2024 Tennessee Invite
An action-packed Thursday is upon us on the Tennessee Invite with 5 occasions on the schedule, with the 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 again and 100 breast on the docket.
The 100 fly will function superstars Gretchen Walsh and Jordan Crooks, who have been on fireplace yesterday within the 50 free.
After not racing individually on Wednesday (exterior of a time trial), Claire Curzan will likely be pulling double obligation this morning within the girls’s 100 fly and 100 again, with Tennessee’s Josephine Fuller one other title to look at within the 100 again after she received the 200 IM final evening.
Crooks may also be doing the double, getting into within the 100 again with an entry time of 48.00—he owns a PB of 45.55 from this meet two years in the past. The highest seed is his teammate Harrison Lierz, who ripped a greatest time of 44.98 final 12 months at SECs.
Different names to look at for embody U.S. Olympian Emma Weber within the girls’s 100 breast, Canadian Olympian Ella Jansen within the girls’s 400 IM, plus final evening’s 200 IM runner-up Leah Hayes. On the boys’s aspect, Virginia’s Noah Nichols headlines the 100 breast and the 200 free is shaping as much as be anybody’s race with Crooks’ absence.
TEAM SCORES ENTERING DAY 3
Ladies
- Tennessee 105, Kentucky 23
- Virginia 68, Tennessee 58
- Virginia 87, Kentucky 37
Males
- Tennessee 98, Kentucky 29
- Tennessee 90, Virginia 33
- Virginia 76, Kentucky 49
Day 3 Prelims Warmth Sheet
WOMEN’S 100 FLY – PRELIMS
- NCAA Document: 47.42, Gretchen Walsh (UVA) – 2024
- 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 50.52
- 2024 NCAA Cutline: 51.88
- Gretchen Walsh (UVA), 48.26
- Claire Curzan (UVA), 50.35
- Josephine Fuller (TENN), 51.51
- Sara Stotler (TENN), 52.50
- Maggie Schalow (UVA), 52.84
- Carly Novelline (UVA), 52.97
- Bailey Hartman (UVA), 53.03
- Emily Brown (TENN), 53.12
Gretchen Walsh wasted no time in getting issues rocking and rolling on Day 3 in Knoxville, hovering to one of many quickest swims of all-time within the girls’s 100 fly.
Walsh produced a time of 48.26, beneath her nation-leading 48.43 clocking set towards UNC to tie for the Third-fastest swim in historical past, solely trailing her NCAA, U.S. Open and American Document of 47.42 set final season at NCAAs and the 48.25 she clocked on the 2024 ACCs. She additionally went 48.26 in final 12 months’s NCAA prelims.
Walsh’s Splits: 22.18/26.08
All-Time Performances, Ladies’s 100 Fly (SCY)
- Gretchen Walsh (UVA), 47.42 – 2024 NCAAs
- Gretchen Walsh (UVA), 47.42 – 2024 ACCs
- Gretchen Walsh (UVA) / Gretchen Walsh (UVA), 48.26 – 2024 NCAAs / 2024 Tennessee Invite
- –
- Gretchen Walsh (UVA), 48.43 – 2024 UVA vs UNC
Virginia claimed 5 of the highest eight spots, with fellow Cavalier Claire Curzan posting the #2 time of the morning in 50.35, rating her Third within the NCAA this season in her first time swimming the occasion (in yards—she did it SCM towards Florida).
Curzan’s greatest time stands at 49.24 set again in February 2022 previous to her collegiate profession.
Tennesse’s Josephine Fuller dropped practically three seconds from her greatest time in 51.51, having raced this occasion solely a handful of instances in school. Her teammate Sara Stotler superior 4th in 52.50, marking a brand new season-best after having been 52.88 final month towards Louisville.
MEN’S 100 FLY – PRELIMS
- NCAA Document: 42.80, Caeleb Dressel (FLOR) – 2018
- 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 44.51
- 2024 NCAA Cutline: 45.37
- Jordan Crooks (TENN), 44.27
- Spencer Nicholas (UVA), 45.07
- Gui Caribe (TENN), 45.47
- Martin Espernberger (TENN) / Hayden Bellotti (UVA), 45.94
- –
- Bjoern Kammann (TENN), 46.12
- Micah Chambers (TENN), 46.54
- Aidan Hill (TENN), 47.09
Tennessee senior Jordan Crooks fired off a near-best time of 44.27 within the prelims of the boys’s 100 fly, claiming the highest spot heading into the ultimate as the one swimmer sub-45 this morning.
