Swimmers Win Alabama Classic
12/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama shattered another school record on the way to taking both the men and women’s team titles at the Alabama Classic, hosted by the Crimson Tide swim team in the Don Gambril Olympic Pool this weekend.
Alabama’s women took first with 1,029 points, followed by Florida, South Carolina and Auburn. On the men’s side, the Tide won with 979 points, followed again by the Gators and Gamecocks with Auburn taking fourth.
“We had a great weekend, breaking two school records and getting a bunch of NCAA cuts,” head coach Eric McIlquham said. “We are such a young team on both sides and a weekend like this really gives us a boost. Now we need to get back to work and keep hammering away.”
The highlight of the Classic’s final day came during the preliminary session. A day after shattering the school 200 freestyle relay, the Tide women dropped the school 400 freestyle relay mark by more than a second thereby wiping the two oldest relay records off the books in less than 24 hours.
The quartet of Agustina de Giovanni, Ida Persson, Vanessa Von der Heyde and Erin Sparks touched at 3:20.33, nearly eight seconds ahead of the field and more than a second ahead of the previous mark set in 2001. In addition to the record and the win, Alabama also grabbed another NCAA automatic cut. The former record of 3:21.37, was held by Anne Poleska, Candace Weiman, Anna Grant and Eleonora Markou.
Persson, a freshman, came back later in the day to win the 100-meter freestyle with a 57.56, earning an NCAA “B” cut in the process. De Giovanni, a sophomore, took second in the 200m breaststroke with a 2:37.08 with an NCAA “B” cut.
Sophomore Riley Boulden took second in the 200m breaststroke with a 2:18.12 while junior Eddie Ramirez was second in the 200m butterfly, touching at 2:08.19.
The Tide divers were on the road this weekend at the Ohio State Invitational. Sophomore Aaron Fleshner took eighth place off the platform, scoring 311.90 points. On the women’s side of the slate, sophomore Elizabeth Hughes took eighth with 221.10 points.
Exams are up next for the Tide followed by a holiday training camp.
Players Mentioned
