Nov. 10, 2010

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina’s men’s swimming & diving team is ranked No. 24 in the nation, according to the season’s initial College Swimming Coaches Association of America dual meet poll, which was released Wednesday.

The Gamecocks are 3-0 in dual meet action this season, earning victories over Western Kentucky, Clemson and Missouri in the first month of competition. It is South Carolina’s best start to a season since 1997, when the Gamecocks also began the year 3-0 with wins over College of Charleston, Georgia Southern and Virginia Tech. Carolina’s best start to a season came in 1992, when the Gamecocks won four straight meets and six of their first seven to open the year.

South Carolina is ranked in the national polls for the first time under fourth-year head coach McGee Moody. The last time a Gamecock men’s swimming team was nationally ranked was in the poll of Jan. 30, 2002, when the Gamecocks were ranked No. 14.

Texas tops the season’s first rankings, followed by California and Stanford. SEC foe Florida is fourth, and Arizona rounds out the top five. Among Southeastern Conference teams, Auburn is No. 7, Georgia is No. 13, Tennessee is No. 15, Alabama is No. 16, and LSU ranks 22nd. Kentucky is also receiving votes.

In the women’s rankings, Stanford leads the way, followed by Georgia, Texas, Florida and California. No. 10 Auburn, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 17 Arkansas and No. 22 LSU round out the women’s SEC teams in the national polls. The Gamecock women, at 3-2 overall (1-1 SEC), also received votes in the first poll of the season.

South Carolina’s men and women return to action at the Nike Cup Invitational, which runs Nov. 18-20 in Chapel Hill, N.C.