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Swimming & Diving

Hokies turn in solid performances at U.S. Open, European Short Course

BLACKSBURG – Sophomore Antani Ivanov turned in a seventh-place finish on Sunday during the final day of the LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
 
Ivanov, representing Bulgaria at the meet, finished seventh overall in the 40-person field with a time of 1:52.96. He cut his time down of 1:53.48 from the morning prelims.
 
Thomas Hallock also wrapped up competition in Glasgow on Sunday. The Tech junior placed 45th in the 50 back, finishing with a 24.77 at the SCM meet.
 
Ivanov, Hallock and the rest of the Hokies will be back in the pool on Saturday, Jan. 18 when Tech hosts in-state rival Virginia. Meet time is set for 1 p.m. at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center.


-- DAY FOUR --
BLACKSBURG –
Virginia Tech wrapped up the final day of competition at the Toyota U.S. Open on Saturday. Freshman AJ Pouch hits an Olympic trial cut in the 200 breaststroke in Atlanta.
 
U.S. OPEN
Pouch, who has already made the Olympic trial cut, again hit the mark during both the prelims and finals of the 200 breaststroke. He posted a time of 2:16.07 (more than a second below the cut) to finish 17th in the finals.

Tech swim alum Lucas Bureau also hit an Olympic trial cut, recording a 50.11 in the 100 freestyle, finishing 20th in the finals.
 
Reka Gyorgy, swimming unattached, finished 10th in both the prelims and finals of the 200 backstroke. In the evening session, Gyorgy shaved almost two seconds off her prelim time, posting a 2:12.36. Freshman Forest Webb also qualified for the finals of the 200 back where he finished 29th in a time of 2:05.41.
 
Rounding out the finalists was Ryan Vipavetz in the 200 butterfly. The Tech freshman placed 23rd finishing with a time of 2:02.51.
 
Brooke Travis got the evening's events started swimming a 17:09.32 to finish 29th in the 1500 freestyle.
 
In the prelims of the 100 freestyle, Sarah Shackelford recorded a time of 58.13 to finish 92nd.
 
EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE
Antani Ivanov, representing Bulgaria, competed in two events on Saturday in Glasgow, Scotland. Ivanov opened the day with a 31st place finish in the 50 fly with a time of 23.48. In the 100 IM, Ivanov placed 38th with a time of 55.67.
 
Representing Switzerland, Thomas Hallock was also in the pool swimming a 48.77 in the 100 free to place 42nd.


-- DAY THREE --
BLACKSBURG –
Virginia Tech swimming wrapped up the third day of competition at both the Toyota U.S. Open and the European Short Course Championship. Freshman Forest Webb hit the U.S. Trial cut in the 100 backstroke.
 
U.S. OPEN
Webb finished 26th in the morning prelim session of the 100 backstroke (LCM) to qualify for the finals. In the evening, Webb took 22nd with a time of 56.53, shaving two-tenths off his time, to hit the Olympic trial cut.
 
Hokies' alum Norbert Szabo also qualified for the finals after placing 27th (1:51.04) during the prelims of the 200 freestyle, but did not swim in the finals.
 
Tech opened the day with the 400 IM where Brooke Travis competed, finishing with a 5:051.12 (71st). In the 100 butterfly, Kayla Parcell finished 60th with a time of 1:01.83 while Joelle Vereb turned in a time of 1:03.27 (101st).
 
In the 200 free, Reka Gyorgy, who is competing unattached, placed 44th with a 2:03.33. Loulou Vos came in with a time of 2:05.78 (83rd). Ryan Vipavetz posted a time of 1:54.31 to finished 73rd on the men's side.
 
The Hokies' freshman AJ Pouch finished 45th in the 100 breaststroke with a mark of 1:03.76 while Julia Smith had a 1:13.94 (89th) on the women's side. Sarah Shackelford rounded out the prelims with a 1:04.84 (100th) in the 100 backstroke.  
 
EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE
Thomas Hallock, representing Switzerland, got into the pool for his first race at the SCM meet in Glasgow, Scotland. He finished 43rd in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.07.


-- DAY TWO -- 
BLACKSBURG –
Virginia Tech swimming wrapped up the second day of competition at both the 2019 Toyota U.S. Open and the European Short Course Championships on Thursday.
 
U.S. OPEN
The Hokies' Reka Gyorgy, who is taking a redshirt this season and competing unattached, took 10th in the 200 IM.  She finished with a time of 2:13.85, taking just over a second off her morning prelim time.
 
A couple of Virginia Tech alumni also had good days in Atlanta. Norbert Szabo finished 18th in the 200 IM with a mark of 2:02.20 while Ian Ho was 10th in the 50 freestyle, turning in a time of 22.46.
 
Tech opened the day with the 400 freestyle prelims, Loulou Vos had a time of 4:24.89 (76th) while Brooke Travis finished just behind with 4:25.06 (78th). On the men's side Ryan Vipavetz turned in a 4:05.30 (99th).
 
AJ Pouch competed for the Hokies in the men's 200 IM, finishing with a time of 2:10.67 (91st). The Hokies concluded the prelims in the 50 freestyle. For the women, Sarah Shackelford posted a time of 26.95 (109th) with Anna Landon placing just behind in 26.98 (112th). Aaron Boyd finished in 24.17 (136th) while Justin Rich had a time of 24.17 (144th).
 
EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE
The Hokies' Antani Ivanov, representing Bulgaria in Glasgow, finished 31st in the 200 free with a time of 1:46.40 in the short course meters event.


-- DAY ONE -- 
BLACKSBURG –
Members of the Virginia Tech swim team opened the first day of competition at both the 2019 Toyota U.S. Open and the LEN European Short Course Championships on Wednesday.
 
EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE
Antani Ivanov, representing Bulgaria in Glasgow, Scotland, opened with the 100 butterfly in which he swam a 51.41 to set the Bulgarian national record in the SCM event. Ivanov also holds the Bulgarian records in the 50 fly, 200 fly and 200 free which he set in 2018. He is scheduled to compete in all of those events later this week.
 
U.S. OPEN
The Hokies kicked off the U.S. Open with the 800 freestyle on Wednesday evening. On the women's side Brooke Travis swam a 9:00.43 to finish 50th in the LCM event. Her teammate Loulou Vos placed 57th coming in with a time of 9:06.28. For the men, Ryan Vipavetz turned in a time of 8:26.52 to finish 62nd.