Nov. 20, 2008
COLUMBIA – South Carolina put together a very strong opening session of the 2008 Gamecock Invitational on Thursday morning, advancing 20 swimmers to finals in their respective events. The 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley and 50 freestyle were contested in the morning session at the Carolina Natatorium.
Carolina’s 50 freestyle squad had the most impressive showing of the morning, filling three of four spots in the “super final” as Nicholas Walkotten, Kyle Cormier and Todd Weyandt turned in the second-, third- and fourth-fastest times in the preliminary heats. Walkotten touched the wall in 20.97 seconds, well below his previous personal best, while Cormier (21.01) and Weyandt (21.18) turned in their fastest times of the season thus far. Armin Hornikel secured a spot in the consolation final with a 12th-place time of 21.44, a career-best, with Gray Tedder (21.54), Ryan Langley (21.56) and Josh Klotz (21.66) all earning spots in the bonus final.
Sharntelle McLean earned a spot in the super final, swimming the fourth-best heat time of 23.65 in the 50 free. Kassy Kugler (24.23) and Sarah Bartlett (24.31) qualified for the consolation final in the event as well.
The Gamecock men will have Cormier and Andrew Atzhorn in the 200 IM super final as Cormier swam the fastest heat in 1:50.20 and Atzhorn followed with a 1:52.13, a personal best. James Crawford (1:56.82) and Ham Hollett (1:57.03) will swim the bonus final.
On the women’s side, Amanda Dunnigan turned in the fourth-fastest heat, qualifying for the super final with a 2:04.56. Freshman Lindsey Olson will swim the consolation final with a 2:07.13, and Christine Thompson (2:09.97) and Alyssa Hand (2:11.19) qualified for the bonus final.
Claire Thompson just missed the super final in the women’s 500 free with a 4:57.71, less than a half-second behind the fourth-place finisher. For the Carolina men, Chris Kelly will swim the bonus final in the 500 with a 13th-place time of 4:38.80.
Finals get underway at 6 p.m., beginning with the 200 freestyle relay. Live results are available through sportstiming.com, and admission to the Carolina Natatorium is free.
