Oct. 21, 2011
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina and Georgia Tech swimming and diving programs will meet for the first time since 2007 on Saturday, as the Gamecocks host the Yellow Jackets in their home opener at 3 p.m. at the Blatt P.E. Center/Carolina Natatorium.
The South Carolina men have dominated the series with Georgia Tech, owning an 8-1 all-time record. The Gamecock women are 1-0 all-time against the Yellow Jackets. The Gamecocks swept Georgia Tech in the last meeting in 2007.
The Gamecock women enter the contest at 1-1 on the season, while the men are 0-2 after a challenging season-opening tri-meet last weekend at Florida State against the Seminoles and Alabama. The Carolina women pulled out a thrilling 151-149 victory over the Crimson Tide but fell to Florida State, 201.50-93.50. The men lost to the Seminoles, 199-101, and dropped a 171-129 decision to Alabama.
South Carolina head coach McGee Moody said both squads need to perform better on Saturday to have success against the Yellow Jackets.
“Georgia Tech is a good program. They are very solid,” Moody said. “They have an outstanding freshman class on the men’s side. I think they were No. 6 in the country last year with their incoming recruiting class. We match up pretty well with them. We’ve got to get out there and race and get it done when the time comes at 3 o’clock on Saturday. We’ve had a good week of practice. I think we are ready to go.”
The Gamecocks had several strong performances on both sides at Florida State. Sophomore Rachael Schaffer helped clinch the win over Alabama as she claimed first in the 200 IM with a time of 2:04.58. Sophomore Amanda Rutqvist placed second in the 200 breaststroke.
Senior Courtney Forcucci earned SEC Female Diver of the Week honors after placing second in the three-meter springboard and third in the one-meter springboard.
On the men’s side, freshman Alex Vance had a memorable start to his Gamecock career, winning the 200 breaststroke and claiming third in the 100 breaststroke. Junior Matt Columbus (1,000-yard freestyle), sophomore Gerard Rodriguez (200 freestyle), junior Max Heinze (100 backstroke) and junior Brooks Ross (500 freestyle) all earned second-place finishes in the meet.
“It was not our best day,” Moody said. “We had some good swims and some not so good races. If anything we found what we really need to work on. I think we had some people that responded pretty well, but for the most part we’ve got some work to do.
Georgia Tech is 0-1 on both the men and women’s sides after falling in the season opener at Georgia. The Yellow Jackets will swim tonight in a dual meet at North Carolina before making their way to the Carolina Natatorium.
The diving corps led the Yellow Jackets last week against the Bulldogs with a sweep of the boards. Junior Helen Alvey set a school record in the one-meter springboard and also won the three-meter springboard. On the men’s side, junior Brandon Makinson won both the one and three-meter springboards.
The men’s and women’s one-meter diving is set to start at 2 p.m. on Saturday with the swimming portion of the meet scheduled to begin at 3. Live scoring will be available at sportstiming.com.
