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Gamecock Swimmers Sweep Seahawks
Swimming and Diving  . 

Gamecock Swimmers Sweep Seahawks

Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina Swimming swept the UNCW Seahawks in their first dual of 2023. The 24th ranked Gamecock women won all 14 of their events, finishing with a final score of 199-61. The men won ten of their 14 events for a final score of 152-108.

The men’s win marks their first dual win of the 2022-23 season. They add this win to their first place finish from the Gamecock Invitational back in November. South Carolina’s women are now 3-3 in dual action and also have a first place invitational finish on their resume.

Gamecock Notables

  • The Gamecock women started the meet off with a 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay, posting two times in the program’s top-10 all time. The ‘A’ team swam a 1:39.56 which is the sixth fastest of all time while the ‘B’ team followed with a 1:40.87 which ranks at tenth all time.
  • Freshman Meaghan Harnish earned her first mark in the program record book with her first place finish in the 1000 free. Her time of 9:57.41 makes her the eighth fastest swimmer in program history.
  • South Carolina’s women went 1-2-3-4-5 in the 200 free with graduate Victoria Kwan taking first, followed by Amy Riordan, Hayley Mason, Janie Smith, and Emma Alexander.
  • Freshman Meg Maholic earned her first career event win in the 100 back, swimming a 54.03.
  • Senior Taylor Steele swam her fastest 100 breast of the season to bring home the win. She touched the wall in 1:01.35.
  • The Gamecock women again swept the leaderboard in the 200 fly, taking the top 4 places. Senior Emily Horomanski placed first with a 2:00.35, followed by Greta Pelzek, Makenzy Mills, and Paige Collins.
  • The Gamecock women dominated the 50 free, with Aubrey Chandler, Nicholle Toh, and Cory Shanks going 1-2-3.
  • South Carolina’s sprint group went right back to work in the 100 free with another 1-2-3 finish, this time with Kwan first, Chandler second, and Shanks third.
  • Tatiana Salcutan continues to be a force in the 200 back. The Moldovan Olympian touched first with a 1:58.63, earning her fourth 200 back win of the season.
  • Sophomore Annaliese Streeter picked up her first event win of the season in the 200 breast, swimming a 2:13.76.
  • Alicia Davie took first place in the 500 free with a time of 4:59.36.
  • Collins breezed to a win in the 100 fly with a time of 53.94, finishing nearly three and a half second ahead of the second place finisher.
  • Harnish followed up her 1000 free win with a win in the 400 IM. The freshman placed first win a 4:18.33, earning her first two individual event wins in the same day.
  • The Gamecock women closed out the day with a win in the 400 free relay. Riordan, Smith, Chandler, and freshman Dylan Scholes combined for a time of 3:21.11.

 

  • South Carolina’s men kicked off the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay. The ‘A’ team of Michael Laitarovsky, Daniel West, Guy Gropper, and Mark Shperkin placed first with a time of 1:28.27.
  • Fifth-year senior Rafael Davila remained undefeated in the 1000 free with a time of 9:19.01. The Venezuelan has won the event all six times that he has competed in it this season.
  • Graduate Erge Gezmis earned his first 200 free win as a Gamecock. The Istanbul, Turkey, native posted a 1:39.21, his fastest time of the season, for the win.
  • Laitarovsky picked up his sixth 100 back win of the season with a 48.15.
  • Luke DeVore continued his dominance in the 100 fly. The senior won his fifth 200 fly of the season with a 1:49.36.
  • South Carolina’s men swept the 50 free. Gropper placed first, Shperkin claimed second, Wylie Kruse took third, and freshman Quinn Buck rounded out the group in fourth.
  • Davila held off a Seahawk to earn the win in the 500 free. The Gamecock touched the wall in 4:33.67 to secure the win by .23 of a second.
  • Gropper out-touched UNCW’s David Fitch in the 100 fly. The two were neck and neck throughout the race. Gropper ultimately finished with a 49.01 to Fitch’s 49.02.
  • Senior Patrick Groters remained undefeated in the 400 IM. The Santa Cruz, Aruba, native swam a 3:59.01 for the win.
  • The Gamecock men earned the last win of the day with Gropper, Shperkin, Laitarovsky, and Gezmis combining for a time of 3:01.06 in the 400 free relay.

Head Coach Jeff Poppell on the team’s performance

“I’m extremely proud of our team’s efforts today. We definitely have some athletes that are pretty tired coming off a strong block of training in December, however they showed a lot of grit and toughness in the way that they competed. We’re looking forward to building off of this successful meet as we move on to Georgia next weekend.”

Up Next

The Gamecocks will return to action next Saturday, Jan. 14 at the Carolina Natatorium for their senior meet versus Georgia. Diving will get started at 10 a.m. with swimming to follow at 11 a.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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