The South Carolina men's and women’s swimming and diving teams will face off against the College of Charleston and East Carolina this Saturday at the Blatt Natatorium.
The men’s team enters Saturday at 1-1 overall, and its matchup with the Cougars will be the team’s first meet since traveling to face Georgia Tech in Atlanta Oct. 17. It will also be the men’s team’s first meet at home.
The women will enter Saturday's meet with a 3-1 record, coming off of a victory against Florida Gulf Coast on Halloween in the team’s first meet in Columbia.
Head swimming coach McGee Moody was happy after the way the women’s team performed against the Eagles.
“We were pretty much as good as we could have been in just about every event tonight," Moody said. "Florida Gulf Coast is an outstanding women's program, so I'm proud of our ladies for stepping up and getting it done."
A few individuals to watch for on Saturday on the women’s side include senior Victoria Mitchell—who has two wins in the 1,000 freestyle and one win in the 200 backstroke, freshman Meredith Vay, who currently holds the fastest times on the team in the 100 and 200 freestyle, and junior Ellen Johnson, who has two wins so far and holds the top time on the team in the 100 breaststroke.
Freshman Julia Vincent and senior Patricia Kanz are the diving team’s top performers this season and will be the two to watch for in the one and three-meter diving events.
After Friday’s meet against Florida Gulf Coast, head diving coach Todd Sherritt spoke of how the competitiveness between the two divers brought out their best.
"Patty (Patricia Kranz) did really well and had some phenomenal dives. My freshman (Marissa Roth), I'm really impressed with her," Sherritt said. "This was a very good meet for them. They were competing against each other and I really liked that."
For the men, freshman Nils Wich-Glasen comes into Saturday’s matchup undefeated in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Redshirt Sophomore Kevin Leithold is the team’s top sprinter, and sophomore Jonathan Boland and Junior Marwan El Kamash both have two wins apiece so far this season.
Wich-Glasen said he hopes to continue having a strong season and is looking forward to Saturday’s meet.
“As a team we think it’s going to be a really competitive meet but one that we think we can have a lot of success in," he said. "The coaches have been getting us ready this whole season and we just want to continue improving and getting better."