T&T Olympic swimmers Nikoli Blackman of the University of Tennessee and Zuri Ferguson of the University of Florida, both in the United States, helped their respective school teams at the Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, which ended at the Allen Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Saturday (February 21).
A former world junior 50m freestyle champion, Blackman was part of three relay medal swims for the Vols, one silver and two bronzes, as they ended the championship with 1,061.5 points for the third spot behind champions, the University of Texas (1,449.5), which retained their crown, and the University of Florida (1,292). Georgia was fourth with 721, followed by Auburn University with 652, and the University of Alabama, the school of T&T’s Zarek Wilson, sixth with 642.5.
In the 800-yard freestyle relay, the Vols quartet of Koby Bujak-Upton, Blackman, Gabe Nunziata, and Ben Bricca combined for a time of six minutes, 10.31 seconds to take the silver medal behind the University of Texas, who won in six minutes, 06.24 seconds, while Auburn University took third in six minutes, 12.02 seconds.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the foursome of Gui Caribe, Pedro Sansone, Blackman, and Bujak-Upton secured the bronze medal for the Vols in 1:15.37 minutes, with Josh Liendo leading the University of Florida to the gold medal in 1:14.44 minutes and Louisiana State University second in 1:15.13, while T&T’s Zarek Wilson swam the final leg for the University of Alabama as they clocked 1:16.29 for the seventh spot.
Blackman picked up a third relay medal and second bronze as part of a combination that also featured Sansone, Bujak-Upton, and Caribe in the men’s 400-yard freestyle relay when they clocked 2:46.00 minutes, with Liendo’s Florida Gators taking home gold in 2:43.95 and the University of Texas the silver in 2:45.30, with Wilson’s University of Alabama sixth in 2:49.32.
However, in the men’s 200-yard medley relay, Ulises Saravia, Nunziata, Caribe, and Blackman failed to finish among the medals as they placed sixth in 1:22.48 minutes.
Individually, Blackman missed out on a top-three finish in the men’s 50-yard freestyle final after he placed fifth in a time of 18.80 seconds to finish behind Liendo, who won gold in 18.42, followed by Tennessee’s Garibe (18.46), Louisiana State’s Jere Hribar (18.57) and Missouri’s Luke Nebrich (18.74). with Wilson placing 27th in 19.67.
Blackman also had a near medal miss in the 100-yard freestyle final with another fourth-place swim in 41.70 to trail Hribar (40.42), Garibe (40.45) and Liendo (40.94), with Wilson, 24th in 42.95.
Earlier in the prelims, Wilson and Luke Bedsole of Auburn University were both timed at 42.85, but in their swim-off, Bedsole won in 42.67 to Wilson’s 42.98 to secure a spot in the Bonus Final.
In the 200-yard freestyle men’s consolation final, Blackman won in one minute, 32.04 seconds, after he was tenth overall in the morning heats in one minute, 32.89 seconds.
Wilson ended in the 24th spot in 46.48 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly, the same time as South Carolina University’s Ryan Hufford, who touched the wall in 46.48. However, in the swim-off, Hufford got to the wall in 46.34, beating Wilson’s 46.40.
USA-based Ferguson was third in the women’s 200-yard Consolation Final in one minute, 53.89 seconds, while in the women’s 100-yard backstroke Bonus Final, she finished sixth with a time of 53.31 seconds, and in the 100-yard butterfly, 62nd overall, after she clocked 55.91 seconds.
Overall, the University of Florida, with former T&T-born Suriname Olympic gold medal winner Anthony Nesty as head coach, tallied 1,015.5 points for the third spot overall, with Texas also storming to the women’s title with 1,413.5 points and the Voles second with 1,086.
