Laitarovsky, Vazquez Bas Represent Gamecocks at NCAAs
Minneapolis, Minn. – South Carolina men’s swimming & diving will begin competition at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., on Thursday. The team will be represented by sophomore swimmer Michael Laitarovsky and senior diver Manny Vazquez Bas.
The NCAA Championships will begin on Wednesday, March 22, and will run through Saturday, March 25 at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota.
Laitarovsky enters the event as the 13th seed overall in the 100 back. His school record time of 45.27 was swam at the 2023 SEC Championships and earned him a bronze medal at the event. This will be the sophomore’s first appearance at the NCAAs but he is no stranger to big-time meets, having competed for his home country of Isreal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 100 back will be Laitarovsky’s only event at the Championships. His event will take place on Friday with prelims beginning at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.
Vazquez Bas will be making his third appearance at the Championships and will be competing in all three diving events. He earned his qualification by placing third at the NCAA Zone B Championships in the platform dive. Since Vazquez Bas made finals of both the 1-meter and 3-meter events, he is also permitted to compete in those.
His final platform score of 793.05 through 12 dives at the Zone Championships was the fifth highest score in the nation this season across all five Zone Diving Championships. The senior also earned a silver medal in the platform event at the 2023 SEC Championships with a new school record score of 432.75.
Prelims at the Championships will begin each day at 10 a.m. with finals each day at 6 p.m. Doors will open one hour prior to the start of each session and ticketing information can be found here.
All sessions of the Championships will be televised live on ESPN+. Links to view each session can be found here. Live results can be found here or on the subscription-based Meet Mobile app.
A detailed schedule of events, broadcast information, results, and more can be found on the Championship Central webpage.
Schedule
Thursday, March 23
1-meter – Manny Vazquez Bas
Friday, March 24
100 back – Michael Laitarovsky
3-meter – Manny Vazquez Bas
Saturday, March 25
Platform – Manny Vazquez Bas
For all the latest South Carolina swimming and diving information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockSwim).
