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South Carolina Sweeps Gamecock Invitational
Swimming and Diving  . 

South Carolina Sweeps Gamecock Invitational

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina swimming concluded their home invitational on Friday with a sweep. The women placed first out of seven teams competing while the men placed first out of three competing teams.

South Carolina’s women won all six of their events on the day and won a total of 17 out of the 18 events, finishing with 1,818.5 points. The next closest finisher was UNCW with 1,107.5 points.

South Carolina’s men won five of their six events on the day and a total of 15 of the 18 events. The Gamecocks finished with 1,611 points with UNCW being the next closest finisher with 1,245 points.

Gamecock Swimming Notables

  • Junior Hayley Mason won the first 1650 free of the season for Gamecocks, touching the wall in 16:28.92. Fellow junior Alicia Davie placed third in the event with a new personal best time of 16:42.53, shaving nearly 12 seconds off her previous personal best.
  • The Gamecock women swept the 200 back. Junior Tia Salcutan placed first with a 1:54.84, making her the third fastest swimmer in program history. Fellow junior Bella Pantano finished just behind her with a 1:55.22 which is a new personal best and ranks her at fourth in program history. Freshman Megan Maholic earned her first entry into the program record book, placing third with a 1:57.52 to enter her name at tenth.
  • Senior Janie Smith and freshman Dylan Scholes went 1-2 in the 100 free with Smith swimming a season best time of 48.98 and Scholes swimming a new career best of 49.12.
  • Junior Laura Goettler won the 200 breast with a season best time of 2:12.77. She was followed in second place by Georgia Johnson who swam a 2:13.28.
  • South Carolina’s women swept the 200 fly with Greta Plezek in first (1:57.45), Victoria Kwan in second (1:58.00), and Nicholle Toh in third (1:58.32).
  • South Carolina’s ‘A’ relay team of Smith, Aubrey Channdler, Amy Riordan, and Scholes marked their names in the record book as the program’s second fastest relay team. The group swam a 3:16.43 for first place.
  • Fifth-year senior Rafael Davila won his first 1650 free of the season. He swam a 15:11.77 for first place. He was followed by freshman Jose Castro in second place, swimming a 15:35.52.
  • Freshman Jay Baker and senior Patrick Groters went 1-2 in the 200 back. Baker earned his first entry into the program record books, swimming a 1:43.91, making him the fourth fastest in program history.
  • Michael Laitarovsky and Guy Gropper went 2-3 in the 100 free. Laitarovsky swam a career best time of 44.57 for second place and Gropper swam a 44.60 for third place.
  • Sophomore Liam Kerns swam his best time of the season in the 200 breast, touching the wall in 1:59.41 for first place.
  • Luke DeVore continued his dominance in the 200 fly, winning it with a season best time of 1:45.90.
  • The Gamecock men made an incredible comeback to win the 400 free relay with a time of 2:57.23. The ‘A’ team of Gropper, Mark Shperkin, Erge Gezmis, and Laitarovsky, were trailing through the first two legs, but Gezmis made up time with a 44.10 split and Laitarovsky closed the door with a 43.34 final 100 yards.

Gamecock Diving Notables

  • Graduate diver Brooke Schultz won the 1-meter on Friday, completing her sweep of the springboard events. The Fayetteville, Arkansas, native advanced to the finals after placing second in the prelims with a 315.25. Schultz was able to take the lead in the final and placed first with a score of 320.55. Schultz came out on top of 35 divers in the competition.
  • In the men’s 3-meter event, senior Manny Vazquez Bas advanced to the finals after placing fifth in the prelims with a 343.70. Freshman Charley Bayer just missed the finals, placing 13th with a 294. 70.
  • Vazquez Bas retained his spot in fifth place in the finals, finishing with a score of 336.75.

Up next for the Gamecocks

South Carolina’s swimmers will be in action next at home on Jan. 7 when they host UNCW in dual competition. The meet will begin at 10 a.m.

The Gamecock divers will conclude competition on Saturday at the Tennessee Invitational with the platform diving event beginning at 12:30. Diving will be streamed live on the SEC Network+.

For all the latest South Carolina swimming and diving information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockSwim).

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