Tennessee swim and dive led an overall successful week at the SEC Swim and Dive Championships in Athens, Georgia, finishing with 28 combined medals between the men’s and women’s teams.
Each team finished in third place, whereas in the previous championships, the women’s team finished second and the men’s finished fifth.
Some of the biggest takeaways of the weekend include the number of gold medals obtained by Lady Vol Camille Spink, coming home with five golds, one silver and one bronze. Her performance in the week earned her the Commissioner’s Trophy of the championship after tying with Texas’ Emma Sticklen in points, both earning 96 each. Spink also executed the first SEC sweep in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyles since 2007.
Another Vol who walked away with five gold medals was Jordan Crooks, also adding two silvers and a bronze. Crooks contributed to multiple NCAA broken records, one in the men’s 200 freestyle relay, along with Gui Caribe, Lamar Taylor and Nikoli Blackman. The group broke the record previously held by Florida and became the first Tennessee team to win this event since 2001. The other NCAA record broken was in the men’s 400 freestyle relay coming away victorious at 2:42.41, overcoming Arizona State’s previous record of 2:43.40.
Other notable performances include those of the women’s 800 freestyle relay, including Brooklyn Douthwright, Julia Mrozinski, Ella Jansen and Spink. The group broke the school record with a time of 6:49.83 and clinched gold. In the women’s 400 freestyle relay, Douthwright, Mrozinski, Spink and Josephine Fuller took first with a time of 3:09.02, Tennessee’s first gold in this category since 2016. Also for the Lady Vols, Mona McSharry earned gold in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, marking her third year in a row with a sweep in this category.
The achievements were consistent with other categories like the men’s 50 freestyle, with Crooks earning another win with a time of 17.85, breaking the school record and making him the first swimmer in SEC history to win four consecutive titles in this category. He acquired another win in the men’s 100 freestyle with a time of 40.45, becoming the first Tennessee swimmer since 1996 to win the event multiple times.
The Vols will be back home in Knoxville for their next meet at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center starting on Feb. 28 against Kentucky and Virginia Tech.
