2023 Georgia Invite: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2023 Georgia Invitational

• November 16-18, 2023
• Gabrielsen Natatorium, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Prelims start at 9:30AM Eastern, Finals at 5:30 PM Eastern
• Participating teams: #3M/#6W Florida, #13M/#25W Auburn, #17M/#15W Michigan, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Wisconsin (diving)
• Live Stream Links (different per session)
• Meet Results
• Results on Meet Mobile: “UGA Fall Invitational 2023”

The opening finals session of the 2023 Georgia Invite promises to be an action-packed one, with the 200 free relay and 400 medley relay bookending the individual events we saw in this morning’s prelims.

The women’s 500 free will be one event to watch in particular, after we saw Dune Coetzee and Bella Sims clock 4:35.7s in the prelims, significantly faster than what won the NCAA title last season.

The men’s side will feature Florida’s Josh Liendo in the 200 free relay and the 50 free, coming off a blistering 18.79 in the prelims of the splash n’ dash this morning.

Women’s 200-Yard Freestyle Relay — Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:23.87 — Virginia (K. Douglass, G. Walsh, L. Cuomo, A. Walsh) (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:28.43
• 2024 NCAA ‘B’ Standard: 1:29.21

Top 8:

*MeetMobile results not working, will update*

Men’s 200-Yard Freestyle Relay — Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:13.35 — Florida (J. Liendo, A. Chaney, E. Friese, M. McDuff) (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:16.80
• 2024 NCAA ‘B’ Standard: 1:17.38

Top 8:

*MeetMobile results not working, will update*

Women’s 500-Yard Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 4:24.06 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 4:37.89
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 4:41.09

Top 8:

1. Bella Sims (FLOR) — 4:32.53
2. Rachel Stege (UGA) — 4:32.87
3. Dune Coetzee (UGA) — 4:35.29
4. Emma Weyant (FLOR) — 4:35.71
5. Abby McCulloh (UGA) — 4:38.14
6. Hannah Bellard (MICH) — 4:38.44
7. Sloane Reinstein (UGA) — 4:39.15
8. Averee Preble (AUB) — 4:46.50

Florida freshman Bella Sims picked up her first win of the meet in the women’s 500 freestyle but it was a close call, as Georgia’s Rachel Stege came charging home, almost catching Sims.

Sims likes to take her race out fast and she used the same strategy here, opening up a gap between herself and the field on the first 100 with a 50.47 split. After that, she split 55.16/55.55 and while that allowed Dune Coetzee, Emma Weyant, and Stege (in that order) to gain some ground at the 300-yard mark, this race still looked like it was all Sims.

But Stege dug in on the back half of the race, splitting 55.47 to pull ahead of Coetzee and Weyant. Then, she charged home in 53.14, just running out of room to catch Sims, who clocked 55.53 on her last 100. It’s a huge personal best for Stege, shattering the 4:36.31 she swam to become the 2023 SEC champion.

Her Georgia teammate Coetzee finished third, dropping another .43 seconds after swimming a new PB in prelims. She kept herself ahead of Weyant, who gave the Gators a 1-4 finish with a season-best 4:35.71.

Hannah Bellard added her name to the growing list of swimmers who have been sub-4:40 this season, getting under the barrier for the first time in her career with nearly a three second best.

Men’s 500-Yard Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 4:06.32 — Kieran Smith, Florida (2020)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 4:10.74
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 4:14.36

Top 8:

1. Jake Magahey (UGA) — 4:10.60
2. Mason Mathias (AUB) — 4:11.03
3. Jake Mitchell (FLOR) — 4:12.55
4. Yordan Yanchev (FSU) — 4:13.35
5. Oskar Lindholm (FLOR) — 4:14.24
6. Sam Powe (UGA) — 4:16.35
7. Giovanni Linscheer (FLOR) — 4:16.40
8. Michael Bonson (AUB) — 4:17.58

We got another great race in the 500 freestyle, as Auburn’s Mason Mathias pushed 2021 NCAA Champion Jake Magahey all the way to the wall in the ‘A’ final.

