Nov. 10, 2001
COLUMBIA, S.C. –
The No. 17 South Carolina men’s swimming and diving team (4-1, 2-1) upset the No. 11 Florida Gators, 129-114, in dual meet action at the Carolina Natatorium, Saturday morning. The women’s swimming and diving team (3-2, 1-2) fell to the No. 8 Gators, 139-104 also in dual meet action. Senior All-American Zsolt Gaspar, and sophomores Istvan Bathazi, Tamas Szucs each won two separate individual heats for USC.
“I’m pleased with the performances and anytime you can beat Florida, it is a great thing and a boost for the program,” said Head Coach Don Gibb. “This will be a confidence builder heading into our meet with Clemson. The team had some nice aggressive racing today, and we had really good fan support.”
The men’s team broke out to its first team lead with a victory in the 200 freestyle. Sophomore Tamas Szucs, junior Maciek Kajak and senior Javier Botello finished 1-2-3 for the Gamecocks. Szucs finished first with a time of 1:37.76. Gaspar earned first place in the 50 freestyle (20.13) and 200 butterfly (1:48.39). Sophomore Chris McCrary notched a top finish in the 100 freestyle with a time of 45.53.
In the diving portion of the event, senior Brandon Hulko won the one-meter diving competition with a score of 297.75. Hulko also earned a second place finish in the three-meter diving competition with a score of 315.60.
“Brandon looked very good on the one-meter board today and he did a good job overall,” said USC Head Coach Todd Sherritt. “(Freshman) Dean Emmerton had a good three-meter board and I think he will be someone to watch in the next couple years.”
For the USC women’s squad, sophomore Anna Nyiry won the 50 free (23.63) and freshman Heather Skaggs earned a first place finish in the 100 free (51.15). Also earning a first place finish for the Gamecocks was freshman Capi Adams in the 200 IM with a time of 2:06.73.
Sophomore Holly Hodges won both the one-meter and three-meter diving competitions with scores of 275.33 and 265.05 respectively.
“Holly did a nice job on both boards and she is doing a good job with some of the things she is working on,” said Coach Sherritt. “I would like to see her begin to dominate a little more and just edge out a win every night.”
The Gamecocks will be back in action next Friday at the Carolina Natatorium for a 5 p.m. dual meet vs. in-state rival Clemson.
