Jan. 20, 2012
ATHENS, Ga. — The South Carolina swimming and diving teams dropped a pair of decisions at Georgia on Friday afternoon in a SEC dual meet at Gabrielsen Natatorium.
The Carolina women fell to No. 1 Georgia, 177-112, to drop to 5-3 overall and 1-2 in the SEC. In the men’s competition, the Gamecocks lost to the ninth-ranked Bulldogs, 180-112, to fall to 4-4 on the season and 0-3 in the conference. The Lady Bulldogs are now 6-1 and 3-0 in the SEC, while the Bulldogs improved to 4-2-1 overall and 1-1-1 in the conference.
“We didn’t swim our best today and we know that,” South Carolina head coach McGee Moody said. “We did see some good things with getting some people in different events, but we have to put this one behind us and get ready for the next few weeks. We’ve got East Carolina and Vanderbilt next week for senior day, and then we will focus on getting ready for the SEC Championships.”
Despite the loss, South Carolina had another strong showing on the boards, as senior diver Courtney Forcucci won both the one and three-meter springboards with scores of 298.13 and 340.95, respectively. Forcucci has now won both events in five-straight dual meets. Junior Rylan Ridenour gave the Gamecocks a first-place finish in the men’s three-meter competition with a score of 357.38, while freshman Cole Miller finished second with a score of 351.15. Ridenour also finished second on the one-meter springboard with a score of 349.35.
The Carolina women had several stellar efforts in the swimming events, as sophomore Rachael Schaffer claimed the 200 IM in 2:04.48 and sophomore Meghan Brockington won the 100 butterfly in 57.99. Sophomore Amanda Rutqvist placed second in the 200 breaststroke for the Gamecocks with a time of 2:17.09.
On the men’s side, junior Bobby Cave led the way for Carolina as he won the 200 IM in 1:53.39, finished second in the 100 breaststroke (56.72) in a close race with Georgia’s Nicolas Fink (56.12) and took second in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:04.58.
Sophomore Jay Warner placed first in the 200 backstroke with a personal best of 1:49.19. Sophomore Gerard Rodriguez swam a 1:52.25 in the 200 butterfly to finish second, while junior Andrew Seiler touched the wall in second place in the 50 freestyle in 21.17.
The Gamecocks close out the regular season next weekend as they host East Carolina and Vanderbilt in a two-day event at the Blatt P.E. Center/Carolina Natatorium. Friday’s meet will get underway at 5 p.m., and Carolina will wrap up its regular season with senior day on Saturday at 10 a.m.
