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Oct. 31, 2002

Columbia, S.C. – The Gamecocks are 1-1 on the season after winning their opening meet at home against College of Charleston and then falling short in a close match with Virginia in Charlottesville on Oct. 26.

The meet with Kentucky will be the first Southeastern Conference matchup of the year. After this Friday’s contest the Gamecocks will again be home to take on rival Clemson on Nov. 8.

“We are pretty evenly matched with Kentucky. They have a strong diving program, so our divers are really going to have to step up,” said head coach Don Gibb. “We have been training hard since Virginia and we are a little bit sore, but swimming here in our house is definitely an advantage that outweighs that.”

In the last meet at Virginia, Heather Skaggs, a sophomore, (100 Back, 100 Free) and Stephanie Margalis, a freshman, (200 free 500 free) both made the B qualifying standard. Chris McCrary also had a big meet headlined by his second win in the 50 free in as many meets. Carolina sophomore diver Andy Bradley also set a new 3-meter record at the UVA Aquatics Center with an overall score of 354.23. He also won the 1-meter board.

Coach Gibb is looking for his underclassmen again to show strong in the Kentucky meet. “The success of this team depends on our newcomers. The young people have got to step up and compete,” he said. “Overall we need to come out with more enthusiasm and work harder as a group, but we are ready for this and are looking forward to coming away with a win.”