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UNC Women's team topples Gamecocks in latest Swimming & Diving dual meet

Swim Dive Duke
Sophie Lindner in a meet against Duke. The sophomore finished first in the 200 Yard Freestyle in the dual meet against South Carolina.

The UNC women’s swimming and diving team came away with a meet win over South Carolina Friday afternoon at Carolina Natatorium while the men’s team fell against the Gamecocks. The women’s team is now 2-1 in the season with new head coach Mark Gangloff. 

What happened?

The women had solid team performances all around with 10 event wins throughout the day and many swimmers landing in the top three. 

In women’s 200 Yard freestyle race, sophomore Sophie Lindner finished first (1:49.49) and junior Emma Cole snagged the third spot (1:50.71) just shy of South Carolina’s Emma Alexander. In the 100 Yard backstroke, sophomores Grace Countie and Heidi Lowe took the first and third spot, respectively, with Countie making the race in 54.13 and Lowe in 55.89. 

Sophomore Lilly Higgs and junior Allie Reiter also made a splash in the 100 Yard Breaststroke coming in second and third after the Gamecock’s Taylor Steele. Higgins and Reiter also placed in the top-three in the 200 Yard Breaststroke placing first and second. 

Senior Bryanna Cameron took the top place in the 500 Yard Freestyle, the 200 Yard butterfly and the 1000 Yard Freestyle. 

Despite the men’s team not sealing a win, many Tar Heels had a respectable showing with a few athletes setting new personal records for the season. 

UNC sophomore Tomas Sungaila and junior Dimitrios Dimitriou finished first and second in the 200 Yard Freestyle, 1:39.30 and 1:40.53, which were both personal bests for the season. Dimitriou went on to win the 500 Yard Freestyle, shaving more than two seconds off of his seed time for a new personal record of 4:33.20.

Junior Valdas Abaliksta and sophomore Jacob Rauch finished first and third in the 100 Yard Breaststroke with personal bests of 54.50 and 56.64. In the 200 Yard Backstroke, junior Chris Thames and first-year Alex Mays took the top two spots and on the 100 Yard Backstroke, Mays, Thames, sophomore Tucker Burhans and senior Luka Tomic placed second through fifth in that order. 

The diving teams had solid outings. 

First-year diver Paige Burrell notched the top place in the women’s 3-meter diving with a score of 283.88, a 23.03 point improvement from her previous best in the event. Sophomore Emily Grund also placed third in the 3-meter. Grund went on to secure first place in the 1-meter dive with 292.13. Burrell came third in the 1-meter dive with 269.63.

Who stood out?

Cameron took the top spot in three events throughout the day 

She took first in the 500 and 1000 freestyle as well as the 200 fly. Her time of 1:58.94 in the 200 fly was just shy off her season best. This was her second time reaching the NCAA B standard in the event. 

When was it decided?

The men’s team just couldn’t outperform the Gamecocks. 

"It was a hard fought meet with some ups and downs," Gangloff said in a press release. "You always want to come away with a win, which is what our women's team did. On the men's side, we were a little flat and we lost a couple of close races, which decided the outcome of the meet.”

Why does it matter?

The Tar Heels had a split win, but with an overall solid performance from both the men and women’s teams, this signals good potential for the season. 

Despite not completing the sweeping win, the hard effort shown in Friday’s meet is a good sign for the Tar Heels who have a young team and a largely new coaching staff. 

Gangloff, associate head coach Jack Brown, assistant coach Allyson Sweeney and diving coach Yaidel Gamboa are all experiencing their first years at UNC. With time, the team should be more comfortable. 

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When do they play next?

The Tar Heels will take a 3-week break from meets, but will be back in action when they travel to the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta from November 22-24. 

@macyemeyer

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com