Nov. 14, 2003
Columbia, SC – Carolina swimming & diving fell to the nationally ranked Florida Gators Friday, at the Carolina Natatorium. The women were defeated 135-80 while the men were defeated 128-95.
Despite the loss, on the men’s side, there were many standout performances. Tamas Szucs took home first in the 200-yard free (1:39.70) and Istvan Bathazi met the NCAA B Standard in the 400 IM (3:53.26). The men’s divers also had a good night with Andy Bradley placing first in the 1-meter and Dean Emmerton placing first in the 3-meter.
On the women’s side, Heather Skaggs led the way with first place finishes in the 50-yard free (23.57) and the 100-yard free (51.52). The women’s 200-yard free relay (Ashley Bastak, Jennifer Van Assen, Heather Skaggs, Carolyn McHugh) finished first as well. Taking home first for the women in the 1-meter diving was Holly Hodges (296.85) with Allison Brennan placing second (290.78).
Coming into the meet, Coach Don Gibb said the key to tonight’s match-up would be improvement. Many of the swimmers met their season highs at this meet. “We did improve and we finished well. We will take this experience with us to Auburn and hopefully finish well there against top competitors” Coach Gibb commented after the meet. Coach Todd Sherritt was pleased with the overall performance of the diver’s. “Dean Emmerton has been training hard and it is paying off” he stated.
The Gamecocks head to Auburn to compete in the Auburn Invitational on December 4-6.
