Feb. 17, 2009

SEC Swimming and Diving Championships | Auburn, Ala.

Live Results | Championship Central | Meet Notes

AUBURN, Ala. – South Carolina prepares to make its 18th appearance in the Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, which run Wednesday through Saturday at the Martin Aquatics Center in Auburn. The Gamecocks are looking to improve on last year’s performance at the conference meet in Tuscaloosa where the men finished eighth and the women took ninth place.

“Top to bottom, it’s the second-fastest meet in the world, only to the NCAA Championships,” head coach McGee Moody said. “If you win at the SEC Championships, there’s a good chance you can win a national championship. We’ve got several swimmers that are at that elite level, but there are so many outstanding teams in this conference.”

South Carolina’s swimmers this season have shown marked improvement throughout the 2008 season, and that has been evident in several areas. Both the men and women finished the dual-meet season with better records than in 2008. The Carolina women finished 5-5 (1-3 SEC), bettering their 4-6 mark from last year. The men concluded the season with a 3-6 mark (0-3 SEC), improvement over their 2-8 record a year ago.

Individual improvement has also been evident. From the end of last season through the end of the 2009 regular season, the nine returning men’s swimmers have lowered 29 personal-best marks, and the 14 women’s returners have gone lower in 23 individual events. In all, 37 personal records were set in the Gamecocks’ final dual meet against Alabama and Georgia on Jan. 31.

South Carolina will be looking to add to its total of 12 athletes that have either earned provisional or zone qualifying times/scores at this week’s championships. So far, three women’s swimmers, two men’s swimmers, five women’s divers and two men’s divers have posted times or scores that qualify them for postseason competition. Women’s swimmers Sharntelle McLean (50 free), Lindsey Olson (500 free) and Megan Sparks (100 back) have posted NCAA `B’ cut times in their respective events, along with men’s swimmers Nicholas Walkotten (100 fly) and Kyle Cormier (200 free, 200 IM). All seven Carolina divers have qualified for NCAA Zone competition, having posted the necessary score in either the one- or three-meter event (or both). Corry Christian and Ryan Kuser are qualified for the men, and Helen Alvey, Allison Barr, Ali Lane, Morgan Ricke and Taryn Zack are qualified for the women.

Links to live results, meet notes and complete recaps will be available through GamecocksOnline.com.

Attacking the Record Books
Three school records have fallen before the conference championships, which is typically the fastest meet of the year. Sophomore Megan Sparks was the first to crack the record books with her time in the 100 backstroke in a dual meet with Clemson. Her time of 55.86 broke Michelle McCarthy’s previous mark of 55.95, set back in 1992. Sparks has since lowered that mark twice, the best of which came at U.S. Short Course Nationals with her time of 54.87 seconds, giving her an NCAA `B’ cut. Redshirt junior Sharntelle McLean was the next to post a school-best with her time in the 50 freestyle at the Gamecock Invitational on Nov. 21. She took down Dana Dutcher’s 20-year-old school record with a time of 22.65, one-hundredth of a second faster than the previous mark. Senior Kyle Cormier delivered another record a couple of weeks later at Short Course Nationals. His 1:35.63 in the 200 freestyle snapped Zsolt Gaspar’s eight-year-old record of 1:35.92.

Carolina Divers Among Nation’s Elite
In his 16th year, head diving coach Todd Sherritt has coached 34 All-Americans, 15 U.S. Diving National Champions, three Olympians, eight SEC Champions, and one NCAA Champion. And this year’s group of Gamecock divers continues the trend of South Carolina diving as one of the nation’s elite programs. Sophomores Taryn Zack and Allison Barr, along with freshman Helen Alvey, comprise the top-ranked women’s diving trio in the Southeastern Conference and, along with Florida, boast the top-ranked women’s diving squad in the nation according to Swim-Rankings.com. Zack holds the conference’s top score in the three-meter event with a 376.28, while Barr is second with a 356.78. On the one-meter board, Barr holds the top score with a 335.93, Alvey is second with a 324.00, and Zack is third at 322.88. The Carolina men have also fared well, with senior Corry Christian ranking fourth in the SEC in the three-meter board with a score of 404.33, and fifth on the low board with a score of 369.90. All seven South Carolina divers (five women, two men) are qualified for NCAA Zone competition.

