Gamecocks Break Record on Day 1 at SECs
AUBURN, Ala.—South Carolina swimming and diving kicked off its competition at the 2020 SEC Championships Tuesday with time trials, relays and diving. The Gamecocks broke a program record to open the meet strong. Carolina is currently in eighth place on both the men’s and women’s sides with 104 and 109 points, respectively.
Morning time trials saw a Gamecock season-best time in the 200 backstroke, with Kevin Liu touching the wall in 1:44.22. Emma Otten swam a personal season high in the 100 backstroke, swimming a 54.05.
In diving, Anton Down-Jenkins just missed out on qualifying position in the men’s three-meter dive, by two points, posting a 359.10.
The evening session saw the Gamecocks topple the program’s women’s 200 medley relay record. Freshman Kate Luft, senior Albury Higgs, sophomore Hallie Kinsey and senior Christina Lappin etched their place in Gamecock lore, finishing with a time of 1:37.44.
Gamecock Notables
- Kevin Liu posted a Gamecock season best in the 200 backstroke, swimming 1:44.22
- Luft, Higgs, Kinsey and Lappin broke the program record in the 200 medley relay, marking the second straight year the record has fallen.
- Sophomore Phil Costin set a season high in the 200 freestyle with his relay split of 1:34.28.
Top Gamecock Finishes:
| NAME | EVENT | TIME/SCORE | PLACE |
| Luft, Higgs, Kinsey, Lappin | 200 Medley Relay (W) | 1:37.44* | 10th |
| Liu, Goldfaden, Rose, Burras | 200 Medley Relay (M) | 1:24.93 | 6th |
| Alexander, Cornell, Kinsey, Smith | 800 Free Relay (W) | 7:08.34 | 8th |
| Costin, Novoszath, Ross, Kramer | 800 Free Relay (M) | 6:24.58 | 10th |
| Yu Qian Goh | One Meter Dive (W) | 273.20 | 12th |
| Anton Down Jenkins | Three Meter Dive (M) | 359.10 | 9th |
*Denotes Program Record
QUOATABLE HEAD COACH MCGEE MOODY
“I thought we got off to a great start. We had a school record in the women’s 200 medley relay and that’s always awesome. When you can start off faster than you have ever been in our school’s history, that’s a good jumping off point. We had some great time trials this morning that got our attitude in the right place, the men’s 200 medley laid down an NCAA B-Cut which is great. In the 800 free relay we put up two great times and Phil Costin put a great time in his leadoff leg. Overall I’m very pleased.”
QUOATBLE HEAD DIVING COACH TODD SHERRIT
“I think the women’s one-meter went ok. We we’re pretty steady the whole performance. Some things could have gone better but overall, we were steady. Going into the three meter we learned somethings, it’s hard to make the finals but we are better in the three-meter. I thought Alex Claus had a great meet. He dove very well, above his training, I’m extremely happy with him.”
Up Next for the Gamecocks
The Gamecocks will be back in the pool Wednesday to swim the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and the men’s 1-meter dive. Prelims will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the finals taking place at 5:30 p.m.
For more swimming updates, follow South Carolina Swimming and Diving on Twitter at @GamecockSwim.
###
