Jan. 24, 2015
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina swimming team wrapped up its regular season with a dominant performance on Saturday, defeating Queens, Wingate and Vanderbilt at Carolina Natatorium.
On the men’s side, the Gamecocks cruised past Queens 200-147 and Wingate 200-140. The women picked up three wins on the day, defeating Queens 200-146, Wingate 200-146 ad Vanderbilt 185-149.
The Gamecocks opened day two of the meet with first-place finishes in both the men and women’s 200 medley relay.
With a career-best time of 17:00.25, freshman Tierney Shimanksy won the 1,650 freestyle for the women. In the men’s race, freshman Akram Mahmoud set a school record with his NCAA B cut time of 14:58.72. The previous record of 15:05.22 has stood since 1988. In the women’s 50 freestyle, senior Rachel Elliott (23.40) and freshman Meredith Vay (24.02), placed first and third, respectively.
The Gamecocks wept the men’s race as redshirt sophomore Kevin Leithold (20.64), senior Michael Covert (21.14) and freshman Patrick McCrillis (21.44 ) finished first though third, respectively.
Freshman Jordyn Barham (100 backstroke), senior Sarah Drake (100 butterfly) and Vay (200 freestyle) each added a win for the women.
Freshman Nils Wich-Glasen (1:59.79), senior Alex Vance (2:04.24) and freshman Thomas Hang (2:06.59) finished first, third and fifth in the men’s 200 breaststroke, respectively.
Leithold tallied his second win of the day in the men’s sweep of the 200 freestyle with his time of 1:38.68. Freshman Tomas Peribonio (1:38.80) took second place and Wich-Glasen (1:40.65) followed in third place.
Both the men and women concluded the meet with wins in the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Vay, Elliott, Cooper Brown and Heather Merritt recorded the second-fastest time this season for the women (3:22.35) while Marwan El Kamash, Leithold, Covert and Jonathan Boland recorded the second-fastest time this season for the men (3:00.92).
KEY STAT
The Gamecocks won 21 of the 34 swimming events over the two days of competition.
NOTABLES
Men
• Akram Mahmoud broke the school record in the 1,650 freestyle with his time of 14:58.72. The previous record of 15:05.22 had stood since 1988.
• Patrick McCrillis’ time of 21.44 in the 50 freestyle is a career best.
• Nils Wich-Glasen tallied his seventh win of the season in the 200 breaststroke.
• Tomas Peribonio’s time of 1:38.80 in the 200 freestyle is a personal record.
Women
• Tierney Shimansky recorded her first collegiate win in the 1,650 freestyle. She recorded a career-best time of 17:00.25.
• Jordyn Barham eanred her first collegiate win in the 100 backstroke with a career-best time of 56.54.
• Sarah Drake’s win in the 100 butterfly is her first of the season.
• Jean Livingston’s time of 1:52.74 in the 200 freestyle is a personal record.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach McGee Moody
“We had a great, great weekend. For some swimmers this was their last meet of the season and they stepped up. We had lifetime bests all over the place. Rachel Elliott had a great weekend; she swam faster than she has in years. We had a lot of outstanding swims but I think the highlight of the meet was Akram Mahmoud breaking a 27-year-old school record. He not only beat it but he destroyed it by about seven seconds. He’s one of the fastest distance swimmers in the country right now and we’re starting to see what he’s capable of doing. There are very special things on the horizon for that young man. This brings out a level of expectation for our program that kind of changes everything. What we did this weekend was great. Our kids are smiling; they were swimming fast and racing hard. Now we settle in, get ready to go to the SEC Championships and continue to improve on what we’ve done.”
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks will begin preparations the SEC Championships, Feb. 17-21 in Auburn, Ala.
