Jan. 22, 2015

CoLUMBIA, S.C. –

The South Carolina swimming and diving team will wrap up its regular season this weekend with a two-session meet against Queens, Wingate, Vanderbilt (women) and Clemson (women’s diving) at Carolina Natatorium. Friday’s session is set get underway at 4 p.m. and events on Saturday will begin at 10 a.m.

Prior to Saturday’s start time, 14 Gamecocks will be honored as part of a senior day ceremony.

MEET INFORMATION
Date/Opponent: Fri., Jan. 23 – Sat., Jan. 24 vs. Queens, Wingate, Vanderbilt (women) and Clemson (women’s diving)
Time: Friday at 4 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m.
Location: Carolina Natatorium/Blatt P.E. Center
Admission: Free
Promotions: Student appreciation night – free pizza for the first 100 students (Friday), local swimmers day and post meet autographs (Saturday)
Meet Notes

SENIOR DAY
Swimmers Michael Covert, Sara Columbus, Sara Drake, Rachel Elliott, Karalyn Gibbs, Annika Jonsson, Jared Kauffman, Victoria Mitchell, Alex Vance, Charlotte Ward and Elisabeth Worrell and divers Kasey Catalfomo, Patricia Kranz and Cole Miller will be honored as part of the senior day festivities.

SERIES HISTORY
Queens
Both the men and women are 4-0 in dual meets against Royals.

Wingate
The Gamecocks have a 2-0 advantage over the Bulldogs.

Vanderbilt
The women have a 5-0 dual meet record against the commodores.

Clemson
Since Clemson began only sponsoring women’s diving at the start of the 2012-13 season, the Gamecocks are 1-1 against the Tigers.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET
Queens
Last season, the Gamecocks defeated the Royals with scores of 176-141 on the men’s side and 172-163 on the women’s side.

Wingate
Last season the Gamecock men earned a 57-point win over Wingate with a final score of 187-130, while the women defeated the Bulldogs 182-129.

Vanderbilt
The women’s squad defeated the Commodores 187-122 on Jan. 28, 2012.

Clemson
Last season, the women’s divers fell to the Tigers with a final score of 25-13.

SEC HONORS
After the women’s victory over Misssouri, the Gamecocks swept the SEC weekly honors as freshman Taylor Worrell and seniors Victoria Mitchell and Patricia Kranz were all recognized by the conference. Worrell was named SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week, Mitchell earned SEC Women’s Swimmer of the Week honors and Kranz was named SEC Diver of the Week.

Earlier this season senior Cole Miller and junior Lauren Lamendola were named SEC Male and Female Divers of the Week after their performances against East Carolina and College of Charleston.

MAKING THE CUT
Nine Gamecock swimmers have combined for 27 NCAA provisional cuts in 10 different events.

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK
Redshirt sophomore Kevin Leithold and freshman Nils Wich-Glasen set school records this fall in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, respectively. Leithold posted a time of 53.36 at the Virginia Tech Invitational, shaving .21 seconds of his previous record time of 53.57. Wich-Glasen beat the previous record of 1:56.47, held by senior Alex Vance, by .49 seconds with his time of 1:55.98 at the Virginia Tech Invitational. Senior Cole Miller set a record on the platform (6 dives) with his score of 360.90 at the Georgia Tech Invitational.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
The Gamecock freshmen put together an impressive first semester as they account for 17 top-10 times in school history and five of the nine swimmers who posted NCAA B cuts.

WATCH OUT FOR WICH-GLASEN
Freshman Nils Wich-Glasen has quickly become one of South Carolina’s top performers. He posted the first NCAA qualifying time for the Gamecocks this season, with a B cut time of 1:58.49 in the 200 breaststroke against East Carolina and College of Charleston. In addition to his school-record in 200 breaststroke, Wich-Glasen owns two times that rank in the top-10 in school history (100 breaststroke and 200 IM). His season-best times in the 100 (54.71) and 200 (1:55.98) breaststroke rank 14th and sixth in the SEC, respectively.

LEITHOLD IN THE LEAD
Redshirt sophomore Kevin Leithold is the Gamecocks’ top performer this season in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 200 IM. He has five times that rank in the top-20 in the SEC this season, including the fourth fastest time in the 100 breaststroke with his personal record of 53.36. Along with his school-record in the 100 breaststroke, Leithold owns four times that rank in the top-10 in school history.

BEWARE OF BOLAND
Sophomore Jonathan Boland is the Gamecocks’ top backstroker this season, posting NCAA B cut times in both the 100 and 200 backstroke. His career-best times in both events, which he set at the Virginia Tech Invitational earlier this season, rank fourth all-time in school history and 13th and 14th, respectively, in the SEC this season. Boland also recorded the fastest time in the 100 butterfly this season.

GOING THE DISTANCE
Freshmen Akram Mahmoud and Tomas Peribonio have quickly become the Gamecocks’ top distance swimmers this season. The pair owns the third and fourth best times in the 1000 freestyle in school history, respectively. Mahmoud owns the fastest time in the 1000 freestyle for South Carolina this season and ninth fastest in the SEC with his personal record of 9:11.74. Peribonio is the top performer this season in the 1650 freestyle and owns the second fastest time in the 1000 freestyle. His personal record of 9:13.63 in the 1000 freestyle currently ranks 10th in the SEC while his career-best times in the 1650 and 500 freestyle rank 10th and 15th, respectively.

Senior Victoria Mitchell is the top performer on the women’s side in the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle. Her personal record of 9:57.92 in the 1000 freestyle is the 10th fastest in the SEC this season. She also ranks 20th in the conference with her career-best time of 16:36.81 in the 1650 freestyle.

SHE HAS MERRITT
Freshman Heather Merritt leads the women’s team in the 100 and 200 backstroke, as well as the 200 IM and 100 butterfly. Merritt owns the second fastest times in school history in both the 100 backstroke and 200 IM. She also ranks seventh in the 200 backstroke and ninth in the 100 butterfly.

VAY MAKES A SPLASH
Freshman Meredith Vay posted the Gamecocks’ (women’s team) first time under 50 second in the 100 freestyle since the 2013 SEC Championships. Her time of 49.69, which she recorded on the first leg of the 400 freestyle relay at the Virginia Tech Invitational, ranks fourth all-time in school history and 20th in the SEC this season. Vay leads the Gamecocks in this season in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle. LOOKING AHEAD The Gamecocks will turn their attention to preparing for the SEC Championships, which run Feb. 17-21 in Auburn, Ala.