Georgia Tech Invite Day 1 Finals: Michigan's Bellard, Diaconescu Swim 4:34.7, 4:35.0 500 Frees
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By Spencer Penland on SwimSwam
Georgia Tech Invite
- November 22-24
- Where: Georgia Tech Aquatic Center
- Atlanta, Georgia
- SCY (25 Yards)
- Prelims 10 am EST/ Finals 5:00 EST
- Participating Teams: Auburn, Emory, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Michigan
- Live Results: "2024 Georgia Tech Fall Invitational" on Meet Mobile
- Day 1 | Results | Prelims Recap | Finals Recap
TEAM STANDINGS THRU DAY 1
WOMEN
- Michigan – 445
- Auburn – 305
- Florida State – 300
- Georgia Tech – 282
- Emory – 7
MEN
- Michigan – 402
- Florida State – 370
- Auburn – 367
- Georgia Tech – 244
The first day of the Georgia Tech Invite is in the books, where the Michigan Wolverines have jumped out to the lead in team scoring for both men and women.
Michigan made a statement in the women’s 500 free, seeing sophomore Hannah Bellard win the race in 4:34.77, while freshman teammate Rebecca Diaconescu touched 2nd in 4:35.03. For Bellard, the swim marks a career best by nearly 4 seconds, blowing away her previous best of 4:38.44. Diaconescu, on the other hand, took more than 10 seconds off her career best, which was 4:46.19 coming into the day before swimming her 4:42.54 in prelims this morning. Both swimmers also picked up the NCAA ‘A’ cut of 4:35.76, automatically qualifying them for the NCAA Championships in March. It wasn’t just Bellard and Diaconescu that were bright spots for Michigan, however, as sophomore Madison Smith came in 3rd tonight with a 4:42.92, freshman Marian Ploeger took 5th in 4:46.14, and senior Kathryn Shanley was 6th in 4:46.42. Those performances mark career bests for Smith and Ploeger, while Shanley wasn’t far off her career best of 4:44.47.
The men’s 500 free saw a great battle between Auburn senior Mason Mathias and Michigan junior Eduardo Moraes. Mathias would end up getting his hand on the wall 1st, stopping the clock in 4:14.03, while Moraes was right behind with a 4:14.29 for 2nd. Mathias was a bit off his personal best of 4:10.82, which earned him a 6th-place finish at the NCAA Championships last season. For Moraes, his time of 4:14.29 was 0.66 seconds faster than the 4:14.95 he swam in prelims, which was a career best. He entered the day with a personal best of 4:17.38, which he set at the 2023 Big Ten Championships. As was the case in the women’s 500, Michigan had some promising performances from young swimmers in the men’s 500. Lorne Wigginton and Jon Jontvedt, both freshmen, went 4:17.51 and 4:18.95 respectively.
moving on to the women’s 200 IM, Michigan sophomore Stephanie Balduccini popped a new career best of 1:55.82, winning the race by nearly a second. That swim comes in nearly a second under Balduccini’s previous best of 1:56.60, which she swam at the Big Ten Championships back in February of this year. Florida State junior Maddy Huggins had a great swim as well, taking 2nd in 1:56.76. Huggins entered the meet with a career best of 1:58.75 from last November, marking an improvement of just shy of 2 seconds on the day.
Michigan once again had a standout event, this time in the men’s 200 IM. Senior Gal Groumi got his hand on the wall 1st, touching in 1:42.39, while junior Eitan Ben-Shitrit was 2nd in 1:42.71, and sophomore Colin Geer was 3rd with a 1:42.73. Those swims weren’t career bests for Groumi or Ben-Shitrit, however, Geer did chip 0.03 seconds off the 1:42.76 he swam in prelims, which was his personal best.
The Wolverines picked up yet another win, seeing Lindsay Flynn win the women’s 50 free in 22.04. That’s a very strong mid-season swim for Flynn, coming in just 0.14 seconds off her career best of 21.90.
Florida State then broke the Michigan win streak, as sophomoreSam Bork got the win in the men’s 50 free, swimming a 19.18. He touched out Michigan fifth year Bence Szabados, who swam a 19.24 for 2nd after clocking a 19.20 this morning in prelims. Bork had a great day in the event. He entered the meet with a career best of 19.55, then posted a 19.33 in prelims, before lowering that mark to 19.18 tonight, for a total drop of 0.37 seconds today. More positive news came for Michigan as junior Tyler Ray finished 3rd in a new career best of 19.32.
The women’s 200 free relay saw Michigan come out on top by a significant margin. Balduccini (22.05), Brady Kendall (21.93), Claire Newman (21.74), and Flynn (21.49) teamed up for a 1:27.21, finishing 1st by nearly 2 seconds. The Wolverines also saw a 21.82 split out of Ella Jo Piersma on the 2nd leg of their ‘B’ relay. Georgia Tech came in 2nd with a 1:28.96, setting a new program record.
Michigan also earned the win in the men’s 200 free relay, where Szabados (19.41), Geer (18.93), Ray (18.67), and Jack Wilkening (18.99) combined for a 1:16.00. Ray’s split was the fastest in the field.
While Michigan swept the 200 free relays on the night, they didn’t fare as well in the 400 medley relays. Florida State won the women’s 400 medley relay in a photo finish with the Wolverines. Alice Velden (52.18), Maddy Huggins (58.87), Edith Jernstedt (52.27), and Gloria Muzito (48.36) made up the FSU ‘A’ relay, finishing in 3:31.68, just ahead of Michigan, who was 3:31.75. Michigan was made up of Casey Chung (52.74), Devon Kitchel (1:00.40), Natalie Kan (51.62), and Flynn (46.99). They were notably without junior Letitia Sim, who is their top breaststroker. Sim swam prelims of the 200 IM, where she went 2:00.25, then DFS’d the race in finals, and didn’t compete on the relay. Given that Sim is a 58.34 100 breaststroker, she could have made a big difference for Michigan tonight.
The Seminoles then made it a sweep of the 400 medley relays, as their men’s 400 medley ‘A’ team won by nearly a second. Max Wilson (45.32), Tommaso Baravelli (51.81), Logan Robinson (45.39), and Yordan Yanchev (42.17) finished in 3:04.69.
On the boards, Georgia Tech’s Max Fowler won men’s 3-meter, finishing with a final score of 429.40. He won the event by just shy of 20 points. Earlier in the day, women’s 1-meter went, where FSU’s Samantha Vear won decisively with a score of 325.95.
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