The men’s swim team had a rough Christmas training session and hit the pool decks against No. 5 University of Tenn. The men’s team pulled through in some of the key events at the winter meets.
“We were in the lead for a while. Tenn. is a really good team; they just beat the defending national champions…so just to stay with them for a while is a pretty good accomplishment,” said Noah Copeland, senior captain of the men’s swim team.
The dual meet featured some unusual and unique events, including three-person relays, a type of crescendo race and an underwater-style. The Jackets stopped the opponents’ momentum in the second event. The team of Mickey Malul, Jeremy Jackson and Andy Miller finished first in the 150-yd breaststroke.
Tech was also also successful in the next event. The team of Matt Tang, Johnny Hagaman and Way Joe Lee scored first in the 150-yd backstroke.
“I think all meets are unique bonding experiences, but maybe since it was just the guys’ team alone, it was just kind of a good bonding experience for that,” Copeland said.
The Jackets’ senior team of Mauricio Sousa, Copeland, Travis Wagner and Onur Uras finished second in a 500-yd crescendo relay.
Additionally, the team of Hagaman, Garrett Robberson, Lee and Copeland was competitive in the 200-yd freestyle underwater relay.
“Underwater relay is fun because…this time you had to go the full 25, get a breath off the wall and come back, which is always interesting and something fun that you get to do in practice every once in a while. Crescendo is interesting where you have one person do the 50, the 100, the 150 and then the 200. And, it’s always weird to have different people doing different races,” Copeland said.
“It’s always fun when you have people doing the short stuff and laugh and then have people doing the long stuff. Three-man relay is also just different, something fun and new,” Copeland said.
The entire GT Swim and Dive Team will come out on January 19th for an ACC showdown against Virginia Tech. The meets are played at the CRC Aquatic Center.
“Virginia Tech has a really good squad, so it should be interesting. We should be pretty competitive with them; it will be an interesting meet,” Copeland said.