Jan. 29, 2010
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina ends its 2009-10 regular season on Saturday with an SEC tri-meet against Alabama and Georgia in the Bulldogs’ home pool in Athens, Ga. The meet is set for a 1 p.m. start at the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the UGA campus.
The Carolina men are 4-4 on the year, 1-1 in SEC meets, with the Carolina women sporting a 3-6 overall record, 1-2 in the league. The 12th-ranked Georgia men are 2-4 on the year, 1-2 against SEC competition, while the top-ranked Georgia women are 6-1 overall, 3-0 in the SEC. Alabama’s 20th-ranked men are 6-1, 2-1 SEC, while the Crimson Tide women are 8-2, 2-2 SEC.
The Gamecocks are coming off a tri-meet sweep of UNC Wilmington and Vanderbilt last Saturday in Columbia. The Carolina men downed the Seahawks 180-115 to pick up their fourth dual meet victory of the year, surpassing their 2008-09 total with one meet to go. On the women’s side, Carolina defeated UNCW 182-110 while upending Vanderbilt 192-94.
Last year against the same two teams, the Gamecocks concluded their regular season with a pair of losses on both the men’s and women’s sides in Tuscaloosa. 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.
It will be the final tune-up for all three teams heading into next month’s SEC Championships. And the Gamecocks, Bulldogs and Crimson Tide will all have a slight advantage on the rest of the league – the conference meet will be held in the same pool where the three schools are meeting this weekend.
South Carolina’s women will be looking to get their fifth win over Alabama in six years, and both the Gamecocks and Crimson Tide will look to snap the No. 1 Georgia women’s 69-meet home win streak; the Lady Bulldogs are 70-1 all-time at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in dual meets. The Gamecock women will be without the services of junior diver Taryn Zack this weekend as the native of Stony Plain, Alberta, is competing in the Diving Plongeon Canada National Championships in Toronto. She is entered in the 3-meter competition that runs Friday through Sunday.
On the men’s side, South Carolina and Alabama look to be very evenly matched with both teams aiming for some of their fastest times so far this season heading into next month’s conference meet. The Gamecocks look to be stronger in the sprints while Alabama has the top distance swimmer in the SEC in Mark Randall. The teams are nearly even across the board in the stroke events, but the Gamecocks could pick up big points in the relays and will compete for top honors in the diving well.
Saturday’s meet will be streamed live on GeorgiaDogs.com with Kaleb Frady and former Bulldog Neil Versfeld providing play-by-play and color commentary.
