AUBURN SWIMMING AND DIVING DEFEATS SOUTH CAROLINA IN FINAL DUAL MEET
Jan. 27, 2001

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The Auburn University swimming and diving teams completed the dual meet season here Saturday morning sweeping South Carolina with a 172-123 victory for the men (7-1, 3-0 SEC) and a 170-119 win for the women (9-0, 4-0 SEC).

On the men?s side, the Tigers claimed seven individual events including Jeremy Knowles in the 1000-yard freestyle (9:22.53), James Galloway in the 200 free (1:39.56) and the 500 free (4:30.78), Eric vanGoethem in the 50 breast (25.70), Jeff Somensatto in the 200 fly (1:48.02), Kirk Hampleman in the 200 back (1:48.94) and Dave Denniston in the 200 breast (2:04.28). Diver Caesar Garcia also had a season-best score in the 1-meter with a score of 311.63 and finished second on the day.

"Greg Busse had his best meet of the season," head coach David Marsh said. "I think that the matchup in the 100 free today will be the match for the SEC title. Jeremy Knowles, Bryan Rother and James Galloway had a great meet for us today as well."

"Caesar had his season-best score in the 1-meter today which was very encouraging," diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "Now we basically need to work on finishing our dives before SECs. Since we have about a month off, we will be doing some creative training and making some meet situations in practice."

For the women, Auburn earned 11 top finishes on the day including Megan Riddle in the 1000 free (10:07.38), Maggie Bowen in the 200 free (1:50.90), 200 IM (2:03.80) and the 200 fly (2:03.96), Laura Swander in the 50 breast (28.97), Eileen Coparropa in the 50 free (23.68), Ashley Rubenstein in the 1-meter diving (268.05), Taylor Spivey in the 50 back (27.10), Demerae Christianson in the 50 fly (25.00), Cortnee Adams in the 100 free (52.92) and Magda Dyszkiewicz in the 500 free (5:00.22).

"Megan Riddle had a very solid 1000 free for us today," assistant head women?s coach Kim Brackin said. "It was one of the better swims of the meet."

"It was great for the women?s team to finish the season undefeated," Marsh said. "Now the SEC and NCAA challenges begin."

Both the men?s and women?s teams will have close to a month break before the SEC Championships which will be held February 21-24 in Tuscaloosa.

Last Modified January 27, 2001
Auburn Media Relations