Crooks, who break up 20.51/23.76, was simply over two-tenths shy of his PB of 44.04, set on the 2023 SECs, and strikes into Third within the NCAA this season. His earlier season-best stood at 45.76 set towards Louisville.
Virginia freshman Spencer Nicholas set a brand new lifetime greatest to advance in 2nd, clocking 45.07 to chip .01 off his earlier better of 45.08 set in February whereas he was nonetheless in highschool. Nicholas strikes into 4th within the NCAA this season.
Tennessee’s Gui Caribe (45.47), Martin Espernberger (45.94) and UVA’s Hayden Bellotti (45.94) all set private greatest instances to qualify within the prime 5 spots, with Espernberger and Bellotti each breaking 46 seconds for the primary time.
Caribe had beforehand been 45.87 on the 2024 SECs, whereas Espernberger’s outdated PB sat at 46.81 from the identical meet. Bellotti’s swim comes three weeks after he set a greatest time of 46.23 throughout the Cavaliers’ twin with UNC.
WOMEN’S 400 IM – PRELIMS
- NCAA Document: 3:54.60, Ella Eastin (STAN) – 2018
- 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 4:03.62
- 2024 NCAA Cutline: 4:10.74
- Leah Hayes (UVA), 4:03.48
- Ella Jansen (TENN), 4:09.30
- Ella Bathurst (UVA), 4:10.68
- Emma Redman (UVA), 4:15.80
- Kate McCarville (TENN), 4:15.95
- Fernanda De Goeij (UKY), 4:15.99
- Sienna Karp (UVA), 4:16.19
- Emily Brown (TENN), 4:16.53
Leah Hayes placed on a clinic within the heats of the ladies’s 400 IM, because the Virginia freshman put up the quickest time within the nation by a large margin.
Hayes, 18, clocked in with a time of 4:03.48, overtaking Texas’ Campbell Stoll (4:07.22) for the quickest time within the NCAA by practically 4 seconds. Hayes additionally practically bought beneath her greatest time, which stands at 4:03.05 from February 2023, and in addition earned an NCAA ‘A’ lower, getting beneath the 4:03.62 normal.
- Hayes’ 100 Splits: 56.70/1:02.72/1:07.58/56.48
Tennessee first-year Ella Jansen cruised to the highest spot within the first warmth, touching in 4:09.30 in what was her first time racing the occasion in yards. For the second, the swim ranks her sixth within the NCAA this season.
Virginia senior Ella Bathurst narrowly missed hitting her greatest time within the third and closing warmth, clocking 4:10.68 to place her beneath what it took to earn an NCAA invite final season (4:10.74). Bathurst set her PB of 4:10.46 on the 2023 Tennessee Invite.
The remainder of the sector was well-distanced behind the highest three, with UVA first-year Emma Redman simply six-tenths off her PB in 4:15.80 to qualify 4th.
MEN’S 400 IM – PRELIMS
- NCAA Document: 3:28.82, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2023
- 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 3:38.37
- 2024 NCAA Cutline: 3:42.93
- Tony Laurito (TENN), 3:45.00
- Levi Sandidge (UKY), 3:45.35
- Colin Bitz (UVA), 3:45.54
- Aidan Crisci (TENN), 3:46.40
- Gus Rothrock (TENN), 3:47.16
- Dillon Wright (UVA), 3:47.50
- Matt Styczen (UVA), 3:49.21
- Matt Heilman (UVA), 3:52.74
One swimmer from every workforce went toe-to-toe within the second warmth of two heats within the males’s 400 IM, and that trio ended up producing the highest thrice of the morning and the one ones beneath 3:46.
Main the best way was Tennessee freshman Tony Laurito, who held on to the touch first in a time of three:45.00, knocking three-quarters of a second off his PB (3:45.76).
Kentucky’s Levi Sandidge got here residence like a freight prepare, splitting 24.73 on the final 50, however ran out of room to catch Laurito and advances 2nd into the ultimate, clocking in at 3:45.35 to decrease his earlier greatest of three:46.05.
Additionally setting a greatest time and breaking 3:46 for the primary time was UVA’s Colin Bitz, who touched in 3:45.54 to deliver down his outdated greatest time of three:46.79 set on the 2023 ACC Championships.
