ATLANTA – The Alabama swimming and diving teams posted a flurry of fast times, including two of the nation’s top marks, on day one of the Georgia Tech Invitational Thursday on the way to winning two events.
The Crimson Tide men led off the meet by winning the 200 freestyle relay when junior Zane Waddell, senior Laurent Bams, sophomore Sam DiSette and senior Robert Howard combined to clock a 1:17.10. Waddell opened with a race-best 19.25 leadoff split while Howard brought it home with an 18.67, giving him the only 50 split under 19 seconds in the meet.
Howard and Waddell would go on to take first and second in the 50 freestyle later in the night. Howard clocked a 19.23 for the win, with Waddell just behind at 19.27. The two men posted season-best times in the 50 during finals, giving them the top-two times in the nation this season.
Waddell, Bams, senior Knox Auerbach and Howard took second in the 400 medley relay with a 3:09.30 to finish out the night. Howard closed the first day of competition with a 41.73 anchor split, giving him the fastest 50 and 100 splits of the meet.
Bams clocked a 1:46.31 in the 200 individual medley to take fifth place, while senior Robby Costine and freshman Kevin Li both finaled off the 1-meter springboard. Costine took fifth place with 330.85 points, while Li was sixth after tallying 318.40 points.
On the women’s side of the meet, freshman Rhyan White, senior Justine Macfarlane, sophomore Flora Molnar and freshman Kalia Antoniou combined to take third in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:36.67. White’s lead-off leg stopped the clock at 53.28, making her the third fastest 100 backstroker Alabama history.
Earlier in the night, freshman distance ace Kensey McMahon dropped a 4:43.81 in the finals of 500 freestyle, taking fifth place and moving to third all-time at Alabama.
Freshman Kalia Antoniou was fourth in the 50 freestyle, just .01 out of third with a 22.54, matching her prelims time. Antoniou led off Alabama’s 200 freestyle relay to open the night with a career-best 22.42, which puts her fourth all-time at Alabama in the 50 freestyle.
The Crimson Tide returns to action Friday with the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke as well as the men’s 3-meter and the women’s 1-meter competitions.
