Gamecocks Open NCAA Championships with All-American Performance
March 22, 2017
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – It didn’t take long for the University of South Carolina Swimming & Diving team to make history as the 2017 NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving Championships opened on Wednesday night at the IU Natatorium. Carolina’s team of Fynn Minuth, Tomas Peribonio, Akram Mahmoud and Cody Bekemeyer finished as All-Americans and set a new school record in the lone event of the night, the 800-yard freestyle relay.
The Gamecock relay team swam the race in 6:16.31, the second sub-6:20 time in program history. South Carolina scored four team points with the performance and thus sits in 13th-place with three full days of competition left on the docket.
RECAP
Minuth swam the first leg in 1:33.59, a personal record, before handing it off to Peribonio, who turned in a split of 1:33.81. Mahmoud turned in a swim of 1:33.62 and Peribonio closed the race with a split of 1:35.29.
The previous record of 6:19.93, which included Mahmoud, Minuth and Peribonio, came at the 2016 NCAA Championships where the squad finished at 15th.
NOTABLE
- The Gamecocks have now turned in an All-America performance in each of the last five seasons in the 800 free relay.
- Mahmoud and Peribonio were part of three All-America teams, while Minuth was part of the group in 2016.
- Bekemeyer earned his first career All-America honor.
UP NEXT FOR CAROLINA
The 2016 NCAA Men’s Championships begin in earnest on Thursday, as individual swimming and diving events get underway. Mahmoud, Minuth, Peribonio and Bekemeyer will swim the 500-yard freestyle, Nils Wich-Glasen is part of the 200-yard IM. Swimming prelims start at 10 a.m. and finals are scheduled for 6 p.m.
