Oct. 13, 2005

Columbia, S.C. – The South Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams continue its dual meet season hosting the home opener on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 1 p.m. at the Carolina Natatorium against Florida. USC enters the meet fresh off its first dual meet of the season, two weeks ago at Auburn.

“I think from a work ethic standpoint, we continue to get better and better week by week, which is what we need to see throughout the year,” said USC head swimming coach Don Gibb. “The swimmers that had very successful meets against Auburn, if they can continue to improve at that rate, up to our championship season, we will be in good shape. We need to do a good job staying healthy. Florida is going to bring out the best in us just like Auburn did. Every meet is an opportunity to see what we are made of and what kind of condition we are in.”

Both the men’s and women’s teams are 0-1 in dual meet competition following the meet at defending SEC champion Auburn. The Gamecocks have started out the season with arguably the toughest schedule in the nation facing two of the top teams in the country. Auburn has won three consecutive NCAA championships on the men’s side and was second last year on the women’s side. Florida was right near the top as well with their women’s team taking fourth at NCAA’s and the men¹s team earning fifth place. Florida is entering their first week of competition for the 2005-06 season.

“It’s especially good for the young members of our team, so they can understand the level of competition we are up against,” said Gibb. “The SEC is the best of the best. We are looking for improvement in the way they put their races together, hopefully being able to finish stronger and their fundamentals should be sound and they can build on their previous experiences. The most important thing is learning to race at a high level. It takes time and with some of the young ones there is a little bit of intimidation involved. Everyone doesn’t have an opportunity to race against gold medalists and NCAA champions. Every time you swim against a SEC team you see world-class, national-caliber athletes. This is a snapshot of what we are going to be facing at the SEC and NCAA Championships.”