Oct. 14, 2001

GAINESVILLE, Fla. –
The University of South Carolina swimming teams finished competition at the SEC East Challenge in the SEC Invitational this evening. Both the men’s squad and women’s squad finished fourth out of five teams this weekend at the SEC East Challenge. The men finished with 272 points and the women finished with 242.5 points. USC competed against SEC rivals Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee in tonight’s invitational at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Florida won on the women’s side with 463 points and Tennessee won the men’s side with 535 points.

“This was a very encouraging experience and a good start to our season,” said Coach Gibb. “We are a lot more competitive this year and we are starting to add depth. The bulk of our team is young and we will continue to train and work at home on our strengths and weaknesses before we have to compete again.”

Highlighting for both the men’s and women’s squad was All-American senior Zsolt Gaspar, who won the 100 butterfly at 49.2. Sophomore Chris McCrary finished right behind Gaspar at 49.9 Also earning an individual title was sophomore Istvan Bathazi in the 400 IM. Bathazi finished the 400 IM with a time of 3:54.4.

Other individuals reaching the finals for USC at the SEC Invitational include sophomore Anna Nyiry. Nyiry placed second in the 100 fly on the women’s side with a time of 59.1. Nyiry also finished fourth in the 100 backstroke. Freshman Heather Skaggs placed fifth and sophomore Kristen Butler finished eighth as well in the 100 backstroke.

South Carolina also came out of the SEC Invitational looking strong in the relays. The men’s 200 free relay finished second with a time of 1:23.23 (Gaspar, McCrary, Javier Botello, Ed Murphy). The women’s free relay placed third with a time of 1:36.23 (Nyiry, Skaggs, Butler, Carolynn McHugh).

USC will now take a week off before traveling to Charleston, S.C. for a dual meet vs. the College of Charleston on Oct. 26 at 5 p.m.