Jan. 6, 2006
Columbia, S.C. – The South Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams return to action on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 11 a.m. hosting NC State in dual meet competition at the Carolina Natatorium. Saturday’s meet will mark the first the first home contest for Carolina since last October as the Gamecocks continue gearing up for next month’s SEC Championships beginning on February 15 in Knoxville, Tenn.
“We are looking forward to hosting NC State this weekend,” said USC head swimming coach Don Gibb. “We had a log of great work in the last month and had a training camp while we were away from competition. We have had some unfortunate illness and nagging injuries but other than that we are in good shape. From a fitness standpoint, right now we are in good position and I thought we finished the first semester at Georgia (Bulldog Invitational) on a positive note.”
The USC men’s team returns to the pool looking to continue their success in the freestyle events. Carolina hit NCAA “B” standards in both the 400 and 800 freestyle relays at the Bulldog Invitational. Christian Robledo, Reid Duff, Kyle Cormier and Dan White competed in the 400 freestyle relay that finished with a time of 2:59.22. A day earlier, the 800 freestyle relay of Colby Mack, Tamas Bathazi, Robledo and White went 6:34.95 for a third place finish.
White has been arguably the most prolific of the season as he holds four top times for Carolina on the year. White leads the team in the 200 freestyle (1:38.54), 500 freestyle (4:27.64), 1000 freestyle (9:22.64) and 1650 freestyle (15:52.71). Duff currently holds the fastest 50 freestyle time at 20.72 with Robledo the top time in the 100 freestyle at 44.61.
Senior co-captain Justin Kata and sophomore Kyle Cormier also had strong performances in the first half of the season. Cormier is the team’s leader in the 200 IM and 400 IM with times of 1:54.28 and 3:56.00 respectively. For the third straight year, Kata is the team’s leader at breaststroke with times of 57.78 and 2:05.91 in the 100 and 200 breaststroke.
All three men’s divers have also qualified for the NCAA Zones competition in March with David Ovelson the top scorer on the one-meter and Ian Balman the leader on the three-meter board.
Heading into the second half of the season, the USC women’s team looks to be ready to compete at the highest level at both the SEC and NCAA Championships. Senior diver Allison Brennan has proven to be one of the best in the nation with an undefeated record through the first half of the year. Both herself and Tracey Richardson have qualified for the NCAA Zones and figure to be among the contenders for SEC and NCAA titles before the year is over. Brennan won the NCAA championship on the one-meter in 2004 and Richardson earned an SEC championship back in 2003 on the three-meter board.
Depth continues to be the story for the women’s team with many swimmers contributing in different events. Sophomore swimmer Christy Williams has been a key component in both the freestyle and butterfly events. Williams has hit three NCAA individual “B” standards in the 200 freestyle and 100 and 200 butterfly. Her time of 1:59.12 in the 200 butterfly bested the school record she set last season as a freshman at the SEC Championships. Williams holds six of the team’s top times (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 200 IM).
Senior co-captain Haley Skaggs is finishing off her career with strong performances in the sprint freestyle events. Skaggs owns the fastest time on the team in the 100 freestyle (51.26) with the second fastest clips in the 50 freestyle (23.65) and 200 freestyle (1:49.89). Her time in the 200 freestyle also hit an NCAA “B” standard.
The emergence of several newcomers has also been a highlight of the 2005-06 campaign. Junior transfer Lindsey Tiberio has been a spark for Carolina at the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Tiberio has NCAA “B” standards in both events with times of 1:01.83 and 2:18.22 respectively. Freshman Amanda Dunnigan has provided a boost in all four events with the individual medley her strongest. Dunnigan has NCAA “B” standard times in both the 200 and 400 IM. Her 400 IM time of 4:20.01 is the fastest on the team with a time of 2:03.95 just behind Williams in the 200 IM.
