Georgia swim and dive earns first gold medal of 2025 SEC championships
Kira Doppel
Feb 22, 2025
Georgia redshirt senior Luca Urlando was first to the wall in the men's 200 yard butterfly, followed by graduate Jake Magahey in third. This was the first gold medal for Georgia’s swim and dive team at the 2025 SEC Championships.
Georgia men's head coach Neil Versfeld handed Urlando and Magahey their medals as Georgia's fight song ‘Glory Glory’ echoed throughout Gabrielsen Natatorium.
Urlando took home gold with a time of 1:37.18, just one hundredth of a second off from his American record of 1:37.17. However, it was all smiles for Urlando after he set an SEC meet and pool record. He now has five SEC championship titles and holds the two fastest times in American history for the 200 yard butterfly.
Magahey took home his fourth bronze medal of the week and earned a personal-best A-cut of 1:39.91. This is the third fastest time in program history.
In the women's 200 yard butterfly, junior Ieva Maluka won the consolation final with a personal-best B-cut of 1:54.98. Senior Mia Abruzzo and sophomore Elizabeth Tilt finished 29th and 31st, respectively.
The women's 400 yard medley relay finished eighth with a time of 3:33.00. Sophomore Helena Jones finished the race with a season-best 47.30 freestyle split.
The men’s 400 yard medley relay would have set a new school record with a time of 3:02.87 however they were disqualified due to an early take off on the second exchange.
The Georgia men's and women's teams both remain in fourth place with scores of 642.5 and 538.5, respectively.
The final day of the 2025 SEC swim and dive championships will be on Saturday with the 200 yard backstroke, 100 yard freestyle, 200 yard breaststroke, men’s platform diving, 1,650 yard freestyle and 400 yard freestyle relay. Finals for these events begin at 5 p.m at the Bauerle Pool at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens.
