Feb. 1, 2002
COLUMBIA, S.C. –
For the second consecutive meet, the No. 8 South Carolina men’s swimming and diving team pulled off a dual meet victory at the end of the meet in the 400 freestyle relay. Placing first and third in the 400 freestyle relay the Gamecocks won its dual meet, 123-120, over No. 13 Georgia at the Carolina Natatorium. The Gamecock men’s squad is now 10-2 in dual meets this season. The South Carolina women’s swimming and diving team was defeated by No. 5 Georgia, 136-104. The USC women’s squad is now 10-4 on the season.
“We keep getting better as we go and it’s nice for our swimmers to get used to winning at the end of an event,” said USC Head Swimming Coach Don Gibb. “We still have some things to work on fundamentally, especially with push offs but I’m pleased with our performances.”
Carolina had several top times and personal bests in this evening’s meet. The men’s 400 freestyle relay team (Gaspar, Szucs, Botello, Murphy) finished with its top time of the season at 2:59.26. Sophomore Tamas Szucs and senior Javier Botello both swam season-best times in the 200 freestyle, placing first and second respectively in the event. Szucs swam the 200 free at 1:37.45, while Botello finished with a time of 1:38.90. The Gamecocks finished 1-2-3 in the 50 freestyle. Senior Zsolt Gaspar finished with a time of 19.88, sophomore Chris McCrary placed a time of 20.63, a season-best and sophomore Ed Murphy earned third place with a time of 21.14. Gaspar also swam a season best time of 1:45.57 to win the 200 butterfly. McCrary earned first place in the 100 freestyle with a time of 45.63, with Botello finishing second with a season-best time of 45.76. Sophomore Lir Derieg finished with his top time of the season in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:50.09. Sophomore Istvan Bathazi also finished with two top times on the season in the 400 IM (3:48.85) and 200 breaststroke (2:02.93). Senior divers Brandon Hulko (313.43) and Brad Brown (304.43) also contributed finishing 1-2 on the one-meter boards. Hulko also won the three-meter board (327.60).
On the women’s side, freshman Heather Skaggs swam her two best times of the season in the 100 and 200 freestyle. Skaggs won the 100 freestyle with a time of 50.96 and placed second in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:51.22. Sophomore Bronwyn Dedekind also earned her personal best time of the season in the 200 free at 1:55.05. The women’s 400 freestyle relay finished first with a time of 3:27.33.
The women’s divers continued their dominance, finishing 1-2-3 on both the one-meter and three-meter boards. Sophomore Holly Hodges placed first on both the three-meter (310.65) and one-meter (290.25). Freshman Allison Brennan placed second on both boards (one-meter, 263.10, three-meter 301.50) and freshman Tracey Richardson placed third on both boards (one-meter, 260.25, three-meter, 265.50).
The Gamecocks will honor the seniors before their final home meet of the season, tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. vs. Alabama.
