Alabama
SEC Championships
Alabama Swimming and Diving Opens SEC Championships with School Record Relay
2/18/2020 8:03:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
The Crimson Tide lowered the school mark in the women's 800 freestyle relay for the second time this season, going 7:08.26
AUBURN, Ala. –  Alabama's Zane Waddell came into this week's Southeastern Conference Championships, being held in Auburn, Ala., as the fastest 50 backstroker in the nation and the only swimmer under 21 seconds in the event during the regular season. In his first race of the week, the senior led off Alabama's 200 medley relay with a blistering 20.33, putting him more than a half second ahead of his nearest competitor.
While a bad final turn dropped the quartet of Waddell, freshman Liam Bell, junior Tyler Sesvold and sophomore Jonathan Berneburg into fourth place with a 1:24.65, the speed on that relay prior to the final turn bodes well for the rest of the week.
Sophomore Rhyan White, who was ranked fifth in the 50 backstroke nationally coming into these championships, posted a career-best 23.81, shaving more than a tenth of her previous best, to lead off the women's 200 medley relay. White, juniors Kaila Wong and Flora Molnar and senior Allie Surrency took fifth place with a time of 1:36.71, just two-tenths of a second off the school record set in November.
Later in the session, the Tide bettered its school record in the women's 800 freestyle relay for the second time this season when sophomore Morgan Scott, senior Alexis Preski, sophomore Kensey McMahon and junior Lydia Jackson, shaved nearly half a second off the standard set in November with a 7:08.26, good for seventh place on the night.
Head Coach Coley Stickels Said
"This wasn't the start we wanted, so now we have to regroup, come back tomorrow and get to work. Despite a few performances that weren't where we thought they'd be, there were some great swims out there tonight. Zane Waddell showed amazing speed leading off that medley relay and Rhyan White continues to have a breakout season. Cam Auerbach had a great 200 to open our men's 800 freestyle relay, shaving nearly three seconds off his best time. And anytime you can get a school record like we did in the women's 800 relay tonight, you take it, but we're not at all satisfied, and want to keep moving forward."
More From Day One
- Freshman Cam Auerbach, Berneburg, sophomore Nicholas Perera and freshman Matt Menke combined to post a 6:20.92 in the men's 800 freestyle relay, good for ninth place, with a time that is less than a second off the school record.
- Auerbach led off the relay with a career-best 1:34.34 in the 200 freestyle, which ranks him fifth all-time at UA.
- Scott led off the women's 800 freestyle relay with a season-best 1:46.29 in the 200 freestyle, which ranks her third all-time at Alabama.
- The divers got things started for the Tide with all four scoring in their respective opening events, 1-meter springboard for the women and the 3-meter springboard for the men.
- Freshman Tanesha Lucoe tallied 243.15 points to take 19th, while sophomore Natalie Donkle scored 239.60 to take 23rd off the women's 1-meter.
- For the men, sophomores Kevin Li and Hunter Jaynes took 17th and 20th, respectively. Li totaled 297.55 points, while Jaynes tallied 278.10.
Coming Up
- Wednesday marks the first full day of events, with prelims getting underway at 9:30 a.m., and finals starting at 5:30 p.m.
- The Crimson Tide will compete in the men's and women's 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle and 200 freestyle relays as well as the men's 1-meter springboard on the championships' second day.
- Waddell comes into the Wednesday as the No. 1 seed in the 50 freestyle after posting a career-best 19.15 in the fall.
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Players Mentioned
