March 30, 2013

INDIANAPOLIS — South Carolina junior Michael Flach swam a time of 1:44.70 to finish 27th overall in the 200 butterfly preliminaries on Saturday morning at the 2013 NCAA Championships.

Flach came up just short of advancing to the finals, as it took a time of 1:44.22 to make the consolation final and a time of 1:43.67 to advance to the championship final. His time is the second fastest of his career and his fastest time in three trips to the NCAA Championships.

“All in all it was a pretty good morning. It was only the second time Michael has been under 1:45 in the 200 butterfly,” South Carolina head coach McGee Moody said. “He was able to rebound really well this week after a not so good start in the 500 freestyle. He came back Friday night and had a great swim and set himself up with some confidence. We would have loved for him to make it back in the top 16, but it wasn’t meant to be this morning. However, I’m still very proud of the time he swam and the effort he put out.”

The 200 butterfly was the last event of the week for the Gamecocks, who were in 33rd place with four points heading into Saturday’s preliminaries. Carolina’s final standing will be determined after Saturday night’s finals.

South Carolina earned four All-America honors on the week, as the Gamecocks’ 800 freestyle relay team of junior Gerard Rodriguez, Flach, freshman Marwan El Kamash and junior Alex Fitton finished 15th in the event with a time of 6:24.54. It’s the most All-America honors for South Carolina since earning four at the 2007 NCAA Championships with its 800 freestyle relay team, which finished 11th.

The Gamecocks will now turn their focus to training for the long course season. Carolina will have swimmers competing in the Charlotte Grand Prix in Charlotte, N.C. on May 9-12.

Saturday, March 302013 NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving ChampionshipsIndianapolis, Ind. - IU NatatoriumDay 3 Prelims200 Butterfly27. Michael Flach   1:44.70