Feb. 2, 2010

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina swimmer Michael Flach was named the Southeastern Conference’s Male Freshman of the Week for the fourth time this season, the league office announced Tuesday.

Flach was the top point scorer for South Carolina in Saturday’s tri-meet with Alabama and Georgia in Athens, putting together an impressive slate of races. He finished second in the 500 free with an NCAA `B’ cut time of 4:25.89, his second-best clocking of the season, less than a second behind Alabama’s Mark Randall. He also posted season- and career-best times in the 200 free with a 1:39.93 and the 200 fly with a 1:49.25. Flach is South Carolina’s top swimmer in all three events in addition to being on the top squads in the 400 and 800 free relays.

He previously earned the league’s weekly award on Nov. 10 following his performance in a dual meet at Tennessee, again on Nov. 24 following the Gamecock Invitational where he earned an NCAA `B’ cut in the 500 freestyle – swimming what was, at the time, the fastest time in the country – and a third time on Jan. 19 after a dominating performance in South Carolina’s dual-meet victory over Duke.

With the regular season now concluded, Flach is one of only four athletes in the Southeastern Conference to have earned weekly accolades from the league four times. He joins Alabama divers Aaron Fleshner and Carrie Dragland and Tennessee freshman swimmer Kelsey Floyd as the league’s only four-time honorees for the 2009-10 season.

Other SEC honorees for the final week of the dual-meet season include Randall (male swimmer) and two others from Alabama, Adam Booher (male diver) and Agustina de Giovanni (female swimmer), along with Florida’s Kara Salmone (female diver) and Kentucky’s Trina Winsor (female freshman).

The Gamecocks will return to action at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships, which run Feb. 17-20 in Athens, Ga.