Tide Swimming and Diving Sweep Gamecocks on Senior Day
2/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - It was senior day at the Don Gambril Olympic Pool and the Alabama men and women's swimming and diving teams sent the old folks out with decisive wins over Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina.
Katherine Bortenlanger, Catalina Casaru, Stefan Gherghel, Kelly Kerr, Meghan Lynch, Holly McCreless, Alaina Patterson, Charles Reeves and Ginny Trott all went out with a win in their last home competition wearing the crimson and white.
"This is the first class that I've been here for all four years," said head coach Don Wagner. "This is the class that has seen us go from being a bunch of individuals to being a true team and family. They have contributed a lot to the program and I am proud of them all."
Alabama's women knocked of the Lady Gamecocks 138.5-104.5 while the men beat USC 135-107.
"Anna Grant was definitely the swimmer of the meet on the women's side today," Wagner said. "She had a pair of great swims and just competed with a lot of heart. She has come so far this season. She does whatever you ask of her and she works very, very hard."
For Grant, a freshman, and the Tide, it was the second meet in less than 24 hours. Alabama faced No. 1 ranked Auburn Friday in a tough-fought battle. Grant won the 200 freestyle with a 1:50.47 and then came back and took the 100 freestyle with a 51.78 before leading off the Tide's 200 freestyle relay to second place finish.
Freshman Candace Weiman led an Alabama one-two-three sweep of the 200 IM when she won the event with a 2:04.75, followed by Casaru and junior Anne Poleska. Weiman also won the 200 butterfly, posting a 2:02.02. Casaru came back to win the 200 backstroke with a 2:02.46 while Poleska won the 200 breaststroke with a 2:14.89.
Junior Lane Bassham won the one and three-meter boards, with 289.95 and 330.83 points respectively. Sophomore Eleanora Markou chipped in a win in the 500 freestyle as well, going 5:02.16.
The Tide women started thing off with a commanding win in the 400 medley relay. The all rookie lineup of Kathryn Hallquist, Weiman, Victoria Genova and Markou posted a 3:51.30.
On the men's side, the Tide also started things off with a dominating 400 medley relay performance when junior Brendan Ashby, freshman Vlad Polyakov, sophomore Stefan Gherghel and rookie Darren Erasmus combined to post a winning 3:21.51. Gherghel won the 200 butterfly at 1:49.05, while Polyakov won the 200 breaststroke with a 2:01.30.
"Our men swam tough," Wagner said. "There were a lot of great, great swims. We can be proud of our effort today."
Junior James Willcox won the 1000 freestyle going away, posting a 9:35.31. Sophomore Spiros Bitsakis and junior Ben Worby went one-two in the 200 IM, going 1:52.24 and 1:53.94 respectively. Freshman Apostolis Tsagarakis won the 100 freestyle with a 45.64.
The Tide men finished things off with a win in the 200 freestyle relay when Bitsakis, Tsagarakis, Ashby and Willcox swam to a 1:22.85 finish.
The win over the Gamecocks finishes off the Tide's regular season. Alabama returns to Action Feb. 18 at the Southeastern Conference Championships in Auburn, Ala.
"We are really starting to come together," Wagner said. "We have 18 days from this meet until we are at the conference championships. I feel really good about our opportunities to do really well there."
