Florida State Men Defeat Georgia Tech During Final Relay; Georgia Tech Women Win by 20

Florida St. vs Georgia Tech

• October 19, 2023
• Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results PDF
• Scores
  • Men: FSU 151.5- Georgia Tech 148.5
  • Women: Georgia Tech 160- FSU 140

Men’s Highlights

The Florida State men narrowly came away with the win, only winning by three points. Highlighting the men’s side for Florida State was Yordan Yanchev who won both the 200 and 500 freestyles. Yanchev won the 200 free in a 1:34.61 and the 500 in a 4:17.52. The Bulgarian native is the school record holder in the 500 free as his best time stands at a 4:12.97.

Florida State narrowly swept the freestyle events as Peter Varjasi won the 50 (19.71) and 100 (43.37) freestyles. Varjasi returned for his fifth year which is huge for the team as he also is the school record holder in the 200 free.

Georgia Tech’s Kilavuz Mert prevented the freestyle sweep as he won the 1000 free in a 9:01.86.

Also highlighting the meet for Georgia Tech was Berke Saka who won the 200 back in a 1:43.08 and the 200 IM in a 1:45.45. Saka, an ACC ‘A’ finalist in both backstroke events this past season, was faster here by over four seconds in both events than he was at this meet a year ago.

The men’s side of the meet was an exciting one, coming down to the final relay. Heading into the relay, Georgia Tech held a narrow lead on Florida State. The Seminoles used their freestyle strength to win the 400 free relay by over two seconds. Despite not swimming the individual 100 free, Yanchev highlighted the relay anchoring in a 42.86. Although one could argue that Georgia Tech touched first at the wall in their ‘A’ relay, that relay was disqualified for an early takeoff. Results do not specify how early of a takeoff it was but it resulted in a DQ and thus a loss in the event (and meet).

Other event winners:

• 200 medley relay: Florida State 1:25.91
• 100 breast: Joao Caballero, GT 54.61
• 200 fly: Antonio Romero, GT 1:46.17
• 1 meter diving: Max Fowler, GT 330.90
• 200 breast: Tommaso Baravello, FSU 1:58.46
• 3 meter diving: Max Fowler, GT 385.70

Women’s Highlights

Despite both teams each winning eight events, the Georgia Tech women picked up key third, fourh, and fifth place finishes to win by 20.

Highlighting the day for Georgia Tech was Zora Ripkova who won the 200 free in a 1:47.24 and the 100 free in a 49.79. She also led off the team’s 400 free relay in a 50.03, helping secure the meet win for the team.

Allison Brown also picked up two wins for Georgia Tech as she won the 500 free in a 4:55.63 and the 1000 free in a 10:03.14. Like the men’s side, the winning team was all but one event short of sweeping the freestyle events as Florida State’s Gloria Muzito won the 50 free in a 22.85.

Picking up two individual wins for Florida State on the women’s side was Maddy Huggins who swept the breaststrokes winning the 100 in a 59.91 and the 200 in a 2:08.94. These were huge swims for the junior as they both were personal best times. It notably was her first time breaking the 1:00 mark in the 100 breast. Huggins qualified for NCAAs individually this past season, swimming the 100 breast, 200 breast, and 200 IM in prelims in Knoxville. It took a 59.19 in the 100 breast and a 2:08.30 in the 200 breast to make finals at 2023 NCAAs, so Huggins’s improvement this season could be a huge boost to the team who finished 32nd with 11 points.

Other event winners:

• 200 medley relay: Florida State, 1:38.15
• 100 back: Vivien Rothwell, GT 54.52
• 200 fly: McKenzie Campbell, GT 1:56.87
• 1 meter diving: Anna Bradescu, GT 262.40
• 200 back: Sophie Freeman, FSU 1:58.10
• 100 fly: Jenny Halden, FSU 53.22
• 3 meter diving: Isabel Gregersen, FSU 297.50
• 200 IM: Edith Jernstedt 1:59.06