South Carolina’s women’s swimming and diving had five athletes compete in the NCAA championships Thursday through Saturday. After Saturday’s events, the Gamecocks took 29th place in NCAA championships thanks to a few All-American performances.
Even though the Gamecocks didn’t have any participants in the championship’s first day, Thursday saw two divers and two swimmers. In the 1-meter dive, sophomore Julia Vincent placed fourth with a score of 331.05, and senior Lauren Lamendola earned 15th place with a score of 285.20. These two performances allowed Vincent and Lamendola to pick up All-American honors, making South Carolina one of three schools that had two divers as All-Americans.
"I am really proud of all of our athletes that competed today," head coach McGee Moody said. "Taylor and Emma swam outstanding races for their first career appearances at NCAAs. Taylor moved up from her pre-race seed, which was outstanding. But today was really about our divers on the 1-meter. Julia making the finals and having the opportunity to dive for an NCAA title is outstanding. Lauren, in her senior season, being an All-American is fabulous. I'm very proud of all of those young ladies."
On the swimming side, sophomore Taylor Worrell posted a 4:43.24 in the 500 freestyle to grab 26th place. Freshman Emma Barksdale swam the 200 IM in 1:59.97, good enough for 48th place. South Carolina ended Thursday 21st place overall.
The same four Gamecocks took part in events on the third day. Vincent and Lamendola both competed in the 3-meter board and came away with 26th and 39th place, respectively. Barksdale continued with the 400 IM, earning 29th place on a 4:12.21 time. Worrell swam in the 200 freestyle, and she ended her championship with 60th place finish with a time of 1:49.09.
Barksdale and freshman Allyson Nied participated in Saturday’s events. Barksdale earned 36th place in the 200 breaststroke with a time 2:12.15 for her final event of the championships. Nied held her own on the platform dive, scoring a 175.60. That placed her in 16th, which gave her All-American status — South Carolina’s third of the week.
"We knew Allyson was diving well enough to make the finals, and she did," head diving coach Todd Sherritt said. "To earn All-American honors as a freshman is incredible. She did some things both at the meet and in training that showed real progress. Overall, this was a great year."
The men’s team competes in the NCAA Championships March 23 to 26. They have seven athletes that will swim and dive in events.