Nov. 3, 2005
Columbia, S.C. – The South Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams return to action on Friday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. with a non-conference dual meet at Clemson. The Gamecocks head into the meet vs. Clemson with a 1-3 dual meet record on the men’s side and a 1-4 mark on the women’s side. USC has faced one of the top schedules in the country in the first month of action with meets against nationally ranked Auburn, Florida and Tennessee already completed on the year.
“We are looking forward to going up there to compete,” said USC head swimming coach Don Gibb. “All of our team is pretty fired up and we’ve had a decent week of practice. Everyone’s been sharp this week and it should be a good experience for everyone involved with this meet.”
For the Carolina women’s team, USC senior diver Allison Brennan has returned from her redshirt season in top form as she has finished first in all six events she has entered in this season on the one-meter and three-meter boards. Sophomore swimmer Christy Williams has also been a top contributor for Carolina with top times in four events for Carolina. Williams has been the fastest for USC in the 100 butterfly (55.56), 200 butterfly (2:01.27), 200 freestyle (1:50.59) and 500 freestyle (4:54.70). Williams has reached an NCAA “B” qualifying standard in the 200 butterfly, an event she set the school record in as a freshman. Two newcomers have also been a big part of the early success for Carolina in the individual medley and breaststroke events. Freshman swimmer Amanda Dunnigan leads the team in the 400 IM (4:23.14) with junior transfer Lindsey Tiberio holding top times in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.29) and 200 breaststroke (2:21.37). Senior captain Haley Skaggs is the team’s top sprinter in freestyle with a time of 23.86 in the 50 freestyle and a mark of 51.82 in the 100 freestyle. Carly Hensel’s is USC leader’s in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke.
The USC men’s team has raced well in the first month seeing improvement throughout the year and some top swims in the distance events. Sophomore swimmer Dan White has been impressive as winner in several distance competitions thus far. White holds the men’s top time in the 500 freestyle (4:37.47), 1000 freestyle (9:30.60) and 1650 freestyle (16:14.01). Junior swimmer Colby Mack has seen a fresh start with USC’s best times in the 100 freestyle (46.53) and 200 freestyle (1:42.18). Senior captains Reid Duff and Justin Kata are also at the top of the list in their top events. Duff leads the sprinters in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.19 with Kata the number one performer in the 100 breaststroke at 58.74 and 200 breaststroke at 2:09.35. All three men’s divers have also qualified for the NCAA Zones competition already this season. Freshman diver David Ovelson has the highest score on the one-meter board at 355.65 with senior diver Ian Balman the highest mark on the three-meter board (393.08).
South Carolina defeated Clemson last year on both the men’s and women’s side. Highlighting the afternoon was White’s performance in his first career dual meet, as he won three events as USC defeated Clemson 140.5-99.5. The women’s team also had one of its top showings of the year defeating the Tigers 164-79.