It was Florida’s Jake Mitchell who took the race out first, flipping at the 100 in 48.03 ahead of Yordan Yanchev, Magahey, and Mathias. Mitchell still held a slight advantage at the 200-yard mark, but by the 300 he’d begun to fade, turning in a 51.63 split, which allowed both Magahey and Mathias to move past him.

Magahey held a .68 second lead heading into the final 100, which gave him just enough space to hold on for the win as Mathias outsplit him 49.67 to 49.92. Magahey took the win in 4:10.60, about eight-tenths off his time from this meet last year.

Meanwhile, this is a huge swim for Mathias, lowering his own Auburn program record that he set to earn a spot in the ‘B’ final at 2023 NCAAs. This time would’ve landed him in the ‘A’ final, which Auburn desperately needs as they had only one swimmer make an ‘A’ final at 2023 NCAAs.

Mitchell held on for third place in a season-best 4:12.55, which is also faster than his time at this meet last year. Yanchev took 4th in 4:13.35, getting under the 2023 NCAA Invited Time.

Women’s 200-Yard IM — Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:48.37 — Kate Douglass, Virginia (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:53.66
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 1:56.90

Top 8:

1. Izzy Ivey (FLOR) — 1:54.18
2. Zoie Hartman (UGA) — 1:54.49
3. Zoe Dixon (FLOR) — 1:55.58
4. Hannah Ownbey (AUB) — 1:56.18
5. Stephanie Balduccini (MICH) — 1:56.94
6. Aris Runnels (FLOR) — 1:58.12
7. Devon Kitchel (MICH) — 1:58.54
8. Maddy Huggins (FSU) — 1:59.99

Izzy Ivey, another newcomer to the Gators’ NCAA team, picked up the win in the 200 IM, giving the Gator women back-to-back individual event wins. Ivey swam a season-best 1:54.18, rocketing out with a 23.99/28.38 front half.

That gave her all the space she needed to keep ahead of Zoie Hartman, who used a strong back-half (33.17/27.07) to power herself to 2nd place, passing Florida’s Zoe Dixon on the freestyle leg. Ivey touched in 1:54.18, which puts her a little over a second off her PB 1:53.02 from 2022 NCAAs.

Hartman was about two-tenths away from her time at midseason last year. Meanwhile, Dixon and Hannah Ownbey, who went faster than they did at 2023 NCAAs in prelims, dropped even more time tonight. Dixon neared her personal best in 1:55.58, while Ownbey set a new standard for herself with a 1:56.18. Her previous best was a 1:56.71 from 2021 SECs.

Before this morning, it looks like Stephanie Balduccini had never swum a 200-yard IM, but acquitted herself well here. She dropped two-tenths from prelims with a 1:56.94, putting herself right on the NCAA invite bubble.

Men’s 200-Yard IM — Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:36.34 — Léon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:41.03
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 1:43.14

Top 8:

1. Berke Saka (GT) — 1:42.19
2. Gal Cohen Groumi (MICH) — 1:42.67
3. Zach Hils (UGA) — 1:43.63
4. Eitan Ben-Shitrit (MICH) — 1:43.65
5. Danny Schmidt (AUB) — 1:43.74
6. Max Wilson (FSU) — 1:44.33
7. Mason Laur (FLOR) — 1:45.39
8. Nils Bognar (GT) — 1:47.29

In the women’s 200 IM, the story was that the front-half focused swimmer (Ivey) was able to beat out the back-half focused swimmer (Hartman). It was the other way around here in the men’s ‘A’ final: Berke Saka staged a come from behind win to get the better of Gal Cohen Groumi.

Groumi led the way both after the butterfly and the backstroke leg after clocking 21.58/25.65 on the front half of the race. Closely following were Zach Hils and his teammate Eitan Ben-Shitrit. Saka made his move on the breaststroke leg; he was the only one of the four to split sub-30, clocking 29.46. He continued to gain ground on the freestyle leg, out-splitting the other three with a 24.67 anchor.

