Although the North Carolina swimming and diving team suffered a tough loss to Georgia on Friday, there are still bright signs for the team moving forward.
Though Georgia defeated UNC 179-119 in women’s events and 162.5-132.5 in men’s events, the Tar Heels won the last three events of the meet. Senior Michael Meyer took the 200-yard individual medley race and then the Tar Heels won the women’s and men’s 400-yard freestyle relay.
The men’s 400-yard freestyle team was led by transfer Jorden Merrilees, of North Melbourne, Australia. The 6-foot-3 senior led his relay team to victory over a Georgia squad that included Olympic swimmer Gunnar Bentz.
Merrilees was not intimidated by facing an Olympian.
“My training buddy at home went to the Olympics and he’s been at worlds," Merrilees said. "So I am used to going up against it, and it was not anything different.”
