Nov. 7, 2008

COLUMBIA – The South Carolina swimming and diving team, fresh off a dual-meet sweep of rival Clemson, looks to carry that momentum into what is certain to be its most challenging dual meet of the fall season as the Gamecocks face No. 5 Florida in Gainesville, Fla., at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Both the Gamecock men’s and women’s teams enter the meet with identical 1-2 dual-meet records, falling to top-15 opponents Virginia and North Carolina and defeating Clemson. This will be both the first road meet and the first swim against a conference opponent of the 2008-09 season for the Gamecocks.

South Carolina will look to get strong swims from sophomore Megan Sparks, who set a school record in the 100-yard backstroke in the Clemson meet. Her time of 55.86 seconds broke a 16-year-old school record, set by Michelle McCarthy in 1992. The swim fell just a few tenths of a second short of an NCAA `B’ cut (55.13).

Also looking to improve their top times are senior Amanda Dunnigan and freshman Lindsey Olson. Dunnigan is among the top swimmers in the SEC in the breaststroke events, within striking range of `B’ cuts in the 100- and 200-yard events. Olson, meanwhile, has dominated the butterfly events for the Gamecocks, scoring the fourth- and third-best times in the SEC in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly, respectively.

The Gamecock women boast the third-fastest 400 freestyle relay team in the league thus far with a 3:24.42 from Kassy Kugler, Sparks, Sharntelle McLean and Claire Thompson in the Clemson meet. Another NCAA `B’ cut is in sight with 3:22.72 the time to beat; however, the event will not be contested this weekend at Florida.

On the men’s side, freshmen Armin Hornikel and James Crawford have been two of the strongest performers thus far. Hornikel took wins in both breaststroke events against Clemson and was a vital part of the winning 200 medley relay team. Crawford also helped Carolina to victory in the 200 MR, but his strongest swims have come in the backstroke events as he holds the fourth-best time in the league in the 200-yard backstroke. Crawford has also proven a formidable option for Carolina in the individual medley as he won the 200 IM against Clemson with a 1:53.24.

Seniors Nicholas Walkotten and Kyle Cormier provide strength in the butterfly and sprint freestyle events, respectively. Walkotten, an All-SEC performer a year ago, has the league’s second-best time in the 100 fly (49.10) and looks to keep going lower in pursuit of the NCAA cut time of 47.65. Cormier won the 100 and 200 free against Clemson and aims to keep up his winning ways this weekend.

In the diving well, the Gamecocks already have five of seven divers qualified for postseason competition as Taryn Zack, Helen Alvey, Ali Lane, Allison Barr and Corry Christian have secured NCAA Zone qualifying scores. South Carolina will look to make it four SEC Diver of the Week awards in a row in their meet with the Gators Saturday.

Florida’s men enter the meet 2-1 overall with a 2-0 mark in SEC competition. The Gator women are 2-2 overall, 1-1 in the league. The last meeting between the schools came on Jan. 20, 2007, with the Gator men posting a 190-109 victory and the Florida women winning 176.5-123.5. The Gamecock men are 4-23 all-time against the Gators while the Carolina women have never defeated Florida in 16 attempts.

One-meter diving gets underway at noon with the swimming portion of the meet set for a 2 p.m. start at the O’Connell Center Natatorium.

ORDER OF EVENTS