Forcucci breaks conference record in three-meter springboard event
The South Carolina swimming and diving men’s and women’s teams finished eighth at the SEC Championship, which was held in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee’s Allan Jones Aquatic Center last week.
USC head coach McGee Moody was impressed by his teams’ performances at the championship meet.
“This is the hardest conference in the country,” Moody said. “We talked all year about relying on our divers, and always knowing they’re going to score points.”
Sophomore Amanda Rutqvist won silver in the women’s 200 breaststroke on Saturday with a season-best time of 2 minutes, 9.48 seconds. Rutqvist, who won the event last year, finished three-quarters of a second away from winning the SEC title now for a second year.
The Gamecock swimming and diving teams saw 30 NCAA provisional qualifying times, three medals, two school records and an SEC record.
Freshman Annika Jonsson placed seventh in the 200 butterfly final with a time of 2:00.95. Junior Whitney Avers finished fourth in the same event’s consolation final with 2:01.30, finishing No. 12 overall.
Seniors James Crawford and Ryan Connolly both earned the chance to swim in consolation finals. Crawford finished 16th in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:47.94. Connolly finished 16th in the 200 breaststroke with a personal best time of 2:01.42.
Sophomores Gerard Rodriguez and Matt Navata swam in consolation finals of the 200 butterfly. Rodriguez and Navata both swam personal bests. Rodriguez placed 10th with a 1:47.60 and Navata touched the wall at 14th with a 1:48.50.
In women’s platform diving, freshman Patricia Kranz placed ninth with score of 244.30 and senior Courtney Forcucci followed in 10th with a score of 243.55.
Forcucci broke an SEC and school record on the women’s three-meter springboard event with a 392.40. She shattered the previous record, 371.65, held by Auburn’s Vennie Dantin in 2010. Former Gamecock Taryn Zack held South Carolina’s school record since 2010 with a score of 389.03.
“She came through in a big way,” Moody said. “These are some of the best divers in the world, and she owned them tonight.”
The men’s 4x50 relay team of Jay Warner, Andrew Seiler, Max Heinze and Collin Kaden finished seventh with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1:19.89. It is the second fastest 4x50 freestyle relay time for the Gamecocks in school history, and Warner’s leadoff split time of 20.00 is the fourth fastest time in 50 freestyle school history.
“They relays swam out of their mind at the end,” Moody said. “We did a great job with that.”
The Gamecocks are now beginning to train for NCAAs and other competitions. Divers will head to Zone B Diving Championships in Auburn, Ala., in early March. The women’s swim team will also compete in Auburn March 15 to 17 for the NCAA Women’s Championships. The men will head to Federal Way, Wash., for the NCAA Men’s Championships March 22 to 24.