Nov. 14, 2012

Live Results | Live Video | Meet Notes

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina swimming and diving teams will wrap up the fall season this week at the three-day Virginia Tech Invitational at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center in Christiansburg, Va.

The invitational begins on Thursday and runs through Saturday. Preliminary events will be held each day at 10 a.m. with finals to be contested each night at 6. South Carolina head coach McGee Moody said the invitational is an excellent preview to the format his teams will face at the 2013 SEC Championships as well as the NCAA Championships.

“This is our only opportunity to go through a practice routine of what it will be like at SECs and what it will be like at NCAA’s,” Moody said. “We are going to take our entire team up there. They will have multiple opportunities to swim and will have more opportunities to swim relays. It gives us a good idea to see what our actual conference team is going to look like. We will make some selections from this meet. There is a lot of importance to it. It’s about building on perfecting race strategy and things like that, but this has a little more weight on it than usual.”

The 21st-ranked Gamecock men enter the invitational at 2-3 on the season after defeating College of Charleston 178-115 last Friday, while the Carolina women are 1-4 overall after claiming a 169-126 victory over the Cougars.

The Gamecocks’ meet with College of Charleston was an opportunity for some of the younger swimmers to compete, and they stepped up with a stellar effort, as Carolina finished first in 23 of the 28 events in the pool and swept the boards. Junior Narayan Naik (100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 400 IM), senior Brooks Ross (800 freestyle, 400 freestyle) and junior Michael Covert (200 butterfly, 100 butterfly) each had multiple wins to lead the Gamecock men in the 25-meter short course. On the women’s side, juniors Abby Galbreath (800 freestyle, 400 freestyle) and Rachael Schaffer (200 butterfly, 400 IM) recorded two wins apiece to lead the way.

“They had a chance to swim some off events and a chance to mix up what their normal meet lineup would be,” Moody said. “It was a lot of fun for our upperclassmen, and the freshmen had a chance to step up and win some events, which they did. I thought they did a wonderful job. They raced hard and swam fast. I think it gave them some confidence going into our meet this weekend.”

Several Gamecocks will look to achieve NCAA qualifying times this week. Junior Amanda Rutqvist is the only Gamecock to have a qualifying time heading into the invitational, as her season-best mark of 2:14.87 in the 200 breaststroke is a NCAA B cut and is the 18th fastest time in the country. On the men’s side, junior Michael Flach has nationally ranked times in the 200 IM (1:50.95, 25th), 200 butterfly (1:48.23, 17th) and 200 freestyle (1:38.56, 22nd).

On the boards, South Carolina has built plenty of momentum heading into Thursday. The Gamecocks have won all but three diving events through four meets this season and they are coming off a sweep of the boards against College of Charleston. Sophomores Cole Miller and Patricia Kranz were named the SEC Male and Female Divers of the Week for their performances against the Cougars. Miller won the three-meter springboard and finished second on the one-meter, while Kranz won both boards for the Carolina women.

South Carolina will be competing against host Virginia Tech, William and Mary, Liberty and Connecticut at the invitational. The Virginia Tech men are ranked No. 15 in the nation in the latest CSCAA Coaches Poll at 6-1 overall, while the Hokie women are 7-2. William and Mary heads to Christiansburg with a 3-2 record on the men’s side and a 3-4 record for the women. Liberty, which has only a women’s team, is 5-1 in dual meets this season. The Connecticut men are 2-2, while the Huskies women’s team is 3-1.

Live results will be available each day by clicking here. Live video will also be available for Friday and Saturday’s finals here.

Virginia Tech Invitational Schedule
Thursday:
Prelims starting at 10 a.m.
500 Freestyle
200 IM
50 Freestyle
Women’s 3-Meter (12-12:45 p.m.)
Men’s 1-Meter (1:15-1:50 p.m.)

Finals starting at 6 p.m.
200 Freestyle Relay
500 Freestyle
200 IM
50 Freestyle
Men’s 1-Meter (2:10-2:40 p.m.)
Women’s 3-Meter (7 p.m.)
400 Medley Relay

Friday:
Prelims starting at 10 a.m.
400 IM
100 Butterfly
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
Men’s 3-Meter (Noon-12:30 p.m.)
Women’s 1-Meter (1-1:45 p.m.)

Finals starting at 6 p.m.
Live Streamed Online (No Diving)
200 Medley Relay
400 IM
100 Butterfly
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
Women’s 1-Meter (2-2:30 p.m.)
Men’s 3-Meter (7 p.m.)
800 Freestyle Relay

Saturday:
Prelims starting at 10 a.m.
1650 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly

Finals starting at 6 p.m.
Live Streamed Online with Diving
1650 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Men’s and Women’s Platform Combined Finals (4-4:50 p.m.)