Tide Earns Sweep in Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa, Ala. – South Carolina swimming & diving was swept by the Crimson Tide on Saturday at the Alabama Aquatic Center. Alabama’s 6th ranked women topped the 23rd ranked Gamecocks 190.5-109.5 while the 15th ranked Tide men took down South Carolina’s men 178-116.
Gamecock Notables
- Junior Hayley Mason led the Gamecocks in the 1000 free with a season-best time of 10:16.13 to take second place.
- The Gamecock women went 1-2-3 in the 200 free with Victoria Kwan touching first, followed closely by Amy Riordan in second and Janie Smith in third.
- Melinda Novoszath swam her first 200 fly of the season, placing second with a time of 2:01.04, just three tenths of a second behind Alabama’s Lockett Bowley.
- Sophomore Cory Shanks placed third in the 100 free with a season-best time of 50.83.
- Tia Salcutan earned her second 200 back win of the season in as many meets. The junior swam a 1:57.10 to take first place, touching the wall over four seconds ahead of the second place finisher.
- Riordan lowered her own personal best time in the 500 free, clocking a 4:59.09 to take second place.
- Sophomore Sophie Verzyl swept the springboards, winning the 1-meter dive event with a score of 291.53 and the 3-meter event with a score of 310.20.
- Fifth-year senior Rafael Davila earned his third win of the season in the 1000 free with a time of 9:16.26. He then went on to win the 500 free with a time of 4:31.88.
- The Gamecock men went 1-2 in the 200 fly with senior Luke DeVore taking first place with a time of 1:48.99, followed by freshman Gage Hulbert in second with a time of 1:50.21.
- Sophomore Wylie Kruse swam a season-best time of 1:47.68 in the 200 back to earn second place.
- Senior Manny Vazquez Bas earned his second springboard sweep of the season, winning the men’s 1-meter dive event with a score of 340.13 and the 3-meter dive events with a score of 390.68.
Head Coach Jeff Poppell on the team’s performance
“You have to give Alabama credit for a great meet. They swam extremely well and proved why they are ranked amongst the best in the nation. I’m proud of our men and women as I thought we competed tough and turned in our best performances of the season thus far. We have three weeks until our next competition so we are excited about the opportunity to get back to work on Monday and to take advantage of this upcoming training block.”
Up next for the Gamecocks
South Carolina Swimming & Diving will continue their road slate with back-to-back duals at Duke and North Carolina. The Gamecocks will travel to Durham, N.C., to face Duke at 5:00 p.m. on Fri., Nov. 4. They will then head to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on North Carolina on Sat., Nov. 5 at 10 a.m.
For all the latest South Carolina swimming and diving information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockSwim).
