The South Carolina swimming and diving team set several records this week during an intense five days of competition at the SEC Championships in Auburn, Alabama.
The Gamecock men captured seventh this year, after placing dead last in 2014, while the women were again awarded 11th place overall.
The women’s team broke two school records on the first night of competition in the 800 freestyle relay and the 200 medley relay, with the 800 relay team consisting of freshmen Taylor Worrell, Meredith Vay, Heather Merritt and sophomore Cooper Brown, cutting the record previously set in 2004 by almost five seconds.
The men’s 800 freestyle relay team of redshirt sophomore Kevin Leithold, junior Marwan El Kamash, freshmen Akram Mahmoud and Tomas Peribonio, placed fifth with an NCAA qualifying time of 6:21.05.
The Gamecock divers made a splash on the first day, with senior Cole Miller placing fourth in the men’s one meter with a score of 379.05 and senior Patricia Kranz took third in the finals of the women’s three meter.
The second day of competition included the men’s 500 freestyle in which freshman Akram Mahmoud set his second record this season, placing fourth with a time of 4:15.11 while freshman Tomas Peribonio qualified for the NCAA A finals with a personal best of 4:16.84, ranking third in school history.
Nils Wich-Glasen finished 20th overall in the men’s 200 IM with an NCAA B cut time of 1:46.58, ranking him as the second fastest in school history.
In the 50 freestyle, sophomore Joshua Clothier led the men, placing 35th (20.56) in the preliminaries while Vay took 20th place in the women’s finals with a time of 22.73.
The Gamecocks were well represented in diving with a third place medal from Lauren Lamendola in the one meter and Kranz placing sixth in her second straight event.
Some young Gamecocks made an impact on the third day with Vay placing third in the women’s 200 freestyle, setting a personal record of 1:45.94, while Peribonio once again made waves with his 14th place finish in the men’s 400 IM. Sophomore Megan Carlson made her first appearance in SEC finals with a time of 4:20.58, the fifth fastest in school history, that placed her 24th in women’s IM.
After three days, the men had recorded seven times that ranked in the top five in school history and the women had recorded five.
Two more records were set on the fourth day, as Merritt clinched a spot in the C final after a time of 54.14 in the 100 backstroke, breaking the previous 2009 record, while Leithold broke his own 100 breaststroke record with a time of 52.97 in the preliminaries .
Wich-Glasen placed 12th in the men’s 100 breaststroke, followed by Leithold who came in 14th place and senior Alex Vance at 24th. Wich-Glasen’s time of 53.11 is a personal best and ranks him second in school history.
The women’s team set yet another relay school record with a time of 3:39.48. The team, made up of Ellen Johnson, Vay, Merritt and Ashleigh Ferguson, finished 11th overall.
Wrapping up the 2015 SEC Championships on Saturday, Feb. 21, the Gamecocks finished strong with another four records and a medal on the final day of competition.
Wich-Glasen medaled in the men’s 200 breaststroke, earning second place and breaking his own school record with a time of 1:52.97.
“Of course I was expecting to have a good meet, but I wasn't expecting to win a medal,” Wich-Glasen said.
Peribonio earned fourth place after setting an all time fastest record of 14:50.25 on the 1650 freestyle. Freshman Bryce Kananowicz set the record for the men’s 200 backstroke and Vay broke a 10-year-old record in the 50 freestyle with a time of 49.17 in the prelims and then again in the finals with a time of 49.16.
Miller made finals in all of his diving events this week, for the first time since his freshman year in 2012.
“I'm extremely proud of our men and women, they fought all week long,” swimming head coach McGee Moody said. “We had a lot of stuff to overcome along the way. They were in situations along the way where they were forced to step up and swim faster that I think even they thought they could, tonight especially.”
The team will return March 10 at the NCAA B Diving Championships in Athens, Georgia, while the Gamecock swimmers will prepare for the NCAA Championship on March 19-21 in Greensboro, North Carolina for the women and March 26-28 in Iowa City, Iowa for the men.