Gamecocks Host Seahawks Saturday
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina Swimming and Diving will continue its season Saturday, hosting UNC Wilmington at the Carolina Natatorium at 10 a.m.
“We’re very excited about having UNCW travel to us tomorrow for competition,” said head coach Jeff Poppell. “Bobby Guntoro who’s their head coach, I’ve known for a long time. I actually coached him many years ago. He’s done a great job there at UNCW now in his second year of trying to build that program, and I have no doubt that they’re very well-coached, and I expect them to have some stiff competition against us this weekend.”
This will be the Gamecocks’ first appearance of the new year following the cancellation of last weekend’s meet at Vanderbilt.
The Gamecock swimmers haven’t seen action in the competition pool since the Tennessee Invitational in November 2021.
During the invitational, freshman Michael Laitarovsky set a new school record in the 100 backstroke. Several other Gamecocks also had their names written in the record books, including fellow freshman Paige Collins who is now the program’s third-fastest swimmer in the 100 butterfly, and Greta Pelzek who is the sixth-fastest swimmer in the 200 butterfly.
In the dive pool, mid-season graduate transfer Brooke Schultz and freshman Sophie Verzyl put up a strong showing at the Tennessee Diving Invitational earlier in the month. Schultz and Verzyl went 1-2 in both the one-meter and three-meter springboard events. They also joined with sophomore Abby Gray to take first place in the team dive event.
The Seahawk men are 4-2 on the season and come to Columbia on a three-meet win streak. Saturday’s faceoff will be the men’s first action of the new year. The Seahawk women are 3-7 on the season, most recently suffering a loss to Liberty at home earlier in the month.
The Gamecock women are a perfect 12-0 all-time against the Seahawks, while the men are 10-1. The two teams last faced off in 2020 with South Carolina sweeping the competition.
Admission to Saturday’s meet is free with competition getting started at 10 a.m. and pre-meet events beginning at 9:40 a.m. Live results will be provided by subscription through MeetMobile.
The University of South Carolina requires face coverings to be worn inside all campus buildings, including athletics facilities.
For all the latest South Carolina swimming and diving information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockSwim).
