Dec. 7, 2002
Auburn, Ala. – The University of South Carolina men’s and women’s swim teams completed competition on Saturday at the Auburn Invitational. South Carolina comes away from the weekend breaking three school records, with four members of the No. 22 women’s squad qualifying for the NCAA Championships. The women’s 200 freestyle relay (Anna Nyiry, Heather Skaggs, Carolynn McHugh, Jennifer VanAssen) placed first and set a new school record with a time of 1:30.76. South Carolina won the event and reached the NCAA “A” Standard. All four individuals also set a school record in the 400 medley relay on Friday, with Jennifer VanAssen also setting a record in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:47.31. The men’s squad placed third vs. No. 4 Auburn and No. 10 Virginia with 603.5 points, with the No. 22 USC women’s squad finishing fourth to No. 1 Auburn, No. 9 California and No. 11 Virginia with 620 points.
“Overall this was a good event for our team and we are really excited with qualifying our swimmers from the 200 free relay into the NCAA Championships, it is the most swimmers we have qualified since I have been here,” said USC head swimming coach Don Gibb. “This weekend was a good opportunity to swim against the top competition in the nation and to identify our weaknesses and what we need to work on. It’s a great opportunity to see the best in the best with swimmers like Natalie Coughlin (California), who broke two American records, and our swimmers need to see that and learn.”
VanAssen had Carolina’s top performance of the final day of competition with a second place finish in the 100 freestyle (49.93). Heather Skaggs placed fourth (50.50), Carolynn McHugh sixth (51.20) and Haley Skaggs seventh (51.38) as the Gamecocks continued their success in the sprint freestyle events. In the men’s 100 freestyle, junior Tamas Szucs returned from his first place finish in the 200 freestyle, Friday, with fifth place in the 100 at a time of 45.05. Juniors Chris McCrary (45.09) and Ed Murphy (46.16) also placed sixth and eighth respectively.
Also earning an NCAA provisional standard time for USC was junior Bronwyn Dedekind in the 200 butterfly. Dedekind placed third in the 200 fly with a time of 2:02.27, a personal best. Junior Lir Derieg also competed in the men’s finals and placed sixth with a time of 1:49.93. The men’s 400 freestyle relay team also came away with a top time of the season, placing third in the final event of the meet with a time of 3:02.64. South Carolina will next compete on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2003 at the Carolina Natatorium vs. Tennessee and Penn State.
