March 1, 2009
ATHENS, Ga. – South Carolina wrapped up the bulk of its swimming season this weekend as five Gamecocks traveled to the Bulldog Invite for a final shot at posting NCAA Championships qualifying times. The fivesome turned in a handful of personal-best times, but none were under the NCAA provisional standard for their individual events.
The four men’s swimmers – junior Andrew Atzhorn, freshmen James Crawford and Chris Kelly, and senior Nicholas Walkotten – swam the 200-yard freestyle in an attempt to combine three of their times with senior Kyle Cormier’s school-record 1:34.09 to post a fast 800 freestyle relay time. Crawford equaled his personal-best with a 1:38.26, while Atzhorn (1:38.48) and Kelly (1:39:76) both posted their best times while swimming for South Carolina. Walkotten, swimming the 200 free for the first time as a Gamecock, posted a 1:38.73.
Combining Cormier’s time with those of Atzhorn, Crawford and Walkotten gives South Carolina a time of 6:29.56, which is below the NCAA provisional qualifying time and, if swam collectively, would be the fastest time in school history. However, as of Sunday night, that time ranked 24th in the country, which is unlikely to be enough to gain entry to the NCAA Championships in that event.
Junior Sharntelle McLean was the only Carolina women’s swimmer to compete, turning in a time of 22.82 in the 50-yard freestyle. Her top time remains a school-record 22.65, set back in November at the Gamecock Invitational. McLean’s time currently stands in a tie for the 60th-best in the nation this year.
Walkotten, who was slated to swim the 200 butterfly in an effort to lower his sixth-place SEC Championships time of 1:43.55, an NCAA provisional qualifier, elected to not compete in the event on Sunday. His 200 fly time currently ranks 17th in the country, putting him in good position to earn an invitation to the NCAA Championships.
The Gamecock swimmers now await invitations to the NCAA Championships, which are the last two weeks of March in College Station, Texas. South Carolina’s divers will compete for national meet spots March 12-14 at NCAA Zone B Diving in Knoxville, Tenn.
