2023 GAMECOCK SWIMMING INVITATIONAL
- November 15-17, 2023
- Columbia, South Carolina
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results on Meet Mobile: “2023 Gamecock Swimming Invitational”
- Day 1 Recap
- Results (PDF)
The University of Tampa men’s swimming and diving team, currently ranked No. 2 in the latest CSCAA poll for Division II, pieced together an impressive 264-point victory over South Carolina at the 2023 Gamecock Invitational.
The Tampa men put the finishing touches on their big win with a school record in the 400 freestyle relay (2:53.39) courtesy of Blake Moran (43.94), Ian Cooper (43.52), Tibor Tistan (42.89), and Caleb Brandon (43.04).
Tampa freshman Jacob Hamlin set an individual school record on Friday in the 1650 free with his 1st-place finish in 15:01.66, dropping more than 15 seconds off his previous best from March. The Spartans also got Day 3 wins out of Parker Knollman in the 200 back (1:54.53) and Santiago Corredor in the 200 fly (1:46.24).
On Thursday, Knollman led off Tampa’s 200 medley relay in 22.05, helping the quartet break the program record with a total time of 1:26.33. Jared Mindek split 24.32 on breaststroke, Adrian Aguilar split 20.75 on butterfly, and Moran anchored with a 19.21 free split. Corredor and Aguilar each set individual school records in the 400 IM (3:45.16) and 100 fly (56.75), respectively, on Thursday.
The South Carolina men finished with 1,270 points to Tampa’s 1,534. The Gamecocks were led by Mark Shperkin, who set a pool record in the 100 free with a time of 43.25, about half a second shy of his personal-best 42.73 from the 2020 SEC Championships. Shperkin also placed 4th in 50 free (20.10) and added a 19.96 leadoff on South Carolina’s 200 free relay.
Women’s Recap
The South Carolina women, ranked No. 17 in the latest CSCAA poll and honorable mention in SwimSwam’s November power rankings, cruised to a team victory with 1,988 points, more than 1,000 ahead of runner-up Vanderbilt (961.5).
South Carolina junior Greta Pelzek established a new 200 fly pool record in 1:54.83, taking almost a full second off her previous-best 1:55.64 from February.
Gamecocks senior Bella Pantano also set a pool record in the 200 back with a winning time of 1:54.20, improving upon her previous-best 1:54.93 from earlier this month.
South Carolina sophomore Amy Riordan triumphed in the 200 free (1:45.00), slightly off her personal-best 1:44.31 from earlier this month. She also won the 500 free (4:43.82) and placed 2nd in the 200 back with a personal-best 1:54.45, shaving almost a second off her previous-best 1:55.42 from February. Riordan capped off her meet with a 49.64 leadoff on the Gamecocks’ 400 free relay, just off her personal-best 49.59 from earlier this month.
Vanderbilt’s quartet of Abby Francis (50.64), Ellie Taliaferro (50.64), Sophia Kosturos (50.57), and Megan Ciezczak (49.80) broke the Commodores’ 400 free relay program record from over seven years ago with a total time of 3:21.65.
demote them to D2 💀
Great job Tampa, USC has all the money and staff. But you got to remember, the only SEC Men’s Teams that are weaker than USC are Vanderbilt and Arkansas.
lol. Tampa is 5th in the country with there 117 200 free. Try again, troll.
Maybe compared to times coming into the weekend. Coming out of the weekend, 1:17.84 is going to be somewhere in the 20-30 range (depending on whether you count “B” relays or not).
Fabulous swim for a D2 program, but no need to embelish that further.
Currently ranked 11th. Ahead of Power 5 teams such as Louisville Missouri and Arizona
It really is all about whether you’re going one per school or not. Probably makes sense to go one per school.
By that rank, they’re 8th per USA Swimming, but that’s missing the Georgia Invite. They’re 18th on SwimCloud, which on a quick scan looks pretty complete? I think all the big ones are in there at least.
Spartans are on to something hot this year 🔥
D2 runs it
Put together a clinic, 15/18 events won