Gamecocks Head to Austin for NCAA Championships
South Carolina will have a program-record 11 student-athletes travel to Austin while the men will send another 10 to compete in the 2019 NCAA Championships.
COLUMBIA, S.C.- South Carolina women’s swimming and diving will have a record 12 qualifiers (11 swimmers and one diver) at this week’s women’s NCAA Championships, which will run from Wednesday through Saturday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. The men’s championships, which will also be hosted in Austin by the University of Texas, will run a week later from March 27-30.
The meet will begin with the 800 freestyle relay on Wednesday night beginning at 6 p.m. ET. For the remainder of the week, preliminary sessions will begin at 10 a.m. ET, with finals sessions scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.
Standing room only tickets will be made available each day of the competition and can be purchased at the door (admission is free for Wednesday night only).
Each session of the four-day meet will be available to live stream with live coverage of Friday and Saturday’s finals sessions on ESPNU.
The South Carolina women’s team is coming off its best team performance since 2004, finishing 20th at last year’s NCAA Championships in Columbus, Ohio. The men’s program will look to build on recent success as they head into next week on a current streak of four-consecutive top-20 finishes.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (WOMEN’S/MEN’S):
Wednesday, March 20/27- Finals, 6 p.m. ET
- 800 Free Relay
Thursday, March 21/28- Prelims, 10 a.m. ET
- 200 Free Relay
- 500 Freestyle
- 200 Individual Medley
- 50 Freestyle
- 400 Medley Relay
- One-Meter Diving (11:30 a.m.)
Thursday, March 21/28- Finals, 6 p.m. ET
- 400 Free Relay
- 500 Freestyle
- 200 Individual Medley
- 50 Freestyle
- One-Meter Diving
- 400 Medley Relay
Friday, March 22/29- Prelims, 10 a.m.
- 400 Individual Medley
- 100 Butterfly
- 200 Freestyle
- 100 Breaststroke
- 100 Backstroke
- 200 Medley Relay
- Three-meter diving (11:30 a.m.)
Friday, March 22/29- Finals, 6 p.m.
- 400 Individual Medley
- 100 Butterfly
- 200 Freestyle
- 100 Breaststroke
- 100 Backstroke
- Three-meter diving (11:30 a.m.)
- 200 Medley Relay
Saturday, March 23/30- Prelims, 10 a.m.
- 200 Backstroke
- 100 Freestyle
- 200 Breaststroke
- 200 Butterfly
- 400 Free Relay
- Platform Diving (11:15 a.m.)
- 1650 Freestyle
Saturday, March 23/30- Finals, 6 p.m.
- 1650 Freestyle
- 200 Backstroke
- 100 Freestyle
- 200 Breaststroke
- 200 Butterfly
- Platform Diving
- 400 Freestyle Relay
GAMECOCKS TO WATCH:
- Emma Barksdale, a two-time All-American in the 400 IM, is coming off of her first-career SEC Championship after swimming a record 4:01.52 to win the event back in February.
- Marissa Roth will make her first appearance at the NCAA Championships after capturing the SEC title in the platform competition last month.
- Albury Higgs earned her first-career All-America honors last year after a 15th-place finish in the 200 breast at last year’s NCAA Championships.
- Fynn Minuth, a six-time All-America performer at the NCAA Championships, will seek his first-career national title after winning gold at the SEC Championships for a third-consecutive season in the 500 free. Minuth has earned All-America status in both the 500 free and 200 fly each of the past two seasons.
- Itay Goldfaden, the reigning SEC Championship in the 100 breast (51.72), will look for All-America honors in the event for a second-straight season after finishing 11th last year.
- True freshman Anton Down-Jenkins will compete in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions after sweeping both events at every dual-meet during his first season at Carolina.
For more swimming updates, follow South Carolina Swimming and Diving on Twitter at @GamecockSwim.
