Georgia women take early NCAA swimming lead

ATLANTA (AP) The University of Georgia took an early lead at the NCAA swimming and diving championships Wednesday when Olympic hopefuls Hali Flickinger and Brittany MacLean helped the Bulldogs win the 800-yard freestyle relay with a pool and school record time of 6 minutes, 51.8 seconds.

The relay was the first event at Georgia Tech's McAuley Aquatic Center.

Georgia has won six NCAA titles, but the Bulldogs have been projected to finish third overall behind Stanford and California. With 40 points, they lead USC (34), Cal (32), Virginia (30), Texas A&M (28) and Stanford (26).

The Trojans finished in 6:53.84.

Flickinger, a medley specialist, gave Georgia an edge with a 1:42.8 leadoff leg. MacLean holds every school long-distance record, including an NCAA mark of 15:27.84 in the 1,650-yard freestyle, and the former Olympian rallied the Bulldogs from a one-yard deficit with an anchor leg of 1:41.46.

All four Bulldogs, including sophomores Kylie Stewart and Meaghan Raab, swam personal bests.