Gamecock Men Upset No. 10 Missouri, Pantano Sets New Record

Columbia, S.C. – The South Carolina men’s swimming and diving took down the No. 10 Missouri Tigers at Carolina Natatorium on Saturday morning 150-144 in a meet that came down to the final race. The women’s meet was also decided by the final race as the Gamecocks fell to No. 18 Missouri 152-148.
 
Sophomore Bella Pantano set a new school record in the 100 back for the women, touching the wall with time of 53.33 to shave 0.14 second off the previous record of 53.47 set by Emily Cornell in 2020. Pantano is the second Gamecock to break a school record this season.
 
Gamecock Notables

• Senior Haley Arner and sophomore Hayley Mason claimed second and third in the 1000 free and both set new personal best times. Arner cut over four and a half seconds off her personal best, while Mason cut her time by over 12.5 seconds.
• Sophomore Riley Parker set a new personal best and earned her second straight 200 freestyle win, swimming a  1:47.76 to take first place for the Gamecocks.
• The Gamecock women swept the 100 breaststroke and the 200 butterfly, claiming the top-three spots for each.
• Pantano and senior Mari Kraus went 1-2 in the 200 backstroke with Pantano setting a new personal best at 1:55.59
• Graduate student Brooke Schultz swept the springboard events. She earned two Zone qualifying scores – 310.05 in the 1-meter and 378.15 in the 3-meter.
• The senior men were coming up big for the Gamecocks on Senior Day, claiming the top three spots of the 1000 free. Rafael Davila placed first, Tamas Novoszath placed second and Hendrik Faber placed third. All three men earned new personal best times.
• Senior Phil Costin won the both the 100 and 200 free for the Gamecocks. He swam a 1:36.00 in the 200 and a 43.96 in the 100.
• Junior Jordan Yip won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:59.35, his second-straight win in that event.
• The Gamecocks swept the top spots of the 500 free with Davila and Novoszath claiming the top two spots again and Connor Daniels coming in third.
• Senior diver3 Alex Claus won the 1-meter springboard event with a Zone qualifying score of 318.23.

 
Head Coach Jeff Poppell on the Team’s Performance
“What a fanastic day. Getting an opportunity to recognize and honor our seniors, and both our men’s and women’s teams going down to the last relay with Mizzou. Our men were able to pull off the upset while our women fell just four points shy. Regardless of the outcomes, I’m so proud of these teams and the progress they’ve made in just six months’ time. Hopefully today’s performances should give our athletes some confidence heading into SEC Championships. I would like to say a special thank you to all the families and fans that came out for today’s meet as well. The atmosphere was awesome!”
 
Up Next for the Gamecocks
The Gamecocks will be in action next in Christiansburg, Va,. for the Virginia Tech Invitational Feb. 4-6.
 
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