Georgia men’s and women’s swim and dive team finish fourth in 2025 SEC Championships
Kira Doppel
Feb 23, 2025
The Georgia men’s and women’s swim and dive teams finished fourth place in the 2025 Swim and Dive SEC Championships, with scores of 796.5 and 689.5, respectively. The group earned a silver medal on the final day of competition as well.
Abby McCulloh, the defending SEC champion in the women’s 1,650y freestyle, glided to the wall and took home a silver medal with a time of 15:45.77. This was a season-best A-cut for McCulloh and her third time on the podium in this event.
The 400y freestyle relay was the last event in the SEC Championships, where the men finished fifth with a season-best A-cut of 2:48.30. Redshirt senior Luca Urlando, sophomore Tomas Koski, graduate Jake Magahey and senior Reese Branzell set the second fastest time in program history.
“That last relay… It was absolutely electric. The guys were fired up for it, and we knew it was going to come down to it because we had a four-point lead going into it with Texas A&M after their exceptional diving and breaststroke. We made a final push for it at the end, but we got our hand on the wall first. It was awesome,” men’s swim & dive head coach Neil Versfeld said.
In the mens 200 yard backstroke, junior Ruard van Renen, just missed the podium and finished fourth with a season-best time of 1:39.92.
This was the men’s team's fifth consecutive top four SEC finish.
The women’s 400 yard freestyle relay — consisting of Sophomore Helena Jones, freshman Katie Belle Sikes, graduate Sloane Reinstein and junior Ieva Maluka — finished sixth with an A-cut time of 3:13.37.
“It was an exclamation point on an incredible week. I’m really proud of the girls and their effort today,” women’s swim & dive dead coach Stefanie Williams Moreno said.
This was the first time since 2022 the Georgia women’s team finished in the top four.
“What a way to end the week. It’s been an exceptional meet across the board, and I’m so proud,” Versfeld said.
The Georgia swim and dive teams now turn their attention to the Bulldog Invitational Last Chance Meet on March 1 and 2.
