Tampa, UNC Rewrite School Record Books On Night 1 Of Gamecock Invite

2024 Gamecock Swimming Invitational

• November 19-24, 2024
• Colombia, SC
• 25 Yards (SCY)
• Participating Teams: South Carolina, UNC, UNC-Wilmington, Tampa, Vanderbilt, ECU, Carson-Newman, Georgia Southern, Milligan, North Florida
• Day 1 Finals Results

Jacob Hamlin Sets DII Men’s 500 Free Record

Tampa’s Jacob Hamlin put the Division II world on notice during the first night of the 2024 Gamecock Invitational hosted by South Carolina. The sophomore set a new DII record in the men’s 500 freestyle, swimming a 4:16.84 to finish second behind Canadian Olympian Patrick Hussey, who crushed a lifetime best of 4:15.35 to win and move into 2nd in UNC history.

Hamlin broke Dion Dreesen’s DII record of 4:17.09, which had stood since 2016. He cut .61 seconds off the record, bringing it under 4:17 for the first time. The swim is a huge personal best for Hamlin, who hadn’t been under 4:20 in his career before the invite. Hamlin finished eighth in the 500 free at the 2024 DII NCAA Championships, swimming a lifetime best 4:21.20. He cracked 4:20 for the first time in prelims with a 4:18.12 before breaking the Division record and tallying a 4.36-second drop on the day.

More Tampa School Records

To close out the individual events on the day, Tibor Tistan won the men’s 50 freestyle for the Spartans. He swam a school and pool record of 19.31, touching .12 seconds ahead of UNC’s PJ Foy (19.43). It’s the fastest time in Division II this season, improving on the 19.70 he swam at the tri-meet against Florida and Rollins, which the Spartans swept.

The Tampa men won the 2024 Division II NCAA title. They’ve come out swinging this season, adding these day one results to an upset dual meet win over a split Florida squad as they look towards defending their title in March. Through the first day of the Gamecock Invite, they are sitting second in the standings behind only UNC.

On the women’s side, Laura Hodgson broke the 500 freestyle school record twice in one day. In finals, Hodgson swam 4:49.27, improving on the mark she set in prelims by almost three seconds.

Then, the women’s 400 medley relay ended the session with two school records in one swim. Kim McCaffrey led off in a school record of 54.45. She, Alicia Soderlind (1:01.91), Sierra Gillan (54.92), and Tilde Morin (50.30) combined for a final time of 3:41.58 and another school record.

UNC Depth, Relays Shine As Tar Heels Down School Records

The UNC women and men lead the invite’s standings after dominant performances in finals. The Tar Heels went 1-2 in all four relays offered (the women’s and men’ 200 freestyle and 400 medley relays), earning NCAA ‘A’ cuts in each.

The two NCAA ‘A’ cuts are a significant step for the fast-rising UNC men. Last season, they only swam one ‘A’ cut (200 freestyle relay). That cut allowed them to also field their ‘B’ cut relays (800 freestyle, 400 medley) at NCAAs.

They earned their 200 freestyle relay ‘A’ cut with a school record to boot, as Walker Davis (19.87), Louis Dramm (18.76), Hussey (18.82), and Foy (18.90) swam a 1:16.35.

Davis and Hussey were back up after their individual races for the 400 medley relay, swimming backstroke and freestyle, respectively. Davis led off in 45.79, before Ben Delmar split 51.02 on breast and Boyd Poelke 44.79 on fly. Hussey anchored in 41.89, stopping the clock at 3:03.49.

Greer Pattison (22.35), Georgia Nel (21.67), Elizabeth Sowards 21.73), and Skyler Smith (21.88) swam a 1:27.63 to earn their ‘A’ cut and take first in the women’s 200 freestyle relay by 3.49 seconds.

The four teamed up again in the 400 medley relay with Pattison on backstroke (52.00), Smith on breaststroke (57.89), Sowards on fly (52.22) and Nel on free (47.54). They posted a 3:29.65, again earning an ‘A’ cut and dominating the race.

Pattison also won the women’s 50 freestyle, swimming 22.25 to touch .26 seconds ahead of South Carolina’s Dylan Scholes (22.51).

UNC wasn’t done breaking program records, though. Dramm broke his 200 IM school record and the South Carolina pool record, swimming a 1:41.84 to win the event. Butterfly specialist Seb Lunak used his opening 50 well, splitting 21.97 to open a lead on the field. He still led Dramm by six-hundredths at the haflway mark, but Dramm split 29.91 on breaststroke to over take him. A 24.26 closing split sealed the win for Dramm as he fired off the fastest free split in the ‘A’ final by .91 seconds.

This was the strongest event for UNC on the night—the Tar Heels earned the top six spots as JT Schmid (1:44.10), Colin Whelehan, (1:44.17), Lunak (1:44.27), Delmar (1:44.46), ad Carter Greudenstein (1:44.83) followed behind Dramm in a hotly contentested race for second-place. South Carolina’s Linus Kahl was the top non-Tar Heel finisher, taking 7th in a lifetime best 1:45.05.

UNC swept the 200 IM as before Dramm got on the blocks, Mary Macaulay, 20, won the women’s race in 1:56.55. South Carolina’s Greta Pelzek held the lead after the opening 50 yards but Macauley fired off a field-best 28.76 backstroke leg and never looked back, splitting 34.40/27.86 on the second half of her race.

Ellery Ottem won the host team’s lone event of the day, swimming 4:43.74 to win the women’s 500 freestyle in the second-fastest performance in Gamecock history. Meagan Harnish made her way onto the Gamecocks’ books in the 200 IM, swimming a 1:58.47 for third-place that moves her to eighth in school history.

Team Scores Thru Day 1

Women

1. UNC — 561
2. South Carolina — 425
3. Tampa — 194
4. UNC-Wilmington — 146
5. East Carolina — 125
6. Vanderbilt — 83
7. Georgia Southern — 55
8. North Florida — 24
9. Carson-Newman — 18

Men

1. UNC — 557
2. Tampa — 373
3. South Carolina — 326
4. UNC-Wilmington — 182
5. Milligan — 82
6. Carson-Newman — 79