millie Sansome won the 200y backstroke with a B-cut of 1:56.40, while senior Meghan Wenzel won on both springboards. In the closing 400y freestyle relay, Jones, McCarty, and Reinstein joined junior Briana Roberson to take first with a B-cut time of 3:16.24.

"I think the best way to start the meet was to honor Jack and the legacy that he had and I told the girls beforehand it's pretty remarkable to have a man who has touched so many lives and been such an impact on a program to be able to have the pool named after him, so to try and swim for Jack and I would say our girls did that from start to finish," Tom Cousins Women's Swimming & Diving Head Coach Stefanie Williams Moreno said.

Men | No. 7 Georgia 193, No. 16 Florida State 107

After winning SEC Co-Swimmer of the Week, senior Jake Magahey posted another strong outing, turning in his fastest time of the season in the 1,000y freestyle at 8:53.52. Later in the meet, Magahey dropped a personal-best B-cut of 1:41.81 in winning the 200y butterfly, moving into ninth all-time in program history. He also finished second in the 400y IM with a season-best B-cut of 3:42.76, following closely behind Ian Grum's winning B-cut of 3:42.60. Grum also led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200y backstroke with a B-cut of 1:40.02.

In the 50y freestyle, graduate Dillon Downing finished first with a time of 19.59, while contributing to two winning relays, including an 18.91 anchor split in the 200y medley relay. Fellow graduate Bradley Dunham led off both relays and earned a win in the 500y freestyle with a season-best time of 4:17.80. In the 200y freestyle, reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Tomas Koski took first with a B-cut of 1:33.34. Sophomore Ruard van Renen continued his dominance in the 100y backstroke with a time of 46.56.

At the diving well, junior Rhett Hopkins placed second on 3-meter and third on 1-meter, while freshman Matthew Bray took third on 3-meter and fourth on 1-meter.

"What a fantastic meet that was for the middle of January to do that well," Men's Swimming & Diving Head Coach Neil Versfeld said. "FSU is always a great team to race. They've always got some stokes that we've got to step up to swim against. What a fantastic meet. We had some great swims out the gate from that first relay and coming down to an 18 relay split right now is exceptional. It really got the party started for us. It's fantastic."

Up Next

Georgia remains home next weekend for its annual dual meet against No. 11/15 Tennessee at 11 a.m. at Bauerle Pool at Gabrielsen Natatorium. Admission is free for all spectators and the meet will stream live on SEC Network+. Next Saturday's meet will be the "Party at the Pool" in celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the women's swimming and diving program.

For all news and updates about Georgia swimming and diving, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter (@UGASwimDive), Instagram (@ugaswimdive), and Facebook (UGA Swimming and Diving).