Swimming and Diving . March 27, 2019

Men's NCAA Championships Underway in Austin

AUSTIN, Texas– South Carolina men’s swimming and diving looks to build on its four-consecutive top-20 finishes as they take center stage at the 2019 NCAA Championships from the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center this week. The final competition of the NCAA season, which began with the 800 free relay on night one, will run from Wednesday through Saturday on the campus of the University of Texas.

South Carolina travels to Austin with another pair of conference champions as Fynn Minuth captured gold the 500 freestyle while Itay Goldfaden won the 100 breaststroke title at the SEC Championships in Athens, Ga., last month.

Anton Down-Jenkins, a true freshman from Wellington, New Zealand, will make his first appearance at the NCAA Championships on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards. Down-Jenkins won 12 total events between the two springboards during his freshman campaign, finishing fourth in the 1-meter and third in the 3-meter at the NCAA Zone B Championships.

Minuth’s 4:11.98 in the 500 free at the SEC Championships was the fourth-fastest time in the event this season. His lifetime-best and program record 4:09.55 in the 500 back in 2017 is less than two-tenth’s of a second off the pace of Felix Auboeck’s (Michigan) 4:09.37 at this year’s Big 10 Conference Championships.

Goldfaden’s 51.72 in the 100 breast at the SEC Championships is the sixth-fastest time in the nation this year, joining a group of just 12 swimmers in the country to break the 52.00 mark.

The Gamecocks finished 21st in the team standings at last week’s women’s NCAA Championships, fewer than 10 points from back-to-back top-20 finishes.

Day two will begin with the first prelims session of the week on Thursday at 11 a.m. ET, followed by the first full finals session beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

Day Two Schedule of Events:
Thursday, March 28- Prelims, 11 a.m. ET