Georgia Tech vs. South Carolina
- January 25, 2025
- Columbia, SC
- SCY (25 Yards)
- Scores:
- Women: South Carolina, 211.5 def. Georgia Tech, 86.5
- Men: Georgia Tech, 169 def. South Carolina, 131
- Full Results
Women’s Recap
The South Carolina women closed out the regular season strongly, beating Georgia Tech 211.5-86.5 to win their third straight dual meet. Senior Greta Pelzek highlighted the action for the Gamecocks, breaking her second pool record of the season. She took down the pool record in the 200 fly, her primary event, with a season-best 1:53.93. The swim chops .75 seconds from her season-best, a 1:54.68 she swam at South Carolina’s dual against Auburn earlier this month.
Pelzek also won the 100 butterfly with a 52.47 and contributed to the Gamecocks’ 200 medley relay win to begin the meet. Amy Riordan (24.93), Annaliese Streeter (27.88), Pelzek (23.18), and Dylan Scholes (22.14) swam 1:38.13 to win the race, edging out Georgia Tech’s ‘A’ relay of Vivien Rothwell (24.62), Sabyne Brisson (27.90), Zora Ripkova (23.89), and Nina Stanisavljevic (21.88) by .16 seconds. Georgia Tech’s ‘A’ relay clocked 1:38.29, and it was an exciting race to start the day’s action, as the top three teams were within .38 seconds of each other.
After winning the 200 medley relay, the Gamecocks kept rolling, winning the next three events. Freshman Emma Reiser swam a lifetime best of 9:48.67 to lead a podium sweep for South Carolina in the 1000 freestyle. Then, Ellery Ottem won the 200 freestyle in 1:46.02, just two-hundredths off the lifetime best she swam at the Gamecock Invitational this season.
Riordan owns the South Carolina program record in the 200 freestyle, 100 back, and 200 back. She focused on the backstroke events at this meet, winning South Carolina’s fourth-straight event win with a 52.90 in the 100 back. Later, she completed the backstroke sweep with a 1:54.81 in the 200.
Brisson finally broke through for the Yellowjackets. She earned the team’s first—and only—event of the day, the 100 breaststroke. Brisson was behind South Carolina’s Elizabeth Goodwin-Birnie at the turn but rallied with a 31.71 back half to win.
The Gamecocks got right back into the win column with Pelzek’s 200-fly pool record after Brisson’s win. Pelzek and Riordan weren’t the only double-event winners on the day, as Peyton Curry and Delaney Franklin each picked up a pair of event wins. Curry swept the sprint freestyles, swimming a personal best 22.46 in the 50 that moves her up to fourth in program history. Franklin has been on fire this month, swimming lifetime bests in the 200 breast and 200 IM. After winning the 200 breast (2:12.31), Franklin swam another best, this time to win the 400 IM (4:13.88).
Curry, Riordan, Ottem, and Scholes teamed up for the 400 freestyle relay, the final event of the day. The quartet won another close race against Georgia Tech’s ‘A’ relay, clocking 3:16.47 to the Yellowjackets’ 3:16.82.
Men’s Recap
The men’s side of the meet was littered with close races. Georgia Tech was on the right side of most of them, which powered the team’s 169-131 win over the Gamecocks. The nail-biting races began in the first event, as Berke Saka (21.72), Uros Zivanovic (23.87), Leandro Odorici (20.65), and Robin Yeboah (19.73) swam 1:25.97, winning by a tenth over South Carolina.
That win kickstarted a three-event run for the Georgia Tech men, similar to the South Carolina women’s run. Mert Kilavuz won the 1000 freestyle (9:01.61), while Vitor Sega led a 1-2 finish for the Yellowjackets in the 200 freestyle. Sega pressed the back half of the race, splitting 24.54/24.51 to touch in 1:36.39, .04 seconds ahead of teammate Ricky Balduccini and .33 seconds ahead of South Carolina’s Ryan Hufford.
Michael Laitarovsky got the Gamecocks into the win column in the 100 backstroke, holding off a 23.89 back-half from Saka and winning in 46.52. Saka took second in 46.63. Then, South Carolina went on a three-event win streak of its own. Linus Kahl took the 100 breaststroke in 53.50, hitting the wall a hundredth ahead of Zivanovic. Then, Tommy Eaton won the 200 butterfly (1:44.48).
Georgia Tech flexed in the sprint freestyle events. Odorici and Yeboah took the top two spots in the 50 freestyle, hitting 20.09 and 20.20. The Yellowjackets were even stronger in the 100 free, earning a podium sweep with Balduccini, Odorici, and Yeboah. Baldunccini swam 44.04 to touch first ahead of Odorici’s 44.11, and Yeboah’s 44.22.
After taking second in the 100 backstroke, Saka earned his first individual event win of the day in the 200 back. He held off a big close from South Carolina’s Kaden Smesko, swimming 1:43.01 to touch ahead of Smesko. Georgia Tech and South Carolina also split the butterfly events, as Balduccini swam 46.99 to win the 100 fly. However, South Carolina controlled the breaststrokes, as Kahl won the 200 in 1:56.41 to complete the sweep and lead a Gamecock 1-2 finish.
Connor Fry won the 500 freestyle (4:24.88) and Raymond Prosinski the 400 IM (3:51.41) for South Carolina. Odorici, Yeboah, Saka, and David Gapinski capped off the meet with a 2:55.02 to win the 400 freestyle relay.
Up Next
This was the last dual meet for both South Carolina and Georgia Tech. Next, South Carolina will send select swimmers to UVA’s Cavalier Invitational from Feb. 6-8. Georgia Tech will send a contingent to the Auburn First Chance Meet from Feb. 7-8.
