Moody: Gamecocks focused on improvement over last year’s finish
As the South Carolina swimming and diving teams prepare to compete in the SEC Championships, which begin today in College Station, Texas, head coach McGee Moody said his team is focused on one thing: improving from last year.
In the SEC Championships a year ago, both the South Carolina men’s and women’s teams finished eighth overall. Auburn won the men’s events while Georgia won the women’s.
However, Moody noted that those teams might not be the ones to give the Gamecocks the toughest competition this year. He specifically named Alabama, LSU, Kentucky and SEC newcomer Texas A&M as the most difficult opponents.
“Those are the teams that we will be battling in the final days for our position,” he said.
According to Moody, the women’s side has improved throughout the year. At the beginning of the season, they struggled against top teams like Florida and North Carolina, but as the season progressed they regained confidence.
“They settled down second semester and got into a groove,” he said. “They started competing, and they started believing a little more in themselves. They’ve come a long way since the first meet.”
According to Moody, juniors Amanda Rutqvist and Rachael Schaffer have contributed in particular to the team’s growth.
Schaffer said the team’s attitude might be its strongest asset as they head into the most important meet of the season.
“We’ve got some really good momentum going into the meet,” she said. “I think that in the first day if we have a lot of great swims, then I think it’s just going to carry throughout the whole meet.
“This is the most positive and the most confident that I’ve ever seen our team.”
Moody said the women’s squad always scores more points at SEC Championships than anyone expects. He believes several swimmers on the men’s side are poised for a successful meet as well.
“Michael Flach is swimming better than I probably have ever seen him swim before,” he said.
Flach made a strong statement at the beginning of the season when he took first place in three different events at South Carolina’s first meet. Last year, he became the first Gamecock swimmer since 1988 to make the finals at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Moody also mentioned the progressive improvement of freshman Marwan El Kamash and junior Jay Warner, saying he expects both competitors to have a strong meet.
While Moody thinks USC’s individual events will carry the team at the SEC Championships, he is confident South Carolina’s relay events could put up big numbers in College Station.
“We have got a men’s 800 relay that has the potential to crack the top three, which I don’t think we have ever done that before at South Carolina,” he said. “We are going to get out there, we are going to race as hard as we can and see what happens.”