March 28, 2015
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The South Carolina men’s swimming and diving team finished in 19th place at the 2015 Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships. This is the Gamecocks’ highest finish since placing 18th in 2000.
Freshman Nils Wich-Glasen finished seventh overall in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:53.60 to become the first men’s breaststroker in school history to earn All-America honors. Wich-Glasen lowered his school record time in the preliminary finishing in 1:52.60.
In the 1,650 freestyle freshmen Akram Mahmoud and Tomas Peribonio both earned All-America honors. Mahmoud placed sixth overall with his school-record time of 14:46.50 while Peribonio (14:52.22) finished in 13th place.
Senior Cole Miller closed out his Gamecock career as a three-time All-American after finishing 14th overall (364.00) in the platform competition. He placed 15th in the preliminary with a score of 367.05 to advance to the consolation final.
Sophomore Jordan Gotro finished 36th overall in the platform diving preliminary with a score of 288.40.
Redshirt sophomore Kevin Leithold placed 38th overall in the 100 freestyle preliminary with a time of 43.69.
Texas won the Championship with a total of 528 points. California (399) and Michigan (312) round out the top three.
NOTABLES
- Nils Wich-Glasen is the first men’s breaststroker in school history to earn All-America honors.
- Akram Mahmoud now owns three school records (500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle)
- Cole Miller is the only Gamecock diver to earn All-America honors in all three diving events (1-meter, 3-meter and platform)
- Six of seven Gamecocks who competed at the NCAA Championships earned All-America honors. (Marwan El Kamash – 800 freestyle relay, Kevin Leithold – 800 freestyle relay, Akram Mahmoud – 800 freestyle realy/1,650 freestyle, Cole Miller – 1-meter diving/3-meter diving/platform diving, Tomas Peribonio – 800 freestyle relay/1,650 freestyle, Nils Wich-Glasen – 200 breaststroke)
- This marked the third consecutive year the 800 freestyle relay team garnered All-America honors.
- The 19th place finish is the best since South Carolina placed 18th in 2000 and the highest ever for the Gamecocks under head coach McGee Moody
QUOTABLE Head Swimming Coach McGee Moody
“We had so many things that wen right for us this week. It was the result of a lot of hard work by a group of outlasting young men. They raced hard and really bought into our team concept, which is to go out and do the best we can for the University of South Carolina. I’m very proud of all of them and we’re looking forward to building on what we established here this week. Nils Wich-Glasen had great finish in the 200 breaststroke tonight. He went a lifetime best this morning and broke the school record again. Akram (Mahmoud) and Tomas (Peribonio) had outstanding miles today and put up big points for out team. Akram broke the school record and placed sixth against some of the fastest distance swimmers in the nation. Cole Miller was outstanding all week. He got things started for us with point on Thursday and I’m so happy for the way he ended his career.”
Head Diving Coach Todd Sherritt
“Everyone (in the platform competition) dove really well. It was a great contest and Cole (Miller) put himself right in it. We’ve only been able to train on a 10-meter platform a few times this years, so for him to finish 14th overall is a great feat. This was a great way for him to end his career and he couldn’t have performed any better that he did. I’m very pleased with how he dove all week. He’s a real team player and it’s great to see him do so well.”
