Harnish Continues Georgia Mid-D Legacy, Alabama Claims Historic Sprint Wins

SEC – WOMEN SWIMMING & DIVING + MEN’S DIVING

• Wednesday, February 17 – Saturday, February 20, 2021
• W Swimming: Gabrielsen Natatorium – Athens, GA (Eastern Time Zone)
• W&M Diving: Mizzou Aquatics Center – Columbia, MO (Central Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Tennessee (1x) (2020 results)
• Live results
• Live Video – SEC Network
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheets (UPDATED)

With day two of the SEC Championships wrapped, Courtney Harnish has continued the legacy of great Georgia mid-distance freestylers.

With names like Allison Schmitt, Shannon Vreeland, Morgan Scroggy, Melanie Margalis, Hali Flickinger and many more, Georgia has been nothing short of a powerhouse for the 200 and 500 free events especially.

Harnish, tonight, won her third-consecutive SEC title in the 500 free.

Harnish has been steady for the Bulldogs during her collegiate career. Since 2006, Harnish is the only Georgia swimmer to win more than one 500 free in consecutive years, though, and the UGA women have taken the 500 free title 12 of the last 16 years.

The surprising swimmer to have not accomplished back-to-back titles in the event is Allison Schmitt, because she won 3 straight NCAA titles in the 500 free from 2009 through 2011. She won the 500 free at SECs in 2009 as a freshman, but in 2010 was upset by Wendy Trott (a mile specialist) by .12 seconds at SECs, and in 2011 she was upset by Shannon Vreeland at SECs.

Despite DQ’ing their 200 medley relay, Georgia has climbed back into second place in the team standings, just behind Florida.

Meanwhile, we saw a ‘would’ve won’ scenario, where Missouri senior Sarah Thompson posted the quickest time of the night out of the 50 free B-final. Her 21.57, nearly a best, would’ve taken the 50 by over a tenth; she slipped off the wall on her turn during prelims.

Alabama went 1-2 in the A-final, with junior Kalia Antoniou (21.69) climbing from t-13th last year to the win ahead of teammate and Indiana transfer Cora Dupre (21.82) as both went bests.

For Alabama, Antoniou was the first member of the Crimson Tide to win the 50 free since 1983. In the 200 free relay, she helped ‘Bama to another SEC title, which is their first also since 1983. Interim head coach Ozzie Quevedo has the Crimson Tide looking strong at third in the team standings so far.

Alabama and Mizzou were the only teams with more than two women breaking 22, slower than last year, which saw Auburn put together an SEC record relay (1:25.41) that would’ve won tonight’s final by over 1.5 seconds. Auburn had three 21’s and a 20.9 split on that relay.

This year, the Auburn relay touched second-to-last, gaining six seconds with a 1:31.80. While the 2020 Auburn team averaged 21.3s, the 2021 relay averaged 22.9s.

Check out all splits for the 200 free relay below, with lead-off legs demarcated:

200 FREE RELAY SPLITS

TEAM SCORES

Through day two finals (UPDATED TO INCLUDE DIVING)

1. Florida 448
2. Georgia 365
3. Alabama 357
4. Tennessee 348
5. Kentucky 343
6. Texas A&M 334
7. Arkansas 325
8. Mizzou 253
9. LSU 198
10. Auburn 188
11. South Carolina 145
12. Vanderbilt 94