Georgia Invitational, Night 2: Josh Liendo Blasts 43.42 100 Fly to Outduel Luca Urlando
The audience didn’t have to wait long for the signature event of the second night of the Georgia Invitational. Josh Liendo and Luca Urlando delivered.
Liendo won the battle of Olympians with a time of 43.42 in the men’s 100 butterfly, edging Urlando’s 43.87.
Georgia Invitational Men’s Scores
- Florida, 377
- Georgia, 321
- Florida State, 307
- LSU, 247
- Alabama, 191
- Georgia Tech, 165
Georgia Invitational Women’s Scores
- Florida, 396
- Georgia, 363
- LSU, 265
- Alabama, 256
- Florida State, 189
- Georgia Tech, 141
It was the highlight of the first full night of swimming action at Bauerle Pool at Gabrielsen Natatorium. The night ended with Florida leading the six-team competition in both the men’s and women’s races.
Women’s 100 butterfly
The impression made by Alabama’s 200 medley relay Tuesday night continued in Wednesday’s 100 fly. Gaby Van Brunt picked up the win in 51.01, followed by teammate Emily Jones in 51.53. Both are NCAA Cuts. Van Brunt moves into second place in program history, Jones into third. Van Brunt’s time trailed only the 50.06 seconds of Claire Curzan of Virginia in the nation entering this week.
Third place was Florida’s Grace Rabb in 52.07, a time that lands the freshman seventh in Gators history. Sofia Sartori of LSU also got under the NCAA cut in 52.42 (she was 52.25 in prelims).
Men’s 100 butterfly
Josh Liendo is the reigning NCAA champion in the men’s 100 fly. Luca Urlando finished third.
Expect them to be in that conversation again this year.
Liendo takes the first battle, going 43.42, a time that is just off the 43.06 he used in the NCAA final last year. Urlando was second in 43.87. His best time was 43.49 from NCAA last year.
Third was Michel Arkhangelskiy of Florida State in 44.43, followed by Ruard van Renen of Georgia in 44.86. The top four hit NCAA cuts.
Women’s 400 individual medley
Georgia’s Ieva Maluka set a best time of 4:10.13 in prelims, then obliterated it in prelims in 4:06.20. That’s the eighth-best time in Georgia history. Teammate Elizabeth Tilt was fourth in 4:12.17, under the NCAA standard.
Second place went to Florida’s Julie Brousseau in 4:10.37. Sydney Sanders of Alabama was third in an NCAA cut.
Men’s 400 individual medley
Georgia swept the 400 IMs with Drew Hitchcock leading a 1-2-3 result for the Bulldogs. Hitchcock built a big lead in breaststroke and got the win in 3:39.57, 1.4 seconds ahead of teammate Finn Hammer. Cale Martter finished third. All three are under the A cut.
Charlie Hutchison of Florida finished fourth in 3:41.94, Eric Brown following in 3:43.25 for fifth. Both are NCAA cuts. Mathias Christensen of Florida State got under the time standard in the morning before finishing sixth at night, his best time a 3:45.58.
Women’s 200 freestyle
Kennedi Dobson set a best time to dominate the 200 free in 1:42.19, within a second of Anna Moesch’s nation-leading time of 1:41.42 entering the week. Dobson moved into fourth place in Bulldogs history. She led teammate Marie Landreneau to the wall, her teammate finished second in 1:43.47.
Five swimmers hit the NCAA standard. Lainy Kruger of Florida finished third in 1:44.15. LSU’s Megan Barnes was fourth in 1:44.39. Shea Furse of Georgia finished fifth in 1:44.88.
Men’s 200 freestyle
Georgia’s Tomas Koski delivered another strong swim in the 200 free, holding of the charge of Florida State’s Logan Robinson by .09 seconds. Koski won in 1:31.68. He had entered the week with the best time in the nation at 1:32.19. The two swimmers had tied in prelims at 1:33.02.
Robinson took down the FSU school record set just the night before by Michel Arkhangelskiy at 1:32.71 off the front of the 800 free relay. Robinson went 1:31.77. (The record had been held since 2020 by Peter Varjasi.)
LSU’s Jere Hribar went 1:32.80 for third place. Gustav Olsson of Florida State (1:33.59) and Aiden Norman of Florida (1:33.80) also hit the NCAA standard. Ahmed Jaouadi of Florida was seventh.
Women’s 100 breaststroke
Anita Bottazzo entered the week with the top time in the nation, and she buzzed within .04 seconds of that in dominating Wednesday in 56.91. The Italian led a 1-2 for Florida, with Molly Mayne going 59.12 in finals (she was 58.88 in prelims). Grace Rabb, in an impressive double, added a second NCAA cut by going 59.70 for fourth.
This event featured eight NCAA cuts. Martina Bukvic of LSU finished third in 59.54, the third-best time in Tigers history. Jada Scott of Alabama went 59.80 for fifth. Georgia’s Elizabeth Nawrocki and Julia Mansson of Florida State both hit NCAA cuts, as did LSU’s Sabrina Lyn, who won the B final in 59.70.
Men’s 100 breaststroke
Elliot Woodburn set the pace in both prelims and semis, the Georgia swimming winning the title in 51.20. Second was Florida State’s Tommaso Baravelli in 51.68, and LSU’s Volodymyr Lisovets joined him under 52 seconds. Florida’s Aleksas Savickas booked an NCAA trip in 52.45, good for fourth place.
The fifth-fastest time of the night came from B final winner Nil Cadevall in 51.61, just .03 off the NCAA standard.
Women’s 200 free relay
Chalk up another strong performance for Alabama, the Crimson Tide going 1:26.90 to win by exactly one second over LSU. Bama’s quartet was Cadence Vincent, Emily Jones, Jada Scott and Charlotte Rosendale. Vincent led off in 21.79.
LSU was the only other NCAA qualifier in the field, with Michaela de Villiers, Avery Littlefield, Zoe Carlos-Broc and Anastasia Bako going 1:27.90.
Georgia finished third in 1:28.96, .18 off the provisional standard. Florida was fourth, despite Anita Bottazzo going 21.89 in the second leg.
Men’s 200 free relay
Florida blistered the field in the 200 free relay, the quartet of Devin Dilger, Josh Liendo, Scotty Buff and Alex Painter going 1:15.19. Liendo unleashed an 18.04 on the second leg.
LSU added an auto cut for NCAAs in 1:15.74, with Diggory Dillingham, Jere Hribar, Stepan Goncharov and Simon Meubry setting the school record. Hribar split 18.32. Georgia was third in 1:15.89 with Florida State fourth in 1:16.20. All four are NCAA cuts.
