- Saturday, October 12, 2024
- Morcom Aquatic Center, Tallahassee, Florida
- SCY (yards)
- Full Results
Team Scores
WOMEN
- Florida State (unranked) – 162
- Georgia Tech (unranked) – 138
MEN
- Georgia Tech (unranked) – 174.5
- Florida State (#19) – 125.5
After a false start in September, where a scheduled quad meet between Georgia Tech, Florida State, Illinois, and TCU was canceled, Georgia Tech traveled to Tallahassee for an (already planned) second leg on Saturday, which this time went off without a hitch.
The two teams split. The unranked Georgia Tech men got a big statement win over the Seminoles (ranked #18 by CSCAA and #19 in SwimSwam power rankings). The Florida State women won a close one on the strength of a school record from breaststroker Maddie Huggins. This was the Yellow Jackets’ first meet against a D1 opponent since the departure of Courtney Shealy-Hart for a non-coaching job late in the summer. It appears as though Georgia Tech is resigned to go through the season with diving coach John Ames as interim head coach for the 2024-2025 season and revisit in the offseason.
Women’s Meet Recap
FSU senior Maddie Huggins swam a 2:07.98 200 breast to beat Nina Kucheran’s team record of 2:08.57 from 2021. She also beat her own personal best of 2:08.73 from last year’s NCAA championships. Her swim this week would’ve placed her in the top 16 at 2024 NCAAs.
In addition to the 200 breast victory, Huggins won the 100 breast by 1.5 seconds in 59.51. She also placed 2nd in the 200 IM behind teammate Edith Jernstedt, who touched in a time of 1:59.71. Jernstedt took the 200 fly in 1:57.64, good enough for a B cut.
Georgia Tech’s Sophie Murphy was the third swimmer to double up on wins. Murphy took the 200 free in 1:46.59, edging out her teammates Zara Masud and Phoebe Wright for a 1-2-3 finish. Murphy later won the 100 freestyle in 49.64, the only swimmer to break 50 seconds.
Florida State Junior Kayleigh Clark claimed victory in the 1 meter- and 3 meter- diving events.
Overall, the Seminoles won nine out of sixteen events to win the meet. They are now 3-0 for the season.
Men’s Meet Recap
The Georgia Tech men upset #19-ranked Florida State on the road, beating the Seminoles 174.5-125.5.
Georgia Tech senior and Turkey national teamer Berke Saka was the meet’s lone triple winner. He touched first in the 100 and 200 backstrokes (47.07/1:43.89) as well as the 200 IM (1:44.65).
It was all Georgia Tech in the distance freestyle events. The Yellow Jackets went 1-2-3 in both the 1000 and the 500 freestyles. Mile program record holder Mert Kilavuz took the top spot in both, swimming 9:01.16 and 4:23.53 respectively. Freshman teammate Lukas Vetkoetter trailed closely behind for second in both races.
João Cabellero and Max Fowler rounded out the group of Yellow Jacket double winners. Caballero swept the breaststroke events (54.55/1:59.94), and Fowler took the 1m and 3m springboard.
For Florida State, it was fifth year Yordan Yanchev who led the fight against the Yellow Jackets. Yanchev, who was voted the team’s MVP last season, posted wins in the 100 and 200 yard freestyle events (43.89/1:35.93), the former a personal best.
This was the first meet of the season for the Seminole men, while Georgia Tech extended their season record to 2-0 after a previous win over D3 power Emory.
