UNC swimming splits meet with Georgia

The North Carolina men’s swimming and diving team routed Georgia for the second straight year while the women failed to rally past the Bulldogs.

Behind big performances from leaders Joe Kinderwater and Tommy Wyher and a slew of contributions, the men stormed past the Bulldogs for a 183-117 win and moved to 2-0 on the season.

The women fell short of Georgia 168-132 to drop to 1-1 despite stellar days from Rebecca Kane and Carly Smith and a history-making meet for freshman Stephanie Peacock.

Fourth-year UNC coach Rich DeSelm said that the men’s team looks the best he’s seen at this point in the season.

Kinderwater dominated at long-distance, achieving first-place finishes in both the 500-yard and 1000-yard freestyle events.

Senior Tyler Harris, who DeSelm said doesn’t normally swim distance, followed up Kinderwater’s roaring time of 9:05.20 by clocking the third-fastest time in UNC 1000-yard freestyle history.

These performances came against a Georgia team that DeSelm called one of the best distance-swimming teams in the nation.

“I’m glad that he picked it up as one of his events, and we’re going to have a real good time beating some people this year,” Kinderwater said.

Wyher more than contributed to the win with four first-place finishes, including two relays, while junior Steve Cebertowicz shored up the rest of the short-distance swims for UNC with a 100-yard freestyle win.

“Suddenly, our sprinting is getting better, and we’re showing up in our shorter events,” DeSelm said.

The women’s team knew it had its hands full on Friday against a Georgia team that held a national No. 1 ranking all the way until the NCAA Championships in March.

The Tar Heels closed the gap to 125-120 with three events remaining before the Bulldogs charged ahead in the final two events.

Kane and Smith led UNC with three event victories each.

Kane took first place in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles, while Smith won both the 100-and 200-yard backstroke events. Both swam on the winning 200-yard medley relay team.

Peacock, a freshman, made her mark in the UNC record books. Her winning time in the 500-yard freestyle was the school’s third-fastest in history. Peacock’s second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle was the program’s eighth-fastest.

Not only did Peacock enter the record book. She also beat defending NCAA champion Allison Schmitt of Georgia in the 500-yard freestyle event and the NCAA bronze-medalist Wendy Trott in the same event by more than three seconds.

“I am so proud of every single person on this team,” Kane said. “I’ve never seen us come together and hold on against a top three team in the country like we did today.”

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