Goldfaden Stays Golden, Repeats as 100 Breast Champion.
AUBURN, Ala.— South Carolina turned in its best day at the 2020 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships Friday night with senior Itay Goldfaden defending his 100 breaststroke title in school-record fashion. Three other Gamecocks advanced to A-finals for a total of 12 South Carolina entries, and five school records were set on the day.
On a night of the Gamecocks’ strongest events, they were most impressive in the 100 breaststroke with five advancing to the finals, including three in the A-final.
Goldfaden headlined the group, following his 51.97 in the prelims, which seeded him fourth in the A-final, with the program-record 51.35. In a race he led from start to finish, he touched in the season’s third-fastest time in the country. Fellow senior Lionel Khoo advanced to the B-final in the event, finishing fifth among that group.
Two Gamecocks were among the four women’s 100 breaststrokers who swam sub-1:00.00 times in the prelims. With those time advancing them to the A-final of the event, freshman Taylor Steele and senior Albury Higgs finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the meet. Senior Ana Menendez-Nava posted a personal-best time in the prelims to earn a spot in the C-final – the first SEC finals appearance of her career.
The 200 butterfly events saw five Gamecocks advance to finals, led by Hallie Kinsey in the women’s A-final. After breaking the program record in the prelims to go into the final as the fourth season, she lowered her school-record mark in the final to 1:54.12, touching in sixth place.
Junior Emma Otten advanced to the C-final in the women’s 200 butterfly, as did three Gamecock men – senior Will Riggs, freshman Jordan Yip and sophomore Ben Fenwick.
In the 100 backstroke, Emily Cornell shattered another program record with her 53.47 in the prelims placing her in the C-final. For the men, senior Kevin Liu advanced to the B-final.
Three Gamecock divers turned in strong Platform diving performances with sophomore Anton Down-Jenkins leading the way with 226.70 in the prelims.
Both 400 medley relay teams closed out the night strong with school-record performances as well.
Gamecock Notables
- Goldfaden became the first back-to-back 100 breaststroke SEC Champion since Michael Duderstadt (Alabama) in 2016-17.
- South Carolina’s men have had at least one SEC Champion in every conference meet since 2016.
- The Gamecocks broke five program records on the day – both 400 medley relays (women 3:33.75; men 3:06.11), men’s 100 breaststroke A-final (Goldfaden, 51.35), women’s 200 butterfly A-final (Hallie Kinsey, 1:54.12) and women’s 100 back prelims (Emily Cornell, 53.47).
Top Gamecock Times:
| NAME | EVENT | TIME/SCORE | PLACE |
| Itay Goldfaden | 100 Breast (M) | 51.35* | 1st (A-Final) |
| Hallie Kinsey | 200 Fly (W) | 1:54.12* | 6th (A-final) |
| Will Riggs | 200 Fly (M) | 1:45.93 | 17th Prelims |
| Emily Cornell | 100 Back (W) | 53.47* | 19th (prelim) |
| Kevin Liu | 100 Back (M) | 47.25 | 15th (prelim) |
| Taylor Steele | 100 Breast (W) | 59.72 | 4th (Prelims) |
| Cornell, Higgs, Kinsey, Lappin | 400 Medley Relay (W) | 3:33.75* | 8th |
| Liu, Goldfaden, Rose, Burras | 400 Medley Relay (M) | 3:06.88* | 4th |
| Anton Down-Jenkins | Platform (M) | 226.70 | 20th |
*Denotes Program Record
QUOTABLE HEAD COACH MCGEE MOODY
“Today was by far our best day. We challenged our team to step up and put a lot of people back in the finals because we had to do it to stay in the team race and they did that. They responded well. We had some outstanding swims from the people in the A-finals folks. Ana Menendez-Nava made her first SEC final as a senior, seeing the emotion on her face was a great feeling. The highlight of the day has to be Itay Goldfaden. He’s had a great year, is the defending champion. I knew it was important to him to come back and defend that, he’s worked really hard this year to make that happen. Coach Kevin Swander has done a great job with his training. Itay has set self-up to go be a factor at the NCAA Championships. It was a great day for us and we have to close it out tomorrow.”
QUOTABLE ITAY GOLDFADEN 100 BREASTROKE CHAMPION
“I don’t even know what to say. I mean, coming into the meet I was ranked No. 22 (in the country). Coming back after a tough season, going the third fastest time, it means a lot. Right now, I’m speechless.”
Up Next for the Gamecocks
The Gamecocks are back in action on the final day of the meet to swim the mile, 200 breaststroke, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 400 free relay and the men’s platform diving.
For more swimming updates, follow South Carolina Swimming and Diving on Twitter at @GamecockSwim.
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