Jan. 31, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Freshman Lindsey Olson became the fifth South Carolina swimmer to post an NCAA provisional qualifying time, but the Gamecocks concluded their regular season with a pair of losses on both the men’s and women’s sides to Georgia and Alabama at the Alabama Aquatic Center on Saturday. The men dropped a 197-103 decision to Georgia and a 167-131 final to Alabama, and the women fell to top-ranked Georgia 211-89 and suffered their first loss to Alabama in five years by a 168.66-131.33 count.
Olson took the victory in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:46.87, coming in nearly three seconds under the NCAA `B’ qualifying standard of 4:49.59 to give South Carolina its third female swimmer and fifth swimmer overall with a qualifying time for postseason competition. Her time gave her the fourth-fastest 500 time in school history and was more than four seconds faster than her previous personal best. The freshman had a strong meet overall, helping the 400 freestyle relay team to a second-place finish, and turning in a third-place time in the 200 butterfly.
Senior Kyle Cormier had the strongest performance for the Carolina men with a first-place finish in the 200 IM (1:48.86) and the 200 freestyle (1:36.59) and a second place finish in the 100 free (44.95). The Gamecock men took the top three spots in the 200 IM with Andrew Atzhorn (1:49.75) and James Crawford (1:51.31).
Claire Thompson took second place in the 1000 freestyle with a season-best time of 9:58.36, eclipsing her career best time by more than five seconds. Her twin sister Christine took fourth in the event with a 10:07.93.
In the diving well, Helen Alvey took the top finish for South Carolina with a third-place showing in the one-meter. Her score of 268.75 edged out teammate Taryn Zack, who finished fourth with a 262.00. On the three-meter board, Zack took third with a 301.15. Corry Christian took fourth in the one-meter with a 276.35 and finished fifth on the high board with a 294.45.
The Gamecock women finish the regular season 5-5 overall, 1-3 in SEC competition. Carolina’s men head into the postseason at 3-6 overall, 0-3 in the league.
South Carolina now turns its attention to training and rest for the 2009 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships, set for Feb. 18-21 at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center in Auburn, Ala.
