LONG ISLAND, N.Y. - The Georgia swimming and diving team walked into the Nassau County Aquatics Center in East Meadow, N.Y., with green t-shirts that said "Georgia Charm" on the back and shamrock covered bandanas in honor of St. Patrick's Day. The Luck of the Irish was on the side of the Bulldog as head coach Jack Bauerle and the Georgia Bulldogs seemed to charm the 400-yard freestyle relay and won their third straight national championship Saturday night, topping Stanford 389-387.5.

"This is the best feeling of all the championships because we knew the whole thing was up for grabs," said Bauerle. "We did not feel like we were a favorite at any time this year. It was great to come in here and win it under these set of circumstances, because we are not a spectacular team. We are pretty good in a lot of places. Last year we won nine events and this year we won one (800y free relay on Friday night). It was a real different way of winning the meet. I could not be happier with our kids. They showed as much character as any team we have ever had, and you just don't win national championships easily. My hat is off to Stanford. They are great competitors and we've used them as a guide post."

"What a great way to finish a meet. What a great thing for swimming."

"We told our women just go as fast as they can and control what we could control," Bauerle said about the final relay. "If we started thinking about where Stanford and Arizona were, then we would not have gone as fast as we needed. We had a big leg on the end (47.75), and it was also good because it was a little bit of wash. She went in a little behind (Arizona and Stanford). I can not say enough about (Maritza). That was a character swim for her."

Going into the final event of the night, the 400y freestyle relay, Georgia trailed Stanford by 2.5 points. After Stefanie Williams' leadoff leg, Georgia was in second behind Texas and in second after Neka Mabry's 100 yards. The Lady Bulldogs slipped to fourth (behind Texas, Stanford and Arizona) when anchor Maritza Correia hit the water, 0.74 of a second behind Stanford. Georgia rode the final 100 yards on the back of Correia, and the sophomore led the Lady Bulldogs to their third straight national title with a second place finish in a time of 3:16.76. Stanford finished fourth with a time of 3:17.74. Texas won the event with an American record-setting time of 3:14.52.

"I felt awesome," said Correia about her anchor leg of the relay. "I took off from the get-go. I looked around a little at Stanford and Arizona, but I just wanted to touch the wall as fast as I could."

It was the closest meet in NCAA swimming and diving history, with Georgia winning by 1.5 points. Texas came in third with 350.5 points, followed by Auburn in fourth with 324 points.

Georgia had two finalist in the 100y freestyle, both coming up with strong performances for the Lady Bulldogs. Maritza Correia, who finished eighth in the 100m free at last year's championships, took second place with a personal-best time of 48.49. Her counterpart Stefanie Williams touched the wall in 48.75 to capture third place with a personal-best time.

Senior Jamie Skinner, who was seeded eighth headed into the 200y breaststroke final, shaved nearly two seconds off her personal best to finish four with a time of 2:10.97 in her final race as a Lady Bulldog. Junior Ashley Roby took sixth with a time of 2:11.28. Olympian Amanda Beard from Arizona out-touched top-seeded Tara Kirk at the wall for first place in the event.

Senior Keegan Walkley took fourth in the 200y backstroke with a time of 1:56.02. She was the NCAA Champion in the event in 1999. California's Natalie Coughlin won the event with an American record-setting time of 1:51.02.

Freshman Julie Hardt took fourth in the 1,650y freestyle with a collegiate-best time of 16:08.48. Classmate Linn Thorburn took sixth in the consolation final (14th overall) in the 200y butterfly with a time of 2:00.53.

In the morning prelims, Morgan Fleming finished 34th in the 200-yard butterfly.

The backbreaker for Auburn may have come in the morning prelims, as the Tiger 400-yard freestyle relay team was disqualified for a false start. Auburn, which won the event at the 2001 SEC Championships, had the second fastest qualifying time headed into prelims, behind only Texas.

Final Standings:

1.Georgia       389 
2.Stanford      387.5 
3.Texas         350.5 
4.Auburn        324 
5.Arizona       304 
6.Southern Cal. 255 
7.California    248 
8.Florida       214