Swimming teams sweep Georgia Tech in ACC opener

The Clemson men's and women's swimming and diving teams swept Georgia Tech in the ACC opener for both teams Friday at McHugh Natatorium.

The men's team won 188-110, snapping a two-meet losing skid to the Yellow Jackets, while the women claimed their sixth straight victory over Tech, 192-108.

"It's always great to start off with a conference win," said Clemson coach Chris Ip. “Georgia Tech is always well-prepared, but the Tigers do something special when they're at home. With a crowd like this in this sport, they really enjoyed it. From the seniors down to the freshmen, everybody stepped up and worked really hard."

Among the top performances for the Tigers was Chris Dart's pool-record time of 49.47 seconds in the 100 backstroke. That swim broke a 25-year-old record previously held by Coy Cobb at 49.66 seconds.

Ali Polhill also won her race in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.74 seconds, and the Tigers completed the sweep of backstroke events as Tori Cervone won the women's 200 backstroke and the trio of Dart, Andrew Abeysinghe, and Walker Layne took the top three spots in that race on the men's side.

Elsewhere, Meg Anderson and Eric Bruck swept the 50 and 100 freestyle events. Anderson won with times of 23.32 and 51.18 seconds, respectively, while Bruck turned in times of 20.43 and 45.20 seconds. Bruck's 100 time was complemented by Seth Broster (46.91) and Chris Reinke (47.09), who completed the sweep for the Tigers. Polhill also finished third in the 50 free with a time of 24.85 seconds.

Clemson not only excelled in the sprints, as the distance freestyle events produced similar results. Sarah Smith and Alex Carr had quality swims in the 500 and 1000 free. Smith won those two events with times of 5:02.72 and 10:17.19, respectively. Carr's winning times were 4:38.78, with David Gordon only six-hundredths of a second behind him in second place, and 9:35.64, respectively.

Lucas Gerotto finished second in the 1000 free and third in the 500 on the men's side, and Kristen Redmond placed second in the 500 free for the women. Redmond also finished third in the 200 free, which was won by Tori Cervone (1:52.54). David Gordon finished just two-hundredths of a second out of first in the men's 200 free, and Abeysinghe came in third place in that race.

The Tigers had several key victories in the butterfly and breaststroke, as well. Broster (51.01) and Maddie Tarantolo (57.38) were the winners in the 100 fly. Harry Foster finished in third place for the men, less than four-tenths of a second behind Broster. Gerotto's time of 1:51.83 was the best in the pool in the men's 200 fly, while Meggie Mizelle and Rocky Raybon both finished within 0.13 seconds of the top spot in the women's 200 fly.

Mark Schindler followed a narrow defeat in the 100 breast with another second-place finish in the 200 breast. Anderson Sloan was the third-place finisher in the 100, while Kyle Shoemaker placed third in the 200. Hannah Collins paced the women's team in the breaststroke, winning the 200 with a time of 2:26.45 and finishing in third place in the 100. Elizabeth Savage followed closely behind Collins in the 200, and Tarantolo had a strong second-place swim in the 100.

The Tigers provided each of the top two scores in both the men's and women's 200 individual medley. Cervone (2:08.94) and Savage (2:10.62) paced the women's squad, while Dart (1:53.26) and Steven Gasparini (1:54.80) were the leaders for the men's team. Clemson continued to perform well in the relays, as the "A" teams won in the men's and women's 200 medley relay and the 400 free relay.

In diving, Cassie Self (310.57) and Brooke George (309.52) had a tight battle for first place in three-meter, while Elizabeth Tatum took third in the event. George also emerged victorious in one-meter with a score of 289.05, and Tatum came in third. Pat Chamberlain had third-place finishes in both one- and three-meter diving.

The Tigers will return to the pool on Friday, Nov. 19, as they travel to Atlanta for the three-day Georgia Tech Invitational.