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Gamecocks Gain Experience With Back-to-Back Duals
Swimming and Diving  . 

Gamecocks Gain Experience With Back-to-Back Duals

Chapel Hill, N.C. – South Carolina swimming & diving fell to North Carolina on the road in Chapel Hill on Saturday. The 17th ranked Tar Heel women topped the 23rd ranked Gamecocks 178-122 while the No. 23 Tar Heel men took town South Carolina’s men 179-115. Fifth-year senior Rafael Davila again led the team with two event wins.

Gamecock Notables

  • The Gamecock women were strong in their first 400 medley relay of the season. The ‘A’ team of Tia Salcutan, Georgia Johnson, Nicholle Toh, and Janie Smith started the meet off with a win, clocking in a time of 3:41.65.
  • Freshman Meaghan Harnish swam a new personal best time in the 1000 free. She touched the wall in 10:13.86 to place third.
  • Freshman Amy Riordan continued to prove herself, placing first in the 200 free with a time of 1:49.44. This marks her third 200 free win of the season. She also placed second in the 500 free with a career-best time of 4:58.84.
  • South Carolina’s women went 2-3-4 in the 200 fly, earning nine points in the event. Melinda Novoszath placed second, followed by Victoria Kwan in third and Greta Pelzek in fourth. Laura Goettler, Georgia Johnson, and Annaliese Streeter went 2-3-4 in the 200 breast event as well.
  • The Gamecocks dominated their first 400 IM of the season with Kwan, Goettler, and Harnish going 1-2-3.
  • Graduate diver Brooke Schultz continued her reign on the springboard, placing first on the 1-meter with a 325.58. This is her fourth win in the event in as many meets.
  • Davila swam a season best time in the 1000 free, clocking in a time of 9:13.97 for first place. This is his fifth 1000 free win in as many meets. He also won the 500 free, touching the wall in 4:29.41 for his fourth win of the season.
  • Michael Laitarovsky continues to lead the men’s backstroke group. The sophomore won the 100 back with a time of 47.76, his fourth 100 back win of the season.
  • Patrick Groters won the first 400 IM of the season with a time of 3:52.68. The senior also swam his best 50 free of the season, touching the wall in 20.48 seconds for second place.
  • Freshman Jay Baker won his second straight 200 back event, swimming a career-best time of 1:46.53.
  • Freshman diver Charley Bayer placed second in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. He scored a 305.63 on the 1-meter and a 311.03 on the 3-meter

 Head Coach Jeff Poppell on the team’s performance

“I am very proud of our athletes and the way they competed today against a strong UNC team. We were extremely competitive throughout the meet and posted several of our fastest times of the season today. By plan, we had a very difficult fall meet schedule however I really do feel that it will help us down the road when we get to the post-season.”

Up next for the Gamecocks

South Carolina Swimming & Diving will return home to host the Gamecock Invitational at the Carolina Natatorium. The Invite will run from Nov. 16 through Nov. 18. The Gamecocks will be joined by squads from UNCW, Gardner-Webb, Georgia Southern, Vanderbilt, UNF, and FGCU. Preliminary heats will begin each day at 10 a.m. and finals will take place each day at 6 p.m.
For all the latest South Carolina swimming and diving information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockSwim).

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