Saka stopped the clock at 1:42.19, which is a new personal best for him and beats out his previous mark of 1:43.27 from 2022 ACCs. He finished 32nd in this event at 2023 NCAAs, but this swim would’ve earned him a spot in the ‘B’ final.

While Groumi didn’t hit a personal best, his 1:42.67 is a great midseason time for him, beating his time from last year by a second.

After falling behind Ben-Shitrit with 50-yards to go, Hils rallied on freestyle and out-touched Ben-Shitrit by two-hundredths.

Women’s 50-Yard Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 20.79 — Maggie MacNeil, Louisiana State (2023)/Gretchen Walsh, Virginia (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 21.63
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 22.15

Top 8:

1. Micayla Cronk (FLOR) — 21.97
2. Claire Newman (MICH) — 22.10
3. Lindsay Flynn (MICH) — 22.13
4. Helena Jones (UGA) — 22.37
5. Emma Steckel (AUB) — 22.38
6. Brady Kendall (MICH) — 22.39
7. Lexie Mulvihill (AUB) — 22.42
8. Ekaterina Nikonova (FLOR) — 22.47

Micayla Cronk made it an individual event sweep for the Gator women as she roared to a new personal best of 21.97 for the win in the 50 freestyle. Cronk is having a breakout year for the Gators, and she’s set to play a key role on their relays. This is her first time breaking 22 seconds; she was 22.08 at 2023 SECs.  At NCAAs last season, she added time and finished 50th but even her best wouldn’t have earned her a second swim. However, her time here would’ve snuck her into the ‘B’ final in 16th and ultimately placed her 13th.

She was the only one to break the 22 second barrier, but there were plenty of other best times in the field. That includes Michigan’s Claire Newman, who dropped seven-hundredths from her PB for 2nd place in 22.10. This was a strong final for the Wolverines, as Lindsay Flynn (22.13) and Brady Kendall (22.29) added 3rd and 6th place finishes.

Georgia’s Helena Jones set a new personal best as well, grabbing an NCAA ‘B’ cut with her 22.37. That’s a .22 drop for the freshman, and moved her up in the standings after she qualified for the final in 8th.

Men’s 50-Yard Freestyle — Finals

• NCAA Record: 17.63 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 18.82
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 19.21

Top 8:

1. Josh Liendo (FLOR) — 18.61
2. Macguire McDuff (FLOR) — 19.28
3. Dillon Downing (UGA) — 19.31
4. Bence Szabados (MICH) — 19.33
5. Reese Branzell (UGA) — 19.41
6. Kalle Makinen (AUB) — 19.50
7. Peter Varjasi (FSU) — 19.51
8. Miles Simon (UGA) — 19.72

Josh Liendo turned in a strong race in the men’s 50 freestyle, winning the event by a massive .67 seconds. He stopped the clock at 18.61 lowering his season-best from the 18.79 that he swam in prelims. This, combined with his 18.17 flying split on the relay really illustrate the progress that he’s made in the yards pool in a season and a half; Liendo was 18.83 at this meet last year.

His Gator teammate Macguire McDuff touched 2nd in 19.28, hitting his prelims time exactly. It’s off the 19.11 he swam here last year, but it’s still a season-best for him. He out-touched Georgia’s Dillon Downing by two-hundredths.

Adam Chaney scratched out of this event, giving the home team three men up in the ‘A’ final. Along with Downing, Reese Branzell swam a PB 19.41 for 5th, and Miles Simon took 8th.

Women’s 400-Yard Medley Relay — Finals

• NCAA Record: 3:21.80 — Virginia (G. Walsh, A. Walsh, K. Douglass, A. Canny) (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 3:31.38
• 2024 NCAA ‘B’ Standard: 3:33.48

Top 8:

1. Florida ‘A’ (Sims, Mayne, Peoples, Ivey) — 3:28.68
2. Auburn ‘A’ (Merritt, Ownbey, Lee, Nevmovenko) — 3:31.24
3. Florida State ‘A’ (Evans, Huggins, Jernstedt, Muzito) — 3:32.24
4. Auburn ‘B’ — 3:32.89
5. Florida ‘B’ — 3:34.03
6. Georgia ‘A’ — 3:34.47
7. Auburn ‘C’ — 3:35.37
8. Georgia Tech ‘A’ — 3:36.78

Note: The Michigan ‘A’ relay time still looks suspicious. We’ll update if anything changes. 

