Auburn swim and dive wrapped up its regular season over the weekend from Feb. 6 to Feb. 7, as the Tigers hosted a two-day Auburn Invitational as a final tune-up meet before postseason action.
According to the final results, Auburn, Georgia Tech and the Georgia Bulldogs were the only three teams participating in the meet. The Tigers won every event except for one, but Auburn also boasted a vast majority of the competitors. Georgia and Georgia Tech didn’t bring much representation with them, which is understandable considering it served as a last-chance opportunity with SEC Championships kicking off next week.
Auburn began the meet with a solid showing in the women’s 200-yard freestyle relay, as Elizaveta Klevanovich, Lora Komoroczy, Izzy Iwasyk and Kate Murray posted a 1:27.81. The Tigers continued with steady performances in the women’s 500-yard freestyle, with Sammie Hamilton recording a 4:47.05 and freshman Lilly Gault Abdella posting a season-best 4:49.05.
The 50-yard freestyle saw a multitude of impressive races from Auburn, as Iwasyk and Bell Ekk conjured a 22.45 and 22.74, respectively, and Luke Bedsole (19.63) and Jon VanZandt (19.87) broke the 20-second barrier for the first time this season on the men’s side.
In Friday evening’s season of the invite, Komoroczy, Kiia Metsakonkola, Iwasyk and Klevanovich combined for a 1:35.30 in the women’s 200-yard medley relay, which marked the fifth-fastest 200-yard medley relay in program history.
Daniel Krichevsky recorded a season-best 46.06 in the 100-yard butterfly, with Sohib Khaled and Bradford Johnson touching just after him at 46.09 and 46.48, respectively.
In the 100-yard breaststroke, Annika Finzen broke a minute for the first time in her career, and her 59.98 led the group of Tigers by almost 1.5 seconds. One heat later, Uros Zivanovic dialed up the fifth-best performance in school history, posting a 51.98.
In the Saturday session, both Krichevsky (42.80) and Kalle Makinen (42.81) finished at sub-43 seconds in the 100 free, while VanZandt also produced a season-best 43.12.
The biggest news of the morning came when Klevanovich, Komoroczy, Iwasyk and Ekk powered to a 3:13.13 in the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay, earning the NCAA qualifying time.
The Tigers also tallied impressive numbers in the diving well, with Emily Hallifax leading the charge in the Platform with a 298.43 on Friday. Juliette Landi recorded a solid 341.55 to take the top spot on the 3-meter, ahead of Kyleigh Kidd (329.10) and Chloe Borthers (320.48). Kidd went on to win the 1-meter with a 309.30.
On the men’s side, freshman Tsvetomir Ereminov headlined the Tigers with a 367.73 on Platform to secure his Zones score, and Talan Blackmon wasn’t far behind with a 361.95.
Auburn will return to the pool next at the 2026 SEC Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a full week of action from Feb. 16 to Feb. 21.
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Gunner is a freshman majoring in journalism. He started with The Plainsman in the fall 2024.
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