Nov. 29, 2006

Columbia, S.C. – The men’s and women’s swimming and diving squads will travel to Columbus, Ohio this weekend to participate in the Ohio State Invitational.

The event is being held at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, which is the site of the 2008 NCAA championships. The meet will follow the NCAA championship format, beginning on Friday and wrapping-up on Sunday. South Carolina will face non-SEC competitors including top ranked teams such as Minnesota, Notre Dame, and Ohio State.

“This will be a great opportunity for us to swim against some new faces, especially from Big 10 schools,” said head coach Don Gibb.

The Gamecock men are currently 3-3 on the season and the women are 3-4 on the season. On the men’s side juniors Kyle Cormier and Dan White have had strong performances throughout the season; Cormier leads the team in the 200 free and White leads the team in both the 500 and 1000 free. On the women’s side junior Heather Roffey, junior All-American Christy Williams, and sophomore Sharnetelle McLean have all recorded top ten SEC times. The South Carolina diving team is also strong. Senior Lyndsey Havens leads the SEC on both the 1 M and 3 M boards and Sophomore David Ovelson is no. 3 on the 3 M board and no. 10 on the 1 M. The entire team will attend this weekend’s meet.

“We hope to be able to walk away from there with some kids making some NCAA standards, or if not that, at least some season best times,” said Gibb.