South Carolina Takes Down Duke On The Road

Duke vs South Carolina

• October 25, 2024
• Taishoff Aquatic Pavilion, Durham, NC
• SCY (yards)
• Results
• Team Scores
  • Men: South Carolina 155 (unranked), Duke 145 (unranked)
  • Women: South Carolina 161 (unranked), Duke 131 (#16)

The University of South Carolina beat the men’s and women’s Duke Blue Devils with especially strong performances in the distance events. 

Women’s Meet Recap

The unranked Gamecocks took down the #16 Duke Blue Devils 169-131. It marked their first victory against Duke in ten years.

Fifth-year Madison Kolessar led a dominant performance by the Gamecocks distance group. Kolessar placed first in both the 500 and the 1000 (4:50.89/9:50.76), leading a 1-2-3 finish for South Carolina in both events.

The Gamecocks also went 1-2-3 in the 200 free, led by junior Amy Riordan in 1:45.71. 

Their freestyle dominance carried over to the relay events, where South Carolina edged out Duke to win in 3:17.16.

Gamecock senior Greta Pelzek took care of business in the butterfly events, winning in 52.63/1:55.11.

The Duke Blue Devils put up a good fight, highlighted by junior Kaelyn Gridley breaking her own program record in the 100 breaststroke, winning in 58.68. Gridley also turned in a 2:09.35 200 breaststroke to sweep the breaststroke events.

Gridley’s sophomore team mate Ali Pfaff put up a dominant win in the 100 backstroke, touching first in 51.66 and missing her personal best by .01. She took the 200 back as well in 1:53.69. Both swims also marked pool records

Pfaff and Gridley teamed up with Aleyna Ozkan and Tatum Wall for a comfortable 200 medley relay win. Wall also swept the sprints (22.15/49.07).

The Gamecocks are now 2-1 this season while the Blue Devils are 1-1.

Men’s Meet Recap

In a match-up that came down to the last relay, the unranked Gamecocks came out ahead of the unranked Blue Devils, 155-145. This marked South Carolina’s first victory against Duke since 2015.

Though they had no individual double-winners, South Carolina’s depth was on display as seven different Gamecocks won an event.

Sophomore distance duo Raymond Prosinski and Connor Fry took the 1000 and 500 respectively (9:11.50/4:26.31). 

South Carolina also won both breaststroke events. Senior Liam Kerns won the 100 in 54.27, while fellow senior Linus Kahl took the 200 (1:58.53).

The Gamecocks also won both relays, finishing in 1:27.07 in the 200 medley relay and 3:17.16 in the 400 free relay.

The only double winner of the meet was Blue Devil Junior Yannis Schattman, taking the 1m and 3m diving events.

As far as swimming goes, senior Michael Jiang was one of Duke’s stand outs. Jiang won the 100 back in 48.36, picked up a second place in the 200 IM, and a third place in the 200 back.

This meet was the Gamecock’s first of the weekend in the Triangle Area before traveling to UNC the following day. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils’ next meet will be against Northwestern on November 8-9.