Tennessee’s Aidan Crisci was racing in the identical warmth and superior 4th total in 3:46.40, whereas his teammate Gus Rothrock received the primary warmth in 3:47.16 to qualify fifth.
WOMEN’S 200 FREE – PRELIMS
- NCAA Document: 1:39.10, Missy Franklin (CAL) – 2015
- 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 1:42.60
- 2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:44.80
- Aimee Canny (UVA), 1:44.09
- Camille Spink (TENN), 1:45.03
- Cavan Gormsen (UVA), 1:45.55
- Julia Mrozinski (TENN), 1:45.66
- Anna Moesch (UVA), 1:46.05
- Sara Stotler (TENN), 1:46.38
- Kate Morris (UVA), 1:47.10
- Emily Armen (TENN), 1:47.23
Virginia’s Aimee Canny and Tennessee’s Camille Spink went head-to-head within the fourth and closing warmth of the ladies’s 200 free, and it was Canny pulling away over the again half to the touch first in a time of 1:44.09, advancing her into tonight’s closing with the highest spot by practically a second.
Canny’s swim inches beneath her season-best of 1:44.31, set towards UNC, and ranks her sixth within the NCAA this season.
Racing the occasion for the primary time this season, Spink touched in 1:45.03 to qualify 2nd. She owns a better of 1:42.37 from final season’s SECs.
UVA’s Cavan Gormsen (1:45.55) and Tennessee’s Julia Mrozinski (1:45.66) received their respective heats to advance Third and 4th into the ultimate, with Mrozinski dipping beneath her season-best of 1:45.81 and Gormsen racing the occasion for the primary time in 2024-25.
It ended up being a good battle for the final spot within the closing, which was claimed by Tennessee’s Emily Armen (1:47.23) over UVA’s Bailey Hartman (1:47.25), Maxine Parker (1:47.47), Sophia Knapp (1:47.62) and Tess Howley (1:47.88).
MEN’S 200 FREE – PRELIMS
- NCAA Document: 1:28.81, Luke Hobson (TEX) – 2024
- 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 1:31.21
- 2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:32.93
- Nikoli Blackman (TENN), 1:33.78
- Sebastien Sergile (UVA), 1:34.50
- David King (UVA), 1:34.58
- Joaquin Vargas (TENN), 1:34.99
- Hayden Bellotti (UVA), 1:35.20
- Jack Stelter (TENN), 1:36.12
- Connor Boyle (UVA), 1:36.18
- Justin Peresse (UKY), 1:36.60
Tennessee’s Nikoli Blackman posted his second sub-1:34 200 free in three days to assert the highest seed into tonight’s closing within the males’s 200 free, clocking 1:33.78.
Blackman, a sophomore, took down his earlier PB of 1:34.62 on Tuesday within the 800 free relay, main off Tennessee’s ‘B’ workforce in 1:33.68. He backs that efficiency up right here and units himself as much as problem for the win in tonight’s closing.
Virginia’s Sebastien Sergile, recent off successful the 200 IM on Wednesday, certified 2nd in 1:34.50, simply 45 one-hundredths shy of his greatest time. Sergile had spectacular splitting, out in 46.65 and again in 47.85. His freshman teammate David King was simply over three-tenths shy of his greatest time to advance in Third.
Tennesse’s Joaquin Vargas was half a second off his greatest time in 1:34.99 for 4th, and UVA’s Hayden Bellotti notched his second greatest time of the morning, clocking 1:35.20 to knock a full second off his earlier PB.
WOMEN’S 100 BACK – PRELIMS
- NCAA Document: 48.10, Gretchen Walsh (UVA) – 2024
- 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 50.66
- 2024 NCAA Cutline: 52.28
MEN’S 100 BACK – PRELIMS
- NCAA Document: 43.35, Luca Urlando (UGA) – 2022
- 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 44.48
- 2024 NCAA Cutline: 45.56
WOMEN’S 100 BREAST – PRELIMS
- NCAA Document: 55.73, Lilly King (IU) – 2019
- 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 58.01
- 2024 NCAA Cutline: 59.75
MEN’S 100 BREAST – PRELIMS
- NCAA Document: 49.53, Liam Bell (CAL) – 2024
- 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Reduce: 51.02
- 2024 NCAA Cutline: 51.89
