courtesy of South Carolina Athletics
South Carolina swimming & diving announced its 2024-25 meet schedule on Tuesday. In its fourth season under head coach Jeff Poppell, the team will see an action-packed season that features five dual meets, a pair of tri-meets, and a multitude of invitationals.
“I’m very excited about the meet schedule that we’ve put together for the 2024 season,” said Poppell. “It will be highly competitive, featuring several of the country’s top swimming and diving programs, which I feel will better prepare us for the caliber of the competition that we will face at the SEC and NCAA Championships in February and March.”
South Carolina will begin its season with an invitational this year, traveling to Jacksonville, Fla., for the Osprey Sprint and Relay Invite on Fri., Sept. 27th and Sat., Sept. 28th. The meet will take place at the UNF Competition Pool Complex on the University of North Florida campus. The field features swimmers from Howard, FGCU, Georgia Southern, and Rollins along with the host Osprey’s and the Gamecocks.
South Carolina will then return home for an All-SEC tri-meet, hosting Georgia and Vanderbilt on Fri., Oct. 11 at 4:00 p.m. before getting back on the road for an SEC vs. ACC weekend, facing Duke on Oct. 25 and North Carolina on Oct. 26.
The Gamecocks will begin November with another tri-meet, welcoming Queens and UNCW to the Carolina Natatorium on Fri., Nov. 8 at 2:00 p.m.
For their mid-season invitationals, South Carolina’s swimmers will host the annual Gamecock Invitational in Columbia while the divers will travel to Athens, Ga., for the UGA Invitational. Both events will run Nov. 20 to 22. Joining the Gamecocks in the capital city will be North Carolina, Tampa, UNCW, Milligan, East Carolina, North Florida, Vanderbilt, and Georgia Southern.
The fall semester will conclude with the CSCAA National Open Water Championships on Sunday, Dec. 15. The meet will be hosted by Florida International University at Biscayne Bay in Miami. The event is an approved qualifying event for the USA Swimming 5K Open Water Championships with the top five finishers for each gender advancing.
The spring will open with South Carolina visiting Christiansburg, Va., for a dual meet against Virginia Tech on Jan. 4.
The team will stay on the road the following week with a trip down to Auburn, Ala., for a dual meet on Jan. 11 at 10:00 a.m. The dual season will conclude on Sat., Jan. 25 with a home meet against Georgia Tech. The meet will serve as the team’s senior recognition meet.
A select group of swimmers will conclude the regular season in Charlottesville, Va., at the UVA Cavalier Invitational that will take place Feb. 6-8.
The SEC Championships will take place in Athens, Ga., this year and will run Tues., Feb. 17 to Sat., Feb. 22. Swimmers will then have one final opportunity to achieve NCAA qualifying times at the UGA Last Chance Invitational March 1 and 2, also in Athens.
NCAA Zone B Diving Championships will take place March 9-12 in Auburn with both women’s and men’s NCAA Championships being held in Federal Way, Wash at Washington State University. The women’s event will run March 19-22 with the men’s event running March 26-29.
For all the latest South Carolina swimming and diving information, continue to follow GamecocksOnline.com or the team on social media (@GamecockSwmDive).
A unf meet? It would’ve been more acceptable to swim vs bolles.
Women yes.
Men now enter the Calanog era!
What’s the general consensus on Poppell’s success? Has USC been on an upward trajectory over the last couple of seasons?