Urlando Shines as No. 8/13 Georgia Sweeps South Carolina, Vanderbilt

Friday, October 11

Columbia, S.C.

4 p.m.

University of Georgia

221

South Carolina

Urlando Shines as No. 8/13 Georgia Sweeps South Carolina, Vanderbilt

October 11, 2024 | Swimming & Diving, Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Results

Men: No. 8 Georgia (1-0, 1-0 SEC) 221, RV South Carolina (0-1, 0-1 SEC) 79
Women: No. 13 Georgia (2-0, 2-0 SEC) 167, RV South Carolina (1-1, 1-1 SEC) 133
No. 13 Georgia (2-0, 2-0 SEC) 240, Vanderbilt (0-3, 0-2 SEC) 48

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of Georgia swimming and diving teams opened the 2024-25 season in impressive fashion, sweeping South Carolina and Vanderbilt Friday evening at the Carolina Natatorium.

Fast Facts

Redshirt senior Luca Urlando returned to Georgia after nearly two years with an astounding performance in Columbia, earning two individual A-cuts and a B-cut relay. In the 100y butterfly, Urlando prevailed with an A-cut time of 44.16, the second-fastest time in program history behind his school-record of 43.80 set at the 2022 NCAA Championships. Earlier, Urlando picked up an automatic cut in the 200y butterfly with a time of 1:39.87, winning by over four seconds with the fifth-fastest mark in school history. He now holds the top five 200 fly times in program history.
Urlando joined teammates Tomas Koski, Jake Magahey, and Ruard van Renen to pick up a B-cut in the 400y freestyle relay with a time of 2:50.34. Koski led off the relay with a B-cut of 42.62, following individual wins in the 100y and 200y freestyle. Magahey swept the 500y and 1,000y freestyle, turning a B-cut in the 500.
The Georgia men finished the day with 14 victories, including B-cuts for fifth-year senior Wesley Ng (100y backstroke), junior Sam Powe (200y backstroke), and freshman Drew Hitchcock (200y IM). At the diving well, sophomore Matthew Bray posted victorious Zone cuts on both springboards, including a personal best of 379.500 on 3-meter. Renato Calderaro (1m, 3m) and Rhett Hopkins (1m) also earned trips to Zones with their scores.
The Bulldog women earned a sweep in their tri-meet with 10 wins, including another strong performance from their distance group. Senior Abby McCulloh won the 1,000y freestyle with a time of 9:31.29, while fellow senior Rachel Stege took the 500y freestyle with a B-cut of 4:39.08. McCulloh also earned a B-cut in the 500 free, with graduate Sloane Reinstein earned provisional cuts in the 200 and 500 free.
Junior Ieva Maluka earned two wins in her Bulldog debut, taking the 200y backstroke (1:55.12) and 200y IM (1:56.62) with B-cuts, along with earning one in a second-place finish in the 200y butterfly. Senior Eboni McCarty took first in the 100y backstroke with a B-cut of 52.18, while also contributing to winning 200y medley and 400y freestyle relays.
Other wins for Georgia included junior Emma Norton with a B-cut in the 100y butterfly, sophomore Helena Jones in the 100y freestyle, and freshman Charlotte Headland in the 100y breaststroke.