After falling flat in its season opener against Tulane, Vanderbilt Swimming hoped to bounce back in a tri-meet against South Carolina and Georgia, hosted by the Gamecocks at the Carolina Natatorium. However, the Commodores were bested in both matchups, falling 45-249 to South Carolina and 48-240 to Georgia.
While the Commodores were overpowered by their SEC foes, first-years Emily Constable and Aubrey Hull went down swinging. Constable led the charge for Vanderbilt, as her third-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke was the highest individual placement by a Commodore at the meet. Hull had the second-best individual finish, placing fourth in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events. Her time of 1:58.35 in the 200 back was good enough for a new school record for first-years in the event.
The 200-yard medley relay, which featured Hull, Constable, Jenna Ravarino and Megan Ciezczak, got the ball rolling for Vanderbilt. The team placed fifth overall with a time of 1:41.59, and Hull’s opening leg (25.53) met the A-standard for the CSCAA National Invitational Championship in the 50 back.
Vanderbilt gradually lost momentum after its promising start. While sophomore Madelyn Porter swam a career-best time of 10:21.37 in the 1000-yard freestyle, she placed just seventh overall, and the Commodores again failed to crack the top five in the 200-yard free. First-year phenoms Hull and Constable breathed new life into the team with back-to-back top-five finishes in the 100 back and 100 breast.
The resurgence was short-lived, as Vanderbilt went three more events before Hull would once more crack the top five in the 200 back. In the meantime, Kailia Utley and Kate Heintz both entered the top-10 all-time performers list for Vanderbilt in the 200-yard butterfly, with respective times of 2:02.20 and 2:02.31.
The Commodores showed few signs of life after Hull’s impressive performance in the 200 back. In the 200-yard individual medley, Bailey Ratzburg posted a career-best 2:04.59, and the Commodores finished sixth in the 400 free relay thanks to the efforts of Hull, Reagan Mathieson, Ciezczak and Hannah Weissman.
“Aubrey [Hull] and Emily [Constable] had fantastic races rising up to the level of competition that we see in this conference,” head coach Jeremy Organ said following the meet’s conclusion. “It was exciting to see that, but we had a lot of great swims up and down the board.”
The Commodores will regroup in the next few weeks before traveling to Champaign, Illinois, for a tri-meet against Illinois and Indiana State from Oct. 25-26.
