University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
SEC Championships - Finals
Helms Sweeps Springboard Titles at SECs
February 16, 2012 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Feb. 16, 2012
Senior Ryan Helms did not rest on his laurels after winning the 3-meter springboard Wednesday evening. Far from it.
Helms summoned up another career-best performance Thursday to capture his second title of the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships, winning the 1-meter event with a score of 415.10 at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
"It was pretty cool to win both 1 meter and 3 meter," Helms said. "It is always easy to get comfortable after a win. After yesterday's competition, I made a point to come back and not be happy with that."
The individual win helped the Vols hold a tie for third place in the team standings with Georgia with 208 points through Thursday's competition. Auburn leads with 301 points, and Florida is second with 276.
Helms became the first diver in the SEC Championships to win both the 1 meter and 3 meter titles in the same year since Steven Segerlin did so for Auburn in 2007. Evan Stewart, who won a trio of SEC titles in the 1-meter and 3-meter events, was the most recent Vol to perform the feat in 1996.
Last year, Helms finished runner-up on the 1-meter springboard to teammate Michael Wright. In that meet, Wright set a school record of 416.85, a number Helms came almost within a point of matching with 415.10 on Thursday.
"I had a great meet last year on the 1 meter and it so happened that I got beat out by teammate by a few points," Helms said. "It is a great score to have on 1 meter. I have gone that high all year so it was definitely a great performance for me."
As a senior, Helms has won the 1-meter competition in six meets this year, but he had not scored 400 in a meet until the SEC finals.
The Vols picked up more than just Helms' 20 points on the springboard as three UT divers reached the 8-man final. Freshman Mauricio Robles, coming off a bronze performance in the 3 meter, finished sixth with a score of 351.05. Junior Brent Sterling was eighth in 274.75.
In the races, freshman Tristan Slater enjoyed a career day in the 200-yard individual medley. He cut nearly three seconds off his career best in the preliminaries, scoring an NCAA B-Cut of 1 minute, 46.84 seconds, to qualify for the final. He finished eighth in the evening in 1:47.40.
"I was real proud of Tristan Slater, a freshman, finaling in first SEC Championship," Tennessee interim head coach Lars Jorgensen said. "His 200y IM was awesome. He dropped three seconds off his personal best and he was competing against world class swimmers. He is working toward getting there. As a freshman, he was phenomenal."
In the 500 freestyle, senior Carl Jones finished 12th in 4:26.32 and sophomore Sam Petersen was 15th in 4:29.94.
Junior captain Ed Walsh was the lone Vol to qualify for the finals in the 50 freestyle, getting 16th place in 20.16.
In the only relay of the evening, the Vols took third place in the 200 freestyle relay. The team of Ed Walsh, Samuel Rairden, Jacob Thulin and Ricky Henahan clocked an NCAA B-Cut of 1:19.05.
"Ed Walsh swam great tonight, leading off our relay," Jorgensen said. "Our goal was to get third, as I talked to the guys about getting behind Florida and Auburn. That was probably the best we could do, so we couldn't have been much better. There were a few things we could have done better this morning, but tonight was a good session. We need to come out tomorrow and be real sharp."
SEC Swimming and Diving Championships
Men's Results
Thursday
1-Meter Diving: 1. Ryan Helms (UT) 415.10; 2. Daniel Helm (LSU) 376.55; 3. Greg Ferrucci (UK) 356.20; 4. John Santeiu (AU) 356.05; 5. Matt Vieke (LSU) 352.60; 6. Mauricio Robles (UT) 351.05; 7. Adam Godzinski (AU) 325.70; 8. Brent Sterling (UT) 274.75.
500 Freestyle: 1. Martin Grodzki (UGA) 4:16.94; 2. Jason Taylor (UF) 4:18.99; 3. Nicholas Caldwell (UF) 4:20.11; 4. Connor Signorin (UF) 4:20.59; 5. Andrew Gemmell (UGA) 4:20.61; 6. Craig Hamilton (LSU) 4:22.01; 7. William Freeman (UGA) 4:22.36; 8. Carlos Omana (UF) 4:24.45 ... 12. Carl Jones (UT) 4:26.32 ... 15. Sam Petersen (UT) 4:29.94.
200 IM: 1. Marcin Cieslak (UF) 1:43.01; 2. Kyle Owens (AU) 1:43.30; 3. Nicolas Fink (UGA) 1:44.86; 4. Solaeche Gomez (UF) 1:45.10; 5. Dan Wallace (UF) 1:45.77; 6. Matthew Curby (UF) 1:45.77; 7. Jared Markham (UGA) 1:47.22; 8. Tristan Slater (UT) 1:47.40.
50 Freestyle: 1. Bradley deBorde (UF) 19.29; 2. Drew Modrov (AU) 19.32; 3. Karl Krug (AU) 19.38; 4. Chris Manning (AU) 19.47; 5. Chierighini (AU) 19.57; 6. Michael Arnold (UGA) 19.58; 7. Disney-May (AU) 19.62; 8. Matthew Norton (UF) 19.78 ... 16. Ed Walsh (UT) 20.16.
200 Freestyle Relay: 1. Auburn (Modrov, Krug, Manning, Leon) 1:16.38; 2. Florida (deBorde, Norton, Turner, Curby) 1:17.86; 3. Tennessee (Walsh, Rairden, Thulin, Henahan) 1:19.05; 4. Georgia (Arnold, Reynolds, Hill, Simmons) 1:19.16; 5. LSU (Tuomola, Saco, Wepasnick, Greef) 1:19.33; 6. Alabama (Caciuc, Hornikel, Coci, Reynolds) 1:19.43.
Team Standings (through Thursday)
1. Auburn 301
2. Florida 276
t3. Tennessee 208
t3. Georgia 208
5. LSU 168
6. Kentucky 116
7. South Carolina 95
8. Alabama 67
