Oct. 26, 2013
GREENVILLE, N.C. – The South Carolina men’s swimming and diving team improved to 2-1 on the season with a convincing 191-107 win on the road at Minges Natatorium against East Carolina, while the women were defeated 152.5-147.5 after the Pirates picked up the win on the final relay of the meet.
The 25th-ranked men’s team claimed 13 events, led by senior Michael Flach and redshirt freshman Kevin Leithold who each grabbed three individual wins. Slow to start the season, Flach picked things up today by winning the 100 (50.49) and 200 (1:51.50) butterfly and the 1000 freestyle (9:31.56). Leithold, who made a big splash last week at Tennessee, won the 50 (21.16) and 100 (45.97) freestyle along with the 200 IM (1:51.17). The two also teamed up with junior Michael Covert and senior Gerard Rodriguez to win the 400 freestyle relay at 3:06.78.
Also producing a multi-win day for the men was sophomore Marwan El Kamash who won the 200 freestyle in 1:39.70 as well as the 500 freestyle in 4:37.28.
“The guys were relatively strong today. They came back well after an off meet at Tennessee with some very good performances today from Marwan El Kamash, Kevin Leithold, Michael Flach and Michael Covert,” head coach McGee Moody said.
“Some guys who we expected to do well last week didn’t, but they came back strong today and sometimes that happens.”
The women’s competition went down to the final event with to teams tied. The Pirates won the 400 freestyle relay by less than four seconds to earn 11 points and win the meet.
The Gamecocks totaled eight wins on the day as Victoria Mitchell claimed three of them. The junior captured the 200 (1:52.06) and 500 (4:44.77) freestyle along with the 200 backstroke (2:00.43). Grabbing two wins was senior Abby Galbreath in the 200 IM at 2:05.08 and the 1000 freestyle (10:13.56).
“The women were very good today. Our girls were faster than they were at Tennessee; they were sharper than they were at Tennessee. East Carolina was just outstanding today, probably the best East Carolina women’s team I’ve ever seen. We took it all the way to the last event, but came up just short. All I can ask is that they keep improving and if they’re doing that, then I can’t hold it against them. I was very proud of what they did,” Moody said.
In the diving well, the Gamecocks won all four boards, going 1-2 in each event. For the men, junior Cole Miller won the 1-meter with a score of 275.40 and the 3-meter with 398.90 points. Freshman Jordan Gotro took second in both events with point totals of 295.5 in the 1-meter and 325.90 on the 3-meter.
Sophomore Lauren Lamendola topped junior Patricia Kranz in both boards with scores of 275.40-266.48 on the 1-meter springboard and 308.10-293.70 on the 3-meter.
“We had a good day winning all of the events, going 1-2 on both boards. Cole had another outstanding performance and Lauren really stepped up to win both boards. It was a good meet, but we need to take the next two weeks to work on some basics,” diving coach Todd Sherritt said.
The Gamecocks will be off next weekend before hosting their only meet of the fall on Nov. 9 as they welcome LSU to the Blatt P.E. Center/Carolina Natatorium. The meet is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. ET.
