South Carolina's swimming and diving team dominated the water Saturday as they faced the College of Charleston and East Carolina University at home in the Carolina Natatorium.
After a rocky start for the women's team, the men took to the water for the Gamecocks' first win of the day in the 400-yard medley relay, as the team of sophomore Jonathan Boland, freshman Nils Wich-Glasen, redshirt sophomore Kevin Leithold and junior Marwan El Kamash, finished with a time of 3:19.07 to take the top spot over ECU.
The women’s team made a splash after placing second in its first event. Senior Victoria Mitchell walked away with two wins in the women’s 1,000 and 500-yard freestyle, and placed second with a time of 2:05.41 in the 200 yard IM.
Other notable swimmers included freshmen Heather Merritt with wins in both the 100 and 200-yard backstroke and Meredith Vay, who earned first in the 200 and 50-yard freestyle.
The women’s team defeated the Pirates 157-116 and College of Charleston 161-131, starting its season 5-1.
On the men’s side, freshman Tomas Peribonio took his first career win in the 1,000 freestyle and followed it up with a second win in the 200 backstroke.
The men continued their streak with wins from El Kamash in the 200 and 500 freestyle and Leithold in the 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle.
Nils Wich-Glasen remains undefeated in the 200 breaststroke as he made the Gamecock’s first NCAA provisional cut of the season with a time of 1:58.49 but knows there's still room for improvement.
“I am pleased with my time in the 200 breaststroke," he said, "but I can swim it better, smarter.”
Head swimming coach McGee Moody echoed Wich-Glasen's sentiments, adding there are things he could do to become a better swimmer.
"Nils had a great day. He got an NCAA provisional cut in the 200 breaststroke, and I think that puts him around top-10 in the country right now, which is a good place to be," Moody said. "He still has some things he can improve on, but he had a really good day.”
The men’s swim team improved to a 3-1 record, defeating ECU 169-104 and the College of Charleston 157-135.
The Gamecock diving team made its contribution with a combined four wins from senior Cole Miller on the one and three-meter, senior Patricia Kranz on the one-meter and junior Lauren Lamendola placing first on the three-meter.
Head diving coach Todd Sherritt said he was pleased overall with the team’s solid performance.
“We have great divers on our team, and they did a great job. winning an event is huge," Sherritt said. "It was great to see her go out there [and perform well], and that was the best performances I've seen her have. Patty [Kranz] and Julia [Vincent] had solid performances as well."
Sherritt went on to echo the same praise for his team.
Looking to the remainder of the fall season and the start of the spring season, Moody remarked on what improvements need to be made.
“For us, what we need to take away from this is we need to sharpen up our details a little bit more in terms of our racing," he said.
The Gamecocks will finish their 2014 fall season in Christiansburg, Virginia for the Virginia Tech Invitational on Nov. 20.