South Carolina Men Take Third in the 800 Free Relay
Feb. 14, 2018
COLLEGE STATION, Texas –
A third-place finish in the men’s 800 freestyle relay highlighted the first day of the Southeastern Conference Championships for South Carolina swimming and diving. The Gamecocks swam A-cut times in both the men’s and women’s 800 freestyle relays, while Julia Vincent secured a spot in the 1-meter event finals, taking fifth place overall.
The Gamecock women sit in second place after the first day of competition with 142 points. The men are currently in eighth with 109 points.
Fynn Minuth, Akram Mahmoud, Tomas Peribonio and Cody Bekemeyer swam South Carolina’s fastest 800 freestyle relay of the season to take third in the event and secure a spot at the NCAA Championships with an A-cut time of 6:17.27. The relay team included two SEC event champions in Fynn Minuth, who placed first in the 2017 SEC Championships 500 freestyle, and Akram Mahmoud, a two-time SEC title-winner in the 1650 freestyle.
The Gamecock women also swam an A-cut time in the 800 freestyle relay. Emma Barksdale, Emily Cornell, Heather Merritt and Taylor Worrell finished seventh in the event with a time of 7:03.37.
Vincent came out strong in prelims, finishing first out of 35 student-athletes with a score of 316.50. She improved on that score in the finals, posting a 317.50 to take fifth in the event.
Three more Gamecocks competed in the women’s 1-meter prelims with Yu Qian Goh narrowly missing a spot in the event finals. The freshman finished in ninth place with a score of 283.20. Karlee Price and Mikaela Lujan also competed in the event, with Price finishing 16th with a score of 263.45 and Lujan finishing 28th with a score of 230.65.
Grant Summers represented South Carolina in the men’s 3-meter diving, finishing 12th with a score of 364.65.
The Gamecock men and women both took ninth place in their respective 200 medley relays. The women’s team of Emily Cornell, Kersten Dirrane, Katie Shannahan and Christina Lappin finished with a time of 1:39.70, while the men’s team of Lionel Khoo, Nils Wich-Glasen, Justin Rose and Patrick McCrillis recorded a time of 1:26.18.
QUOTABLE: HEAD SWIMMING COACH McGee Moody
“We had a great night in the pool and on the boards. We got off to a great start. Our women’s 200 medley relay set a new school record to open the night. Then, just over an hour later, our ladies swam and NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 800 freestyle relay. The leadoff leg by Emma Barksdale was a school record in the 200 freestyle.
Our men’s 800 freestyle relay also made an NCAA automatic qualifying time, taking the bronze medal. The leadoff leg in that relay was a new school record by Fynn Minuth in the 200 freestyle. We are set up for a great week for our athletes.”
QUOTABLE: HEAD DIVING COACH Todd Sherritt
“We had a decent day today overall. Freshman Grant Summers had a great performance finishing 12th on the 3-meter with a personal-best score of 364. The men’s event was the best I’ve ever seen. Grant didn’t miss a single dive.
The women had a good day on the 1-meter. Freshmen Yu Qian Goh and Karlee Price stayed steady and scored respectively. Goh just missed finals, finishing ninth, which is quite a feat for a freshman. Julia Vincent won the prelims and came back to night with one miss and finished fifth. It was unfortunate, as she was the favorite, but she still has her best board left. Overall, it was a good start.”
UP NEXT FOR CAROLINA
South Carolina returns for the second day of the SEC Championships on Thursday. Preliminaries for the men’s and women’s 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle and men’s 1-meter begin at 11 a.m. (ET), with the finals for each event to follow at 7 p.m. (ET). The men’s and women’s 200 freestyle relay will take place after the completion of the day’s finals.
