Another School Record Falls on Alabama Swimming and Diving’s Second Day at the Georgia Tech Invitational
11/17/2017 7:45:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
Freshman Leonie Kullmann broke her second school record in as many days, this time bettering the UA 200 freestyle mark
ATLANTA – It was another session with a school record and multiple wins for Alabama swimming and diving Friday night at the Georgia Tech Invitational being held at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga.
For the second time in as many days, freshman Leonie Kullmann broke an Alabama school record, this time in the 200 freestyle, where she posted a 1:45.88 to take second place in the meet and first in UA history. On Thursday, she broke the school 500 freestyle record.
Junior Robert Howard won the men's 200 freestyle with a career-best 1:33.75, dropping more than a second off his previous best, set earlier in the day. Howard is now the second fastest 200 freestyler in school history, passing Olympic gold medalist Jon Olsen.
Senior Luke Kaliszak won the 100 backstroke with a 45.85, while sophomore Zane Waddell took second with a career-best 46.01. After Friday night's swim, Waddell now ranks third all-time at Alabama in the 100 backstroke.
Alabama also went first and second in the 100 butterfly when Waddell lowered his all-time best for the second time in 12 hours with a 46.34. Junior Laurent Bams also bettered his career-best 100 butterfly mark twice on Friday, stopping the clock at 46.78 in finals.
Bams went on to take third in the 100 breaststroke with a 53.14 after posting a career-best 52.73 in prelims, which ranks him third all-time at Alabama.
After posting a career-best time in the prelims of the 400 individual medley, freshman Alina Faunce lowered her personal best again in finals, posting a 4:12.04 to take second. Sophomore Alexis Preski also lowered her career-best mark in the prelims of the 400 I.M., before clocking a new personal best of 4:12.73 in finals, taking third. Faunce and Preski are now ranked fourth and fifth all-time at UA, respectively.
Junior Justine Macfarlane also lowered her personal-best time twice on Friday, clocking a 59.82 in the 100 breaststroke final to take second place and rank third all-time at Alabama.
Junior Katie Kelsoe, Macfarlane, freshman Flora Molnar and senior Bailey Scott opened the second night of the meet by winning the 200 medley relay with a 1:37.55, more than a second ahead of second-place Auburn. The Tide women closed the night by winning the 800 freestyle relay, with Kullman, freshman Lydia Jackson, senior Mia Nonnenberg and freshman Julia Kukla combining to post a 7:12.05.
The Tide men opened day-two finals by winning their third relay of the weekend when Kaliszak, Bams, Waddell and Howard tagged the wall with a 1:24.60 to finish more than a second ahead of second-place FSU. The UA men then closed day two by winning their fourth relay of the meet, taking first in the 800 freestyle relay with Howard, senior Matthew Adams, junior Christian Arseneau and senior Christopher Reid stopping the clock at 6:25.19.
The Crimson Tide concludes action on Saturday.
For all the latest information on the Alabama swimming and diving teams, follow AlabamaSwimDive on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can be found @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
