Ramadan Posts 44.68 100 Fly, Atkinson 1:51.84 200 Back at Virginia Tech Invite

Virginia Tech Invite

• February 4th-6th, 2022
• Christiansburg, Virginia
• SCY Prelim/Final Invite
• Full results: Available on Meet Mobile “Virginia Tech Invitational 2022”

SEC program South Carolina joined ACC foes Virginia Tech and Duke in Christiansburg, Virginia over the weekend for a three day, prelim-final invite ahead of the ACC and SEC Championships, which both start next week. 

Men’s Meet Recap

The host Virginia Tech Hokies headlined the men’s events, with several of their top swimmers firing warning shots ahead of ACC’s next week and posting a very impressive 400 free relay on Sunday night. 

All American sophomore Youssef Ramadan was the star of the weekend, sending a pre-championship season warning shot to the rest of the NCAA in the 100 fly. The Cairo, Egypt native blasted a pair a sub-45 second swims, posting a 44.79 in the prelims before chopping another tenth off in finals with a 44.68, just off his nation-leading time on 44.64 from midseason. Ramadan’s lifetime best sits at 44.32 from last year’s ACC Championships, though he was disqualified in the prelims of the event at last year’s NCAA Championships. 

Ramadan also ventured to the longer version of the stroke for the first time ever in SCY, posting a 1:43.00 200 fly in Sunday’s finals. 

His butterfly groupmate Antani Iavanov, who hails from Bulgaria and made a pair of butterfly A finals at last year’s NCAA Championships, also posted a pair of impressive swims. Iavanov finished behind Ramadan in the 100, touching in a season-best 45.48 and then posted a massive 1:40.84 in the 200 fly, another season best. His 100 fly now ranks him 8th in the country, while his 200 fly is now fourth in the NCAA. 

The two also paired with teammates Carles Coll Marti and Luis Dominguez Calonge to post a very impressive 2:49.66 in the 400 free relay, a full second faster than Tech’s midseason time and an NCAA A cut. That now slides the Hokies into 8th in the NCAA this year and puts them squarely in the conversation for an A final finish in the all-important relays. 

Other men’s highlights:

• Virginia Tech’s Samuel Tornqvist put up a pair of massive new season bests in the 100 and 200 back. He posted a 45.89 in the 100 back on Saturday, now putting him 13th in the NCAA. He swam the 200 on Sunday putting up an impressive 1:40.66, puting him 6th in the NCAA this season and likely secures an NCAA invite
• Duke senior Colson Zucker posted a pair of impressive breaststroke swims. In the 100, Zucker swam to a season best 54.55 in the prelims, then hit a new lifetime best in the 200 of 1:58.87. 
• Zucker’s Duke classmate Matthew Whelan had a pair of strong swims in both butterflies, posting 46.88 in the 100 and 1:44.68 in the 200. That 200 fly ranks him 47th in the NCAA this season.
• South Carolina only entered a pair of male swimmers in the meet in freshman Coleman McCreery and sophomore Jackson Davis. McCreery posted season-bests in both breaststroke races, swimming a 56.57 in the 100 and 2:01.96 in the 200. Davis swam to three lifetime bests for the Gamecocks, posting a 20.39 in the 50 free, 49.55 in the 100 back and 1:47.50 in the 200 back.

Women’s Meet Recap

Similar to the men’s meet, the Hokie women also provided plenty of highlights ahead of the ACC meet next weekend. 

All American backstroker Emma Atkinson flashed some speed in her signature event, the 200 back. The Brookhaven, Pennsylvania native blasted a new season best of 1:51.84, just tenths off of her time from the ACC Championships last season. Atkinson also swam a prelim-only 100 back, touching first in 53.30, but ultimately scratched the final. Last season, Atkinson was fourth in the 200 back and 11th in the 100 back at NCAAs, and currently sits 8th in the nation in the 200 and 26th in the 100. 

Her sophomore teammate Chase Travis swept both the 500 and 1650 free races over the weekend, swimming just off of her season bests. In the 500, the Newark, Delaware native touched first in 4:45.69, off of her season best of 4:43.71. She also took home the win in the mile with a swift 16:24.45, off of her season best of 16:09.60, which currently sits 15th in the NCAA. 

Impressing for South Carolina was sophomore breaststroker Sammie Ai, who won both the 100 and 200 breast over the weekend. Ai started her meet with a 1:01.62 in the 100 breast, her first-ever time under the 1:02 barrier. She later returned to win the 200 as well, in a season-best 2:14.32.

Other women’s highlights:

• Duke sophomore Aleyna Ozkan posted a new lifetime best in the prelims of the 100 fly with a 53.47 to take the top qualifying spot, but was disqualified in the final. 
• South Carolina’s Riley Parker blasted a new lifetime best in the prelims of the 200 free with a 1:46.69. Her previous best of 1:47.24 came in high school while swimming for her club, Team Greenville.