Jan. 29, 2005
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – The USC men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams split with Alabama on Saturday afternoon in dual meet competition. The Carolina women’s team defeated the Crimson Tide 126-117 with the men’s team falling to Alabama 149-94. The South Carolina women’s team is now 4-3 in dual meet action and 2-2 in the conference. The Gamecock men’s squad is 1-5 on the year.
A pair of Gamecock women each won two events to lead USC to victory. Senior diver Lauren King continued her success with first place finishes on both the one-meter and three-meter boards. King scored 290.48 on the one-meter and 299.10 on the three-meter securing the top spot on both boards. Carolina freshman swimmer Christy Williams led the Gamecocks in the pool with first place in the 200 freestyle at 1:51.59 and first place in the 200 butterfly at 2:02.92. Also coming away with a top finish for USC was sophomore Stephanie Margalis in the 500 freestyle. Margalis took home first place with a time of 5:00.89. With the meet coming down to the last event of the afternoon, the 400 freestyle relay team of Carolynn McHugh, Haley Skaggs, Diana Lopez and Alyssa Cady finished ahead of Alabama at 3:27.52 to clinch first place and the dual meet win.
“”I thought we were a little too slow out of the gate but we got better as the meet went on,” said USC head swimming coach Don Gibb. “We’re three weeks away from the big meet and we know what we need to improve and sharpen up. We have one more meet with Georgia. We will work to get better, get some rest and get ready for the big conference meet in Gainesville.”
The South Carolina men’s squad earned three victories in individual events on the afternoon. Sophomore Colby Mack and freshman Dan White finished 1-2 respectively in the 200 freestyle. Mack took the top place at 1:40.47 with White in second place at 1:41.39. White would earn first place in the 500 freestyle at 4:35.76 with Tim Farrington right behind him in second place with a time of 4:43.46. Senior diver Andy Bradley won the one-meter board competition with a score of 378.60.
South Carolina will compete in its final dual meet of the season on Saturday, Feb. 5 at Georgia at 1 p.m. The SEC Swimming & Diving Championships begin on Friday, Feb. 11 with the diving competition the first weekend in Gainesville, Fla.
