Oct. 24, 2015
The University of South Carolina 18th-ranked men’s swimming and diving team opened up its home slate with a 167-129 win over Purdue on Saturday afternoon at the Carolina Natatorium/Blatt P.E. Center.
The Gamecocks got off to a fast start by winning the 400-yard medley relay. The quartet of Bryce Kananowicz, Nils Wich-Glasen, Kevin Leithold and Jonathan Boland touched the pad in 3:16.91, nearly three seconds ahead of Purdue’s top team.
Akram Mahmoud (9:03.03) and Cody Bekemeyer (9:10.64) went 1-2 in the 1000 -yard freestyle to keep the momentum on the Gamecocks’ side early in the meet.
After Purdue won both the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke, Wich-Glasen got the Gamecocks back in the win column with a 55.18 clocking in the 100-yard breaststroke, bettering the “B” standard time of 55.39. Mahmoud followed that up with his second win, posting a 1:49.36 to capture the 200-yard butterfly.
Purdue closed out the first portion of the swimming events by taking the top two spots in the 50-yard freestyle.
When the swimming resumed after the first diving intermission, Leithold (44.96) and Patrick McCrillis (46.36) went 1-2 for the Gamecocks in the 100-yard freestyle, but the Boilermakers continued to have the upperhand in the backstroke events, taking the top two positions in the 200 to keep the meet close, but Wich-Glasen and Mahmoud responded to retain the Gamecocks’ advantage.
Wich-Glasen captured his second individual win and third first-place finish on the day with a victory in the 200-yard breaststroke, tapping the pad in 1:58.84, just ahead of the “B” standard time of 1:59.79.
Mahmoud won for the third time, posting a “B” cut time of 4:24.15 to take the 500-yard freestyle, just ahead of teammate Bekemeyer. Carolina also took the top two spots in the 100 butterfly behind Leithold (49.19) and Boland (49.69).
South Carolina swept the top three spots in the 400 IM behind Tomas Peribonio (3:55.86), Bekemeyer (3:56.74) and Phillip Willett (3:58.79).
The Gamecocks capped the meet with an exhibition win in the 400 freestyle relay, with Leithold, Mahmoud, McCrisslis and Boland touching in 3:01.01.
Sophomore diver Jordon Gotro (336.30) came up big for Carolina, taking the top spot on the 1-meter springboard, then posted a 418.73 on the 3-meter board to sweep the diving competition.
In a separate event, the South Carolina women defeated the Clemson women in diving, 30-8.
The Gamecocks got off to a fast start on the 1-meter board, taking the top three spots. Julia Vincent led the way with a score of 316.43 to earn nine points. Marissa Roth (283.05) and Lauren Lamendola (281.03) took second and third in the event, respectively.
Vincent made it an individual sweep by scoring 31.7.70 on the 3-meter board, just ahead of teammate Lamendola, who tallied 303.00.
NOTABLES
- The Gamecocks won 10 of the 14 swimming events, including both relays, and both diving events.
- Akram Mohmoud’s 500 and 1000 freestyle times are among the fastest in the nation.
QUOTABLE South Carolina Head Coach McGee Moody
We were really good today. I didn’t really know what to expect from the amount of training we had done this week. We knew it was going to be a very close competition. They match up really well with us. They were 17th in the country last year at the NCAA Championships and we were 19th. We had some outstanding swims.
I’m not sure what the limit to what (Akram) can do is. He’s an outstanding athlete and he is a very hard worker. Nils was much better today than he was down in Florida. We had some great swims from freshmen as well. Our young guys did really, really well.
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks open SEC action next Saturday when they host the Alabama Crimson Tide on October 31 at the Blatt P.E. Center/Carolina Natatorium. The meet starts at 10 a.m. ET.
