Urlando Sets American Record, Two School Records in Win over Tennessee

Saturday, January 25

Knoxville, Tenn.

12 p.m. (Diving) | 12:40 (Distance) | 2 p.m. (Full Meet)

University of Georgia

155

144

Tennessee

Photo by: Tony Walsh/UGAAA

Urlando Sets American Record, Two School Records in Win over Tennessee

January 25, 2025 | Swimming & Diving, Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Results

Men: No. 7 Georgia (4-3, 2-2 SEC) 155, No. 8 Tennessee (1-3, 1-2 SEC) 144
Women: No. 5 Tennessee (4-1, 4-0 SEC) 209, No. 11 Georgia (4-4, 2-3 SEC) 91

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Fifth-year senior Luca Urlando turned in a historic day to lead the University of Georgia men's swimming and diving team to victory over Tennessee Saturday afternoon at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.

Fast Facts

Urlando set a new American, NCAA, U.S. Open, Southeastern Conference, and Georgia school record in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:37.17, breaking the previous record of 1:37.35 set by Texas' Jack Conger at the 2017 NCAA Championships, the longest-running men's American Record (excluding the 1,000y freestyle). Urlando now holds the American Records in both the 200y butterfly and 100y backstroke, setting that mark at the 2022 NCAAs. Georgia holds three American short-course yard records, including Urlando's two and Chase Kalisz's 3:33.42 in the 400y IM.
Urlando followed up his feat with a school record time of 43.62 in the 100y butterfly, besting the previous school record of 43.80 he posted at the 2022 NCAA Championships. He closed out the day with a winning time of 1:41.86 in the 200y IM.
The Georgia men earned eight wins on the day, including a pair of victories for junior Ruard van Renen and sophomore Tomas Koski. Koski touched first in the 200y freestyle with a time of 1:31.80, the seventh-fastest in program history and second-fastest of his Georgia career. He later prevailed in the 500y freestyle with a time of 4:14.99. van Renen swept the backstroke events, winning the 100y back with a time of 45.22, followed by a first-place 1:41.80 in the 200y back. Graduate Jake Magahey rounded out the wins with a time of 9:00.99 in the 1,000y freestyle.
The Bulldog women notched two victories on the afternoon, beginning with senior Duné Coetzee in the 1,000y freestyle with a season-best mark of 9:37.977. Later in the meet, senior Ieva Maluka turned in an impressive victory in the 200y IM with a time of 1:55.33, becoming the fifth-fastest performer in program history.
In other strong performances, freshman Katie Belle Sikes placed second in the 50y freestyle with a new PB of 22.19, while sophomore Helena Jones took second in the 100y freestyle with a B-cut of 48.39. In the opening 1,000y free, Furse finished second with a new PB of 9:53.41. In the men's 100y breaststroke, redshirt sophomore Kristian Pitshugin finished second with a season-best B-cut of 52.95. Pitshugin joined graduate Wesley Ng, Urlando, and senior Reese Branzell to post a second-place 200y medley relay at 1:24.00, the 10^th-fastest time in program history.
In diving, junior Renato Calderaro finished second on 1-meter with a score of 350.85, while while sophomore Matthew Bray was runner-up on 3-meter with a score of 368.70. On the women's side, Ivy Buckley finished second on 3-meter with a PB of 280.88 before placing third on 1-meter at 257.25.

Quotes
Men's Swimming & Diving Head Coach Neil Versfeld
On Saturday's victory over Tennessee…
"That was an exceptional win on the road for us. It's been a crazy week, schedule-wise, with some snow days in the middle of the week…The guys were in great spirits and ready to do some fast swimming and really worked on those fine-tuning details. Where we are now, I'm exceptionally pleased."

On Luca Urlando's performance…
"Unbelievable. He is an incredible man to coach. It's fun every day to see the speeds he can throw down. To have him put a suit on here at the end of January and throw down an American Record, it's very exciting. SECs and NCAAs next month are going to be fun to watch."

Georgia fifth-year senior Luca Urlando
On setting a second American Record…
"Just immense gratitude for all the people that were there for me through injury. This has been a special event for me since I was young, so to have that record means a lot."

On breaking an eight-year-old record…
"That's so cool. The guys, Jack Conger and Joseph Schooling, that set that record – it's a really cool feeling."

On setting a school record in the 100y butterfly…
"I was so juiced up. I was having so much fun with it."

Up Next
Georgia returns home to host Emory next Saturday at 11 a.m. at Bauerle Pool at Gabrielsen Natatorium for Senior Day. Prior to the meet, 23 Georgia seniors will be recognized at 10:30 a.m. Admission is free for all fans and the meet will stream live on SEC Network+.