Skip to main content
Partner logo
Mobile Icon Link Mobile Icon Link Mobile Icon Link
Gamecocks Host Georgia Tech for Senior Day
Swimming and Diving  . 

Gamecocks Host Georgia Tech for Senior Day

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina swimming & diving team wraps up the 2024-25 regular season on Sat., Jan. 25, welcoming Georgia Tech to the Carolina Natatorium for a 10:00 a.m. meet.

Admission to the Carolina Natatorium is free with clear bag policy in effect. Results will be available on the subscription-based app Meet Mobile.

Prior to the start of the meet, 13 graduating seniors will be honored in a 20-minute ceremony for their time with the Gamecocks.

The Gamecock women are coming off of a historic win as they topped Auburn on the road two weeks ago. South Carolina narrowly won 152.5-147.5, defeating the Tigers who were ranked No. 19 while the Gamecocks were No. 22 at the time. This win marked the first time in program history that the Gamecock women have beat Auburn in a dual meet. Greta Pelzek and Sophie Verzyl swept both their events to lead the effort with a combined 36 points. Pelzek swam season bests in the 100 (51.90) and 200 (1:54.68) butterfly, picking up her sixth and seventh wins of 2024-25 in the events respectively. She currently remains undefeated in the 200 this season. South Carolina excelled in distance, sweeping both the 1000 and 500 freestyles led by Madison Kolessar (9:46.61) and Breckin Gormley (4:44.71) respectively. Both Gamecocks posted best times. Delaney Franklin, Meghan Harnish and Amy Riordan were the other event winners heavily contributing to the Garnet & Black’s victory. Franklin took first in the 200 breaststroke with an impressive best time of 2:10.89 which is the sixth fastest time in program history and has her ranked 12th in the SEC. Harnish won the 200 IM with a time of 1:59.39 while Riordan touched the wall first in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:55.06. At least one Gamecock finished on the podium in every event other than the 100 breaststroke, allowing Auburn only capture one top-three sweep. Following this victory the Gamecock women moved up four spots from No. 22 to No. 18 in the January 2025 edition of the CSCAA Top 25 Poll.

The men fell 85-215 to the Tigers but earned 13 total podium finishes which included two first places from Connor Fry and Linus Kahl. Fry won his fourth 1000 freestyle of the season with a season best 8:57.03 which ranks him 11th in the conference. Kahl, along with Liam Kerns, led the near top-three Gamecock sweep in the 100 breaststroke after clocking a 53.71. Kerns took second by .20 with a 53.91. Eldor Usmonov nearly won the 100 butterfly, finishing in second with a 46.93 which was less than a tenth away from first place.

Georgia Tech will be the Gamecocks fourth ACC opponent of the season. The Gamecock women have beaten three of the four. This season the Georgia Tech women are 2-4 in dual meets with wins over Emory and Carson-Newman. The men go into this meet with an impressive 5-1 record which includes topping Emory, Florida State, Pittsburgh, Carson-Newman and Duke. Both programs finished fourth at the midseason meet with 958 or more points. Bereke Saka and Max Fowler have earned ACC swimmer and diver of the week honors, respectively.

Against South Carolina, the Georgia Tech women’s strength lies in their sprinters as the top two performers this season in the 50 and 100 freestyle have faster times than the Gamecocks top performers in the events. Nina Stanisavljevic and Anna Hadjiloizou are 1-2 in both. They’ve clocked marks of 48.61 and 48.74 in the 100. Only .01 separates the two in the 50 freestyle; Stanisavljevic leads with a 22.35 while Hadijiloizou has a top time of 22.36 this season. Peyton Curry will be the top competitor against the two Yellow Jackets in the 100 as her top time currently is a 48.79. Dylan Scholes has a season best of 22.51 in the 50, closely followed by Curry with a 22.69.

The Gamecock men will be facing their third consecutive ranked opponent as Georgia Tech is No. 20 in the newest edition of the CSCAA Top 25 Poll. It will be a close matchup in the 1000 freestyle as South Carolina’s top performer, Connor Fry, has the fastest time between the two of 8:57.03. The Yellow Jacket’s Mert Kilavuz is less than a second off Fry, entering this meet with a time of 8:57.97. Similar to the Women, Georgia Tech men have the most strength in the freestyle events against the Gamecocks as the Yellow Jackets hold the top three times in the 200 freestyle, 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle between the two programs. The team also holds the top three 100 breaststroke times but Liam Kerns is less than a second away from the top Yellow Jacket in the event.

For the latest South Carolina swimming and diving information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecocksSwmDive).