Swimming and Diving . February 14, 2023

Gamecocks Earn Two Medals, Set New School Record on First Night of SECs

College Station, Texas – South Carolina swimming and diving had a successful first night at the SEC Championships, earning a 1-2 finish in women’s diving and setting a new men’s relay school record.

Events at the SEC Championships began midday on Tuesday with preliminary rounds of diving. The Gamecock divers had three entries advance to the finals, Manny Vazquez Bas advanced on the men’s 1-meter and Brooke Schultz and Sophie Verzyl both advanced on the 3-meter.

Schultz advanced to the finals holding the No. 1 seed in the event after scoring a 374.25 in the preliminary round. Verzyl advanced after having placed sixth in the preliminary round with a 301.35.

The Gamecock women dominated in the final round of the event. Schultz held her spot in first place throughout, scoring a 356.35 to earn her fourth SEC 3-meter title and second in consecutive years. Verzyl earned the first SEC medal of her career, jumping up into the No. 2 spot with a score of 349.65 for silver.

Vazquez Bas competed in the men’s 1-meter final where he placed 8^th overall with a final score of 317.60.

On the swim side of things, the men’s 200 medley relay team of Michael Laitarovsky, Daniel West, Guy Gropper, and Mark Shperkin set a new school record, swimming a 1:24.40. The previous record of 1:24.54 had been in place since 2019. The group placed eighth overall.

South Carolina ends first first day of competition in fourth place on the women’s side with 142 points, and in sixth place on the men’s side with 115 points.

The SEC Championships will continue tomorrow with the 200 free relay, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and women’s 1-meter diving. Swim prelims will begin at 9:30 a.m. CT with dive prelims beginning at noon CT. Finals will begin at 5:30 p.m. CT. The SEC Network + will provide coverage of all events. A detailed schedule of events, live results, and streaming links is available here.

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

Finals results

Men’s 1-meter

8 – Manny Vazquez Bas – 317.60

Women’s 200 medley relay

10 – Pantano, Steele, Toh, Chandler – 1:37.54

Men’s 200 medley relay

8 – Laitarovsky, West, Gropper, Shperkin – 1:24.40

Women’s 3-meter

1 – Schultz – 356.35

2 – Verzyl – 349.65

Women’s 800 free relay

6 – Riordan, Kwan, Alexander, Smith