The Florida team of Sims (51.03), Molly Mayne (59.60), Olivia Peoples (50.62), and Ivey (47.43) ran away with this relay; they were the only team to break 3:30, winning with a 3:28.68. Not only is this time faster than the Gators were at this point last season, it’s also only .32 seconds off their 7th place time from 2023 NCAAs.

Improved relays were one of the big reasons that the Gator women took such big strides last year, and it looks like they’ve got even more ground to gain. Notably, Cronk–the Florida ‘B’ relay anchor–outsplit Ivey, clocking a 47.12. Cronk had an exceptional session, highlighted by breaking 22 seconds for the first time in the 50 free.

Relays have also been a focus point for a rebuilding Auburn team, and they got the job done tonight by earning an ‘A’ cut en route to a 2nd place finish. 3:31.24 is a tenth faster than their 14th place time from 2023 NCAAs. Here, they went with Kensley Merritt (52.34), Hannah Ownbey (1:00.62), Meghan Lee (50.77), and Polina Nevmovenko (47.51). Lee and Nevmovenko were on that NCAA relay and they were also the cause for the improvements here in Athens. Lee improved from a 51.24 fly split and Nevmovenko dropped down from a 48.09 split.

Men’s 400-Yard Medley Relay — Finals

• NCAA Record: 2:58.32 — Florida (A. Chaney, D. Hillis, J. Liendo, M. McDuff) (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 3:04.96
• 2024 NCAA ‘B’ Standard: 3:06.84

Top 8:

1. Florida ‘A’ (Chaney, Savickas, Liendo, McDuff) — 3:02.68
2. Auburn ‘A’ (N. Stoffle, Bethel, Khaled, Makinen) — 3:04.48
3. Georgia ‘A’ (van Renen, Haigh, Dunham, Branzell) — 3:05.57
4. Florida ‘B’ — 3:05.83
5. Michigan ‘A’ — 3:06.41
6. Georgia ‘B’ — 3:06.95
7. Auburn ‘B’ — 3:07.13
8. FSU ‘B’ — 3:09.16

Unsurprisingly, Florida, the reigning NCAA champions and NCAA record holders, came away with the win here. Chaney, who scratched his individual event tonight, led off the Gators in 45.79, which had them running 3rd as Georgia’s Ruard van Renen (44.80) and Auburn’s Nate Stoffle both beat him.

But the Gators depth is so strong that it didn’t make a difference. Aleksas Savickas split 51.80, then Liendo and McDuff put the hammer down, splitting 43.81 and 41.28, respectively. Their winning time of 3:02.68 is much faster than the 3:04.98 they posted at this point last season.

Auburn got a strong relay out of Stoffle, Henry Bethel, Sohib Khaled, and Makinen. Bethel turned in a strong 51.26, which should get the Tigers excited about his individual race tomorrow. Khaled split 45.74 on fly, and Makinen brought them home in 42.25. It was their middle 200 that made the difference in the race against Georgia, as they were able to overcome van Renen’s 44.80 lead-off and Branzell’s 41.85 anchor leg.

Just after setting a new personal best in the 50 free (19.53), van Renen’s 100 back here is notably just two-tenths off his personal best from 2023 NCAAs, showing just how well the Georgia training is working for him so far.

Team Scores Thru Day 1

Women

1. Florida — 292
2. Auburn — 285
3. Michigan — 202
4. Georgia — 198
5. Florida State — 130
6. Georgia Tech — 96

Men

1. Florida — 315
2. Georgia — 253
3. Auburn — 221
4. Florida State — 144
5. Michigan — 140
6. Georgia Tech — 114
7. Wisconsin (diving only) — 16