Coming off a heartbreaking loss to Clemson, the USC swim and dive teams will look to get back on track against Tennessee this Friday. Tennessee looks to be a tough opponent, as it holds an undefeated record so far this season. Carolina’s men bring a record of 1-3 into the meet, while the women are still winless at 0-4.
“I was proud of our guys and girls for how we performed [at Clemson], but by the same token, I think that you’re never going to be able to convince an athlete to lose, and that’s not what we expect,” USC coach McGee Moody said. “We expect to win every time we swim.”
The Volunteers are led by sophomore backstroker Ricky Henahan, who is undefeated so far this season, and sophomore diver Ryan Helms, who won both the one-meter and the three-meter events at Tennessee’s most recent meet, a victory against Kentucky.
USC’s women are led by junior diver Courtney Forcucci, who won both the one-meter and the three-meter against Clemson, and Claire and Christine Thompson, who combined to win the 200-, 500- and 1000-meter freestyle races. On the men’s side, freshmen Michael Flach and Brooks Ross came out strong for the Gamecocks on Friday. Flach won both the 200 and 500 freestyle, while Ross was victorious in the 1000.
Moody has been impressed with the performance of the freshmen so far this year.
“I think we talked about that at the beginning. They’re going to be in a position where they come in and have to have an immediate impact, have to score points for us. And I think for those guys, it was a draw, because I think when you’re a competitor, you always want to step up to a challenge,” Moody said. “I’ve been extremely happy with where they are so far this year. They know there’s a lot of pressure on them, and they haven’t let us down.”
The USC team is not worried about Tennessee’s impressive record, focusing instead on improving individual performances.
“We’ve got to control what we control. We’re not going to be able to do anything about how they race,” Moody said. “What we can control is what we do, and make sure that we’re swimming the races the way that we need to be swimming them. I think if we focus on that, the rest will take care of itself.”
The meet will begin on Friday at 2 p.m. in Knoxville.
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