Gamecocks Open NCAAs with 800 Freestyle Relay
March 21, 2018
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. –
South Carolina men’s swimming kicked off the action at the 2018 NCAA Championships on Wednesday night swimming a 6:18.30 in the 800-yard freestyle relay.
The Gamecocks’ relay team of Akram Mahmoud, Fynn Minuth, Tomas Peribonio and Cody Bekemeyer fell just 1.03 seconds behind their season best, 6:17.27 from the SEC Championships that seeded them 12th in Wednesday night’s 4 X 200 relay.
Looking Ahead
The Gamecocks will have a busy day two as both Minuth and Mahmoud are seeded in the top six of the field of the 500 free having swam A standards at the SEC Championships last month.
South Carolina will also have Brandon Almeida, Rafael Davila, Bekemeyer and Peribonio competing in Thursday’s 500 free while Peribonio will cap day two in the 200 IM.
QUOTABLES
“Just a little bit off where we started last year (at the NCAA Championships), but I thought we had some strong out front speed with a good split from Fynn Minuth, a solid split from Tom Peribonio. I thought their performances tonight showed that they can have good performances going forward in the 500s and the miles coming up. It’s not the finish we wanted, but it’s where we’re going to build off for this week, and I’m confident that these guys are going to be ready to go over the next three days.”
— HEAD SWIMMING COACH MCGEE MOODY-
UP NEXT FOR CAROLINA
The Gamecocks look ahead to a busy second day on Thursday with student-athletes competing in the 500-yard freestyle competition as well as 200 IM. Day two preliminary heats are set to begin at 10 a.m., followed by finals beginning at 6 p.m.
For updates, follow South Carolina Swimming and Diving on Twitter at @GamecockSwim.
