Nov. 21, 2009

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Alabama Swimming and Diving teams finished off a strong showing at the Tennessee Invitational held in Knoxville, Tenn. this weekend with several lifetime best swims, seven individual wins as well as two more facility records.

Over the three-days of the meet, Alabama broke six Allan Jones Aquatic Center records and won 16 of the 32 individual events against top-20 opponents Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia Tech.

"We had a great weekend here, posting career-best times and winning races against some quality opponents," Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said. "We came in here treating this as kind of a mid-term exam and I'm really pleased with how we performed."

Senior Mark Randall scored his second pool record of the weekend, posting a 14:52.75 in the mile, bettering his season-best time which ranks No. 1 in the nation and taking 13 seconds off the old mark. Randall also set facility record in the 500 freestyle earlier in the weekend. Junior Catalin Cosma took second in the mile with a 15:15.72, a time that ranks him second in the nation this season.

The Tide went one-two in the 200 butterfly with junior Denes Zubcsek setting another pool record with a 1:46.43, more than a second faster than the old record while freshman Anestis Arampatis took second with a 1:48.82. Senior Riley Boulden posted a career-best time to win the 200 breaststroke, touching at 1:58.47, which moves him up to seventh all-time for the Tide. Sophomore Joe Ziegler won the 200 backstroke with a 1:46.18.

Senior Aaron Fleshner and sophomore Carrie Dragland combined to give Alabama a six-win sweep of the diving events. Fleshner finished his three-day sweep by taking first off the platform with 387.30 points, more than 50 points better than his nearest competitor. Dragland combined with senior Elizabeth Hughes to take first and second off the platform on the women's side of the meet, scoring 307.60 and 291.75 respectively.

"The divers did a great job all weekend," McIlquham said. "There was some quality competition down in the deep end and they really got after it."

Senior Agustina de Giovanni just missed the pool record in the 200 breaststroke, notching her third win of the weekend with a 2:11.62, finishing more than five seconds ahead of second place. Freshman Jenna Gallo posted a 16:36.72 in the 1650 freestyle, taking second overall and landing at fourth all-time on the Crimson Tide's all-time top-10 list.

Alabama's swimmers will take a break from competition until after the New Year, but the divers will be in action the first week of December at the Ohio State Invitational before hosting the Bama Diving Invitational Dec. 17-19.