Three Gamecocks Earn SEC Weekly Honors
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina swimming and diving saw three athletes make appearances in the weekly conference honors during the first week of the season. Graduate diver Brooke Schultz was named Women’s Diver of the Week, senior Manny Vazquez Bas was named Co-Men’s Diver of the Week, and freshman Jose Castro was named Men’s Freshman of the Week.
Schultz put up a spectacular performance in her first meet of the season. The reigning SEC-Diver of the Year proved why she is deserving of the title, sweeping the springboards to earn 18 points towards the team’s win. Schultz not only swept the springboards, but also broke her own school record in the process. On the 3-meter dive, the Fayetteville, Arkansas, native scored a 413.78, improving upon her previous school record of 407.30 that she set at the 2022 SEC Championships.
Schultz’s scores in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives were both enough to qualify her for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships in March 2023. Both dive events also set new personal best scores for Schultz during her time in the Garnet and Black. In addition to setting new personal bests, Schultz also currently holds the highest scores in the NCAA this season for both springboard events.
On the men’s side, Vazquez Bas was named Co-Diver of the Week with Florida’s Anton Svirskyi. The Gamecock swept the springboards at the team’s dual versus Army, individually earning 18 points for the team. Vazquez Bas also earned NCAA Zone qualifying scores in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dive events at his first appearance of the season.
The San Juan, Puerto Rico, native set a new personal best score in the 3-meter dive of 382.73, 8.68 points higher than his previous personal best. His previous personal best was a 374.05 that he set at the Tennessee Diving Invitational in January. Vazquez Bas’ 3-meter dive score is also the highest score in the nation so far this season.
On the swimming side of things, Castro earned his first conference honor in the first meet of his college career. Castro won the 500 free with a time of 4:31.46 which is the fifth fastest time in the NCAA so far this season. The freshman also placed fourth in the 1000 free which helped him to individually contribute 11 points towards the team.
Schultz, Vazquez Bas, Castro, and the rest of the Gamecocks will be in action next on Oct. 8 when they host LSU. The meet will be the team’s annual breast cancer awareness meet with diving starting at 10 a.m. and swimming beginning at 11 a.m.For all the latest South Carolina swimming and diving information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockSwim).
