AUBURN, Ala. – In Auburn’s first opportunity to show off in front of the home fans, the Tigers delivered strong performances up and down the roster as the Orange and Blue split with South Carolina on Saturday inside James E. Martin Aquatics Center. The men coasted to victory over the Gamecocks, 215-85, while the women fell just short, 152.5-147.5.
Relays have been a focal point under head coach Ryan Wochomurka and for good reason. It didn’t take long for the Tigers to jump on the scoreboard as both the men and women took care of the opening 200 medley relay.
Lora Komoroczy, Anastasia Makarova, Lawson Ficken and Lexie Mulvihill combined for a 1:37.23 to win the women’s. Meanwhile, Nate Stoffle, Henry Bethel, Logan Tirheimer and Kalle Makinen delivered a 1:24.63 and the win.
Auburn’s distance group also conjured up some solid swims on Saturday, particularly on the men’s side. After a second-place finish in the 1000 free, Mason Mathias would return in the 500, leading a 1-2 finish along with Michael Bonson.
Russian international Polina Nevmovenko was downright electric in the freestyle events. Her 1:45.99 was more than enough to the win 200 free. She would return in the 100 free to claim her second victory of the day with a 48.92.
Fresh off a win on Tuesday in the 200 free at Georgia Tech, Jon VanZandt found the right rhythm once more against South Carolina. His 1:35.31 led the first sweep of the day as teammates Bonson and Ryan Husband weren’t far behind.
Freshman Lora Komoroczy snagged the fifth individual win of her young career in the 100 back, sliding in at 51.58. In the 200, it was sophomore Maggie McGuire leading the Orange and Blue with a 1:56.27 and a third-place finish.
No one expects anything less than excellence from Nate Stoffle. The senior from Lilburn, Georgia was as solid as ever against the Gamecocks, winning both the 100 and 200 back with ease.
The Auburn women found their first sweep of the day in the 100 breast. Anastasia Makarova has been hovering over the minute mark since the turn of the calendar. On Saturday, her 1:00.07 led Zoey Zeller and Audrey Crawford.
On the men’s side, Henry Bethel touched in at 54.18 for third place. Jacques Rathle provided the fireworks in the 200, though. Finding a 1:57.23, Rathle hit the wall in front of everyone for his first collegiate win.
Carissa Rinard paced Auburn in the 200 fly, coming in third with a 1:57.75. Komoroczy narrowly missed a win in the 100 fly, slamming home in 52.04 ahead of Abby Gibbons and Morgan Carteaux. Komoroczy returned once more in the 200 IM, missing the top spots by just .04 seconds with a 1:59.41.
German native Danny Schmidt made easy work of the 200 fly with a stout 1:43.64. It was Sohib Khaled, however, who would make waves in the 100 fly, leading the field with a 46.84.
Schmidt returned to dominate the 200 IM with a 1:46.36. Warner Russ (1:48.29) and Jacques Rahthe (1:49.09) made to make it a sweep for the Tigers.
Much like Tuesday, Lexie Mulvihill and Kalle Makinen weren’t going to be dethroned in the sprints. Makinen fired a 19.50 in the 50 free and a 43.05 in the 100 to snag wins in both. Mulvihill’s 22.54 outpaced the field in the women’s 50.
Over in the diving well, no one had a better day than Talan Blackmon. The sophomore came up with career-highs in both the 1-meter (368.25) and 3-meter (392.03) to make sure a Tiger was sitting atop the podium. Whit Andrus followed in second in both events as well, earning extra points for the home side.
Kyleigh Kidd found a new career-high on the 3-meter in Atlanta on Tuesday. Saturday, the junior followed up with a solid 331.28 and second place as teammates Kayla Walsh, Abigail Farrar and Emily Hallifax followed in behind the Texas native. Freshman Chloe Brothers led the way on the 1-meter with a 295.28 with Hallifax, Farrar and Kidd trailing the rookie.
Freshman Audrey Crawford was solid once again in the 200 breast. Her 2:12.26 was good enough for second place ahead of fellow Tiger Zeller.
Capping off a strong afternoon of swimming, Nevmovenko, Klevanovich, Ficken and Mulvihill went to work in the 400 free relay, putting up one last win on the board with a 3:14.92.
Makinen, Husband, Tirheimer and VanZandt equaled the effort on the men’s side. The quartet combined for a 2:51.40, solidifying their victory over USC.