Following a meet win last Friday, Jan. 19th against ACC rival Miami, the Jackets hosted two matches this weekend at the McAuley Aquatic Center. These two matches would combine to make up the final home meet of the season with the ACC tournament right around the corner. The first of the two meets this past weekend took place on Friday night against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Squaring off against the Gamecocks, Tech’s side dominated throughout the meet, ultimately winning 187 to 113. In this 32 event meet, Tech was able to sweep the podium in multiple events including the men’s 200 backstroke featuring junior Berke Saka, sophomore Nils Bognar and sophomore Chris Richardson, as well as the 200 free led by senior Batur Ünlü, freshman Ricky Baluccini and sophomore Vitor Sega. Apart from clean sweeps of the podium, the Jackets found tremendous success in the 1650 free and the 500 free. While the men’s side dominated throughout their match, the women’s long-fought attempt to knock off the Gamecocks came up short, falling 131 to 169.
Even with a disappointing team score, both junior Sophie Murphy and freshman diver Lizzie Powley placed first in multiple events. In sparticular, Powley placed first in the one and three-meter diving events. Lastly, the women were still able to show out for the home crowd at McAuley by sweeping the 200 relay. Heading into the tri-meet on Saturday against East Carolina and Carson-Newman and Jacket Senior Day, the Tech women’s team hoped to bounce back from a tough loss while the men’s team looked to capitalize on the momentum the previous day. Throughout the meet, 10 Tech seniors were honored for their commitment to the Swim and Dive program over the years.
With extra motivation to bring home another victory for the seniors, both teams performed incredibly. The men’s team defeated Carson-Newman in a 208-48 rout while the women’s team beat both Carson-Newman 240-48 and East Carolina 198-101. Senior Anna Bradescu and Powley took home second in the three-meter and one-meter dives respectively. The men’s swimming team swept more than six events including dominant performances from junior Leandro Odorici, Balduccini and freshman Robin Yeboah in the 100 freestyle.
On the women’s side, Tech swept the women’s 100 freestyle led by junior Zora Ripková, sophomore Anna Hadjiloizou and junior Caroline Pape. They scored wins in all 200 yard events (fly, free, breast and back).
Not only were there great individual performances, the relays were excellent for both the womens and mens team. Wins in the 400 medley and 200 free relay capped off a great senior day victory for the Tech Swim and Dive squad. With ACC championships looming in the near future, the Jackets will travel to Auburn on Feb. 9th to participate in the Auburn First Chance Meet.
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