2025 Bulldog Grand Slam
- May 16-18, 2025
- UGA Ramsey Center – Athens, Georgia
- LCM (50 meters)
- Full Results: “2025 Bulldog Grand Slam” on MeetMobile
Tomas Koski continued to impress as he makes his transition from a strong NCAA sophomore season to the long-course meters season. After taking two wins on the first day of the 2025 Bulldog Grand Slam and nicking a hundredth off his 100 freestyle personal best, Koski wrapped up the meet by winning the 200 freestyle.
Koski, 20, popped a 1:47.22 to win the race, splitting 51.26/55.96 on route to victory. He came within a second of his Finnish record of 1:46.43, a time he has swum twice, most recently at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim earlier this month. It was Koski’s final swim of the meet; he swam 49.58 in the 100 freestyle and 3:52.26 in the 400 freestyle to win on the first day of the meet.
Alabama sprinter Cadence Vincent also carried her momentum from Day 1 into the final two days of the meet. Vincent dropped over a second in the 100 freestyle on the first day of the meet and tore to a similarly impressive drop for the 50 freestyle win.
Vincent clocked 24.80 for her second lifetime best of the day. This meet was her first time breaking the 25 second barrier. In prelims, she dipped under the benchmark with a 24.93, swimming her first long-course 50 freestyle personal best since November 2023. She clipped more time off her best in finals with the 24.80, which marked a .54 second improvement over the day.
The Alabama women had a strong sprint group during the 2024-25 season, and it wasn’t just Vincent that made the trip to Athens. Her Crimson Tide teammate Jada Scott finished fourth with a 25.94, rattling her lifetime best of 25.86. Scott returned from an injury last fall; this meet marked her first time swimming a long-course 50 freestyle since the 2023 Tennessee Invitational, where she swam that lifetime best. 16-year-old Sarah Paisley Owen wasn’t far from her lifetime best of 25.63 either, swimming 25.66 for second.
Other notable results from the final two days of the meet include Alabama’s Tommy Hagar sweep of the backstroke events. He won the 200 backstroke first and was the only man in the field to break 2:00, clocking 1:59.25 to beat Sam Powe (2:01.74) and Baylor Stanton (2:02.65), the latter of whom took on the 200 backstroke/400 IM double on Day 2. Stanton added a third-place finish in the 400 IM, swimming 4:28.67 to finish behind Mason Laur (4:18.76) and 200 IM winner Drew Hitchcock (4:25.17)
This was Hagar’s first long-course meet of the season. The next day, he dropped a lifetime best in the 100 backstroke, breaking 55 seconds for the first time with a 54.90. Hagar neared that time barrier last season with a 55.04; this swim was a .14 second improvement for him as he beat Georgia’s Ruard Van Renen (55.16). Van Renen won the 100 butterfly in 53.57, not far from the 53.28 lifetime best he swam in April at the South Africa National Aquatic Championship.
Kamal Muhammad had the fastest 100 butterfly of the day, swimming a 53.53 in prelims befor scratching finals. Muhammad, who recently announced his transfer from Virginia to Tennessee, won the 50 freestyle on the final night of the meet with a 22.80. It’s been a busy spring of racing from him; he swam his lifetime best 22.33 at the Sacramento Pro Swim.
Finally, Florida’s Mabel Zavaros won the women’s 400 IM with a 4:42.95. Zavaros has dealt with an injury recovery of her own over the past couple of seasons. Last July, she swam a lifetime best 4:39.63 in the 400 IM, taking three-tenths off her best from the previous season. With Canadian Trials shifting so far in the calendar over the past two years it’s difficult to compare to where she has been at in this event at this point in her season, but the time is a solid in-season effort.
I assume Jake Magahey retired? Do they have any post grads?