March 22, 2006

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina swimming and diving team will conclude the season this weekend when they participate in the 2006 Men’s NCAA Championships in Atlanta, Ga. The event will be hosted by Georgia Tech University, March 23-25. The Gamecocks have five participants scheduled to compete.

The 800-free relay team of Dan White, Kyle Cormier, Colby Mack and Christian Robledo will also compete in individual events, in addition to diver David Ovelson. The men’s team hopes to improve on its 26th-place finish from last year.

This marks the first NCAA Championship appearance for all five athletes. White will compete in the 500-free, Cormier in the 200 IM, Mack in the 200-free and Robledo in the 100-free. Ovelson will dive in the 1-meter and 3-meter events.

White is USC’s top distance swimmer and just missed the NCAA Championships as a freshman last year. This season, he leads the Gamecocks in the distance events and finished 12th in the 500-free at the SEC Championships.

Cormier, who finished 16th at the SEC Championships in the 200 IM, will attempt to improve on his top time of 1:49.29, while Mack and Robledo will represent the Gamecocks in the 200-free and100-free, respectively. Mack finished ninth at the SEC Championships in this event.

The lone freshman in the group is diver Ovelson. Ovelson finished third on the 1-meter board to earn his spot at the NCAA Championships.

The highest the Gamecocks have ever finished at the Championships was tenth place back in 1986-87. The last time USC cracked the Top 20 was in 1999-2000 when they placed 18th.

For more information regarding the 2006 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, visit www.ncaachampionships.com or www.uscsports.com.