Recapping the 2008 SEC Championships
South Carolina’s men finished eighth and the women took ninth place at the 2008 SEC Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala., turning in numerous outstanding performances. Two Gamecocks — butterfly specialist Nick Walkotten and diver David Ovelson — earned medals for South Carolina, the first time the Gamecocks had multiple medalists since Allison Brennan won a pair of diving titles at the 2006 championships. Walkotten broke the school record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:43.83 and finishing second in the event final. He became the first Gamecock men’s swimmer to earn All-SEC honors since 2001 with his performance. Walkotten scored a total of 35 individual points at the championships in the 100 and 200 fly and the 100 back. Dominique Lendjel scored for the men in the 200 IM as well, along with Ovelson’s third-place finish and Corry Christian’s eighth-place showing in one-meter diving. For the women, Amanda Dunnigan scored in a pair of individual events with a 12th-place finish in the 400 IM and a 16th-place time in the 200 IM. Carolina also got points from twin freshmen Claire and Christine Thompson, who combined to score eight points in the 1,650 free and the 200 free. Taryn Zack turned in a fifth-place finish in both the one- and three-meter competitions, and Allison Barr took seventh place in the one-meter competition.

We’ve Been Here Before..At Least Most of Us
Between the men and the women, South Carolina will have 25 student-athletes in Auburn that have competed in previous SEC Championships, including six (Corry Christian, Kyle Cormier, Steven Luckie, Todd Weyandt, Amanda Dunnigan and Kassy Kugler) that will be making their fourth and final appearances. But there will also be plenty of new faces for the Gamecocks at the SEC meet. Eleven newcomers for the men and eight for the women — including several that have a great opportunity to score points for the Gamecocks — will be making their first appearances at the conference championship.

No Rookie Jitters
South Carolina signed one of the biggest freshman classes in its swimming and diving history for the 2008-09 season, and it has paid major dividends. Five of the top men’s times and three of the top women’s times on the team are held by freshmen. Chris Kelly holds the top spot in the 500 freestyle (4:34.09) and the 200 backstroke (1:46.23), while Dan Jackson holds the best time in the 1,650 freestyle with a 15:59.98. Armin Hornikel has been the men’s best in the breaststroke with the top time in both the 100 (54.85) and 200 (2:02.40). On the women’s side, Lindsey Olson is the top Gamecock in the 500 free (4:46.87), 100 fly (55.67) and 200 fly (2:00.03). In addition, James Crawford, David Livsey, Rory Grigull, Crawford, and Isaac Badillo are part of the Gamecock men’s top relay squads while Sarah Bartlett and Olson are members of several of the women’s top relay teams.

It’s Been a While
If a South Carolina swimmer touches the wall first in this week’s SEC Championships, it will mark the first SEC swimming champion for the Gamecocks since Zsolt Gaspar and Tamas Szucs took titles in the 50 free and 200 free, respectively, in 2001. The men have had five swimming champions and no diving champions while the women have claimed six diving titles and no swimming titles.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Wednesday (Noon prelims; 6 p.m. finals)
–200 Medley Relay
–800 Freestyle Relay
–Women’s Three-Meter Diving
–Men’s One-Meter Diving

Thursday (10 a.m. prelims; 6 p.m. finals)
–500 Freestyle
–200 Individual Medley
–50 Freestyle
–Women’s One-Meter Diving
–Men’s Three-Meter Diving
–200 Freestyle Relay

Friday (10 a.m. prelims; 6 p.m. finals)
–400 Individual Medley
–100 Butterfly
–200 Freestyle
–100 Breaststroke
–100 Backstroke
–Women’s Platform Diving
–400 Medley Relay

Saturday (10 a.m. prelims, 6 p.m. finals)
–1650 Freestyle
–200 Backstroke
–100 Freestyle
–200 Breaststroke
–200 Butterfly
–Men’s Platform Diving
–400 Freestyle Relay