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Feb. 17, 2011

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Thursday Prelims Recap | Friday Prelims Heat Sheet

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

Coach Moody

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – South Carolina sophomore Michael Flach broke a school record and captured the bronze medal in the 500 freestyle at the SEC Championships for the second straight year to highlight a strong second day for the Gamecocks at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natatorium.

Flach’s time of 4:16.03 was a career-best for the native of Annandale, Va., by more than three seconds, and broke a 23-year-old school record by nearly a second and a half; Jean Arnould’s mark of 4:17.33 had stood since the 1988 season. Flach stayed a yard or two back of the pack for the first 200 yards, then started to make his move. He shaved more than a second off his splits over the next 100 yards, and his closing 200 yards were faster than his first 200 as he tracked down three competitors to move up to third place. His final 100-yard split was faster than either of the top two finishers, Florida’s Conor Dwyer (who set yet another SEC record) and Georgia’s Martin Grodzki.

Also in the 500 freestyle, freshman Gerard Rodriguez earned a 14th-place finish with a time of 4:23.54, shaving nearly two seconds off his previous career-best and bettering his NCAA `B’ cut standard. Rodriguez will join Flach in Friday’s 200 freestyle preliminaries, where both will be among the top seeds in the race.

Freshman Rachael Schaffer earned a fifth-place finish in the 200 individual medley final, posting a 1:57.89 to shave another tenth of a second off her school-record time from the morning preliminaries and earn 14 points for South Carolina. Schaffer now has school records in two events – the 200 and 400 IM – and she will be one of the top seeds in the 400 individual medley on Friday. In the men’s 200 IM, Collin Kaden made his first SEC finals appearance and earned a 16th-place finish in 1:48.80.

Senior Bridget Halligan turned in a 22.93 to finish 13th in the 50-yard freestyle, earning four points for the Carolina women. She then came back only 30 minutes later to swim the leadoff leg of the 200 freestyle relay, where she posted a career-best 22.83 to lead the Gamecock team of herself, Lauren Raczkowski, Megan Sparks and Schaffer to an eighth-place finish in 1:33.03, the sixth-fastest time in school history. In the men’s 200 free relay, Carolina earned a seventh-place finish as Andrew Seiler, Max Heinze, Brett Sexton and Alex Fitton swam a 1:20.96, also the sixth-fastest time in Gamecock history and an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.

Auburn’s men and Florida’s women lead the team standings at the halfway mark of the meet as the Tiger men have a 70-point lead over Florida and the Gator women hold a slim five-point advantage over defending SEC champion Georgia. The Gamecock men remain in eighth place, but continue to climb back into the race with 94 points, and the Carolina women are in sixth place with 148 points with two days to go.

Friday’s prelims will feature the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke. The session gets underway at 10 a.m. at the O’Connell Center, and live video and live results are available through GatorZone.com. Fans can receive periodic updates from poolside as well by following @GamecockSwim on Twitter.

2011 SEC Swimming Championships – Day Two Finals
February 17, 2011
Stephen C. O’Connell Center Natatorium – Gainesville, Fla.

Men’s 500 Freestyle
1. Conor Dwyer, Florida – 4:11.36 (SEC Record)
3. Michael Flach, South Carolina – 4:16.03 (School Record)
14. Gerard Rodriguez, South Carolina – 4:23.54
Men’s 200 Individual Medley
1. Bill Cregar, Georgia – 1:43.67
16. Collin Kaden, South Carolina- 1:48.80
Women’s 200 Individual Medley
1. Morgan Scroggy, Georgia – 1:54.58 (SEC Record)
5. Rachael Schaffer, South Carolina – 1:57.89 (School Record)
Women’s 50 Freestyle
1. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Auburn – 21.34 (SEC Record)
13. Bridget Halligan, South Carolina – 22.93
Men’s 200 Freestyle Relay
1. Auburn (Brown, Chierighini, Manning, Krug) – 1:16.56
7. South Carolina (Seiler, Heinze, Sexton, Fitton) – 1:20.96
Women’s 200 Freestyle Relay
1. Auburn (Riordan, Vanderpool-Wallace, Norberg, Scott) – 1:28.25
8. South Carolina (Halligan, Raczkowski, Sparks, Schaffer) – 1:33.03

MEN’S TEAM SCORES
1. Auburn – 378
2. Florida – 308
3. Tennessee – 263.5
4. Georgia – 202
5. Alabama – 129
6. Kentucky – 125
7. LSU – 116.5
8. South Carolina – 94

WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES
1. Florida – 291
2. Georgia – 286
3. Auburn – 272
4. LSU – 190.5
5. Tennessee – 157
6. South Carolina – 148
7. Kentucky – 121
8. Alabama – 108.5
9. Arkansas – 100
10. Vanderbilt – 46