Feb. 1, 2003
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – The University of South Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were defeated on Saturday afternoon by the University of Alabama. The men’s squad fell to No. 14 Alabama 135-107 while the No. 20 Alabama women’s team defeated USC 138.5-104.5.
Despite the loss, there were several bright spots for the Gamecocks. On the women’s side, USC finished 1-2-3 in the 1000 freestyle. Junior Bronwyn Dedekind placed first (10:17.33), freshman Stephanie Margalis second (10:17.46) and freshman Katie Bowden placed third (10:20.89). Also winning individual events for USC was junior Ashleigh Bastak in the 50 free with a time of 24.19. Sophomore Carolynn McHugh was right behind Bastak in the 50 free at 24.55. Sophomore Allison Brennan placed second on the one-meter diving board and sophomore Tracey Richardson placed second on the three-meter board. The women’s team also won the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:35.46 (Haley Skaggs, Jennifer VanAssen, Carolynn McHugh, Ashleigh Bastak).
On the men’s side, junior swimmers Chris McCrary and Tamas Szucs continued to shine in the freestyle events and sophomore Andy Bradley dominated the men’s diving competition with first place finishes in the one-meter (354.75) and three-meter (334.95) events. Szucs won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:39.78, just .02 seconds ahead of Alabama’s Stefan Gherghel and also claimed first in the 500 free (4:34.00). McCrary was first in the 50 free with a time of 20.60 and second in the 100 freestyle at 45.66, just .02 behind Alabama’s Apostolis Tsagarakis. Junior Lir Derieg also earned first place for USC in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:52.23.
South Carolina has now completed the dual meet season and is scheduled next to compete at the SEC Championships in Auburn, Ala. The SEC Championships will be held Feb. 19-22.
