UNC’s Ellie Vannote Swims 51.09 100 Fly at Bulldog Last Chance;

2024 Georgia Bulldogs Last Chance Meet

• March 2-3, 2024
• Gabrielsen Natatorium, Athens, Georgia
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Day 1 Prelims Results
• Day 2 Prelims Results

The Georgia Bulldog-hosted two day Last Chance Invitational, annually one of the most-fruitful post-conference championship meets in the country, kicked off on Saturday with a lot of best times that are due to shake up the NCAA Championship qualifying chase.

While it’s unlikely to end in an NCAA invite, one of the big stories of the day was a 19.47 in the 50 free from Miles Simon of Georgia. A 5th-year transfer from Howard University, Simon now ranks 4th all-time in program history for a Georgia men’s team that has not been known historically for its sprinters.

That is .05 faster than he was at SECs, and .05 behind his best time from Howard. That’s significant because he will be a key relay leg for the Bulldogs at NCAAs. He had a very fast split at SECs, swimming 18.94 on the 200 free relay.

By School

Georgia

• Georgia 5th year Zach Hils cashed in on his COVID-year choice, earning a fourth-straight trip to the NCAA Championships. He swam 1:42.58 in prelims of the 200 IM (1:43.00 in finals), which knocked .11 seconds off his runner-up time from the SEC Championships. 1:43.14 was invited last year, and that small drop moved him up one slot in the national rankings from 22nd to 21st. If Ilya Kharun from Arizona State picks a different event for NCAAs (he swam the 50 free mid-season), that opens up another slot. With around 30 usually taken to NCAAs, he’s in good shape.
• Georgia 5th year Zoie Hartman is already easily qualified for NCAAs, but took advantage of the chance to swim a 1:54.39 in the 200 back. She had never been under 1:57 in that event.

North Carolina

• In prelims, Ellie Vannote swam 51.09 in the 100 fly. That’s half-a-second better than her lifetime best which came in a dual meet against Duke in January 2023. It is also almost a full-second better than her 52.08 season-best from ACCs and is about a lock for NCAAs – 52.20 was invited last year, and she now ranks 11th in the NCAA this season. She’s usually more of a 200 butterflier, but she hasn’t been close to her best in that event this season.
• After dominating the MPSF as a freshman, Canadian sophomore transfer Katja Pavicevic stalled out a little bit in the 200 breast at UNC (though her 100 progressed nicely). That was until Saturday, where she swam 2:07.82 in the 200 breast. That’s a career best by more than a second and a UNC best by almost two-and-a-half for her. It shatters the school record of 2:09.60 that was set by Laura Moriarty in 2010 and ranks her 16th in the country this season – a lock for an NCAA invite.
• Louis Dramm swam 3:43.31 in the 400 IM. While that wouldn’t have been invited last year, it moves him into 29th place this year which gives him an outside chance at a qualification.
• Ben Delmar swam 1:53.08 in a 200 breaststroke time trial. That shatters his personal best of 1:54.34 that earned him 8th at ACCs last week and moves him up to 20th in the NCAA this season. It took 1:52.94 to qualify last year, but that cut may get a titch slower this season.
• Liz Sowards swam 52.42 in a 100 back time trial. That’s her best time by .46 seconds, improving what she did at ACCs last week. That ranks her just 48th in the NCAA this season in an event that will definitely have a faster cut-line than the 52.36 from last season.
• The UNC women have an “A” cut of 1:35.15 in the 200 medley relay and “B” cuts in the other four relays, meaning they can swim them all at NCAAs. They still went for a faster time in the 200 free relay and were successful, improving from 1:29.21 to 1:29.02, including a 22.25 leadoff from Delaney Carlton.
• Carlton also swam a season-best of 22.20 in the individual event final. That’s not quite as fast as the 22.07 she swam as a member of the UNC-Asheville team last season, but it does move her up to 47th in the NCAA this season.

NC State

• After finishing 14th at ACCs as part of NC State’s team title effort, freshman Jerry Fox swam 19.12 in the 50 free prelims on Saturday. That makes him the 5th-best freshman in the NCAA so far this season and ties him for 25th in the country, which is squarely on the bubble for an NCAA invite. Her teammate Laura Goettler swam 4:11.43 in the same race, which moves her to 43rd in the NCAA – likely the wrong side of the bubble.

South Carolina

• Sophomore Meaghan Harnish swam 4:08.97 in a 400 IM time trial, which is 4.6 seconds better than she was at SECs a week earlier. That jumps her to 22nd in the NCAA this season, and with women’s qualifying all-but-finished should easily get her into her first NCAA Championship meet.

Hawaii

• Hawaii’s Karol Ostrowski, a former NCAA D2 Champion at Drury, is chasing an individual NCAA invite this weekend. He swam 42.80 in the 100 free, which is slower than his season-best of 42.66 from the MPSF Championships. That’s on the wrong side of the bubble for him – which is crucial for Hawaii after they swam an “A” cut of 1:16.75 in the 200 free relay. They need an individual qualifier to be eligible to swim their 400 free relay “B” standard.

George Washington University

• George Washington’s Djurdje Matic, who in 2021 got some mainstream press for breaking Michael Phelps’ 100 fly pool record at the US Naval Academy, swam 54.10 in prelims of that event on Saturday. That’s .04 seconds faster than he was at the A-10 Championships, and half-a-second better than his previous lifetime best of 45.68 – from this Last Chance meet last year. That drop didn’t improve his national standing – he ranks 21st this year, which should send him to his first NCAA Championship meet since 2022.
• Ava DeAngelis swam 59.97 a week after going 59.75 in the 100 breaststroke to win the A-10 Championship last week.

Miami

• The Miami women swam 1:36.68 in the 200 medley relay, an NCAA “B” standard and another new School Record in this event.