South Carolina Women Upset Auburn, Tiger Men Cruise Past Gamecocks

South Carolina vs. Auburn

• January 11, 2025
• James E. Martin Aquatic Center — Auburn, AL
• 25 Yards (SCY)
• Scores
  • Women: HM South Carolina, 152.5 def. #23 Auburn, 147.5
  • Men: #15 Auburn, 215 def. NR South Carolina, 85
• Full Results

Women’s Meet

The women’s meet saw a thrilling battle between the Tigers and the Gamecocks. The relays have been a strength for the Auburn women all season long, which they showcased by taking the top two spots in the 200 medley relay and jumping out to a 13-point lead. South Carolina evened the score in the next event with a 1000 freestyle sweep led by Madison Kolessar (9:46.61), demonstrating how close the meet would be.

After South Carolina’s 1000 freestyle podium sweep that evened the score, Auburn took charge of the next three events. Senior Polina Nevmovenko won the 200 freestyle, and freshman Lora Komoroczy won the 100 backstroke before senior Stasya Makarova led a 1-2-3 finish for the home team in the 100 breaststroke. She swam her third-fastest 100 breaststroke of the season, a 1:00.07, leading teammates Zoey Zeller (1:01.08) and Audrey Crawford (1:01.49) as they expanded Auburn’s lead to 23 points.

South Carolina began to strike back in the 200 butterfly as Greta Pelzek won the first of her two individual events at the meet. She went on to sweep the butterfly events, claiming the 100 butterfly ahead of an Auburn 2-3-4 finish in 51.90. However, Auburn’s strength in the sprint freestyle events, highlighted by Nevmovenko’s 100 freestyle win (48.92) and Lexie Mulvihill’s 50 freestyle win (22.54), helped them push the lead out to 25 points after the 100 free.

It was their largest lead of the day. From there, South Carolina began to chip away at Auburn’s lead by outscoring them in the rest of the day’s individual events. Amy Riordan led a 1-2 finish for the Gamecocks in the 200 backstroke with a 1:55.06. Then, Delaney Franklin lowered her 200 breaststroke lifetime best for the second time in as many meets, dropping from the 2:11.47 she swam last week against Virginia Tech to a 2:10.89. With the time, she climbs from seventh to sixth in the all-time program rankings. The Gamecocks got a podium sweep of their own in the 500 freestyle; Brecklin Gormley touched first with a 4:44.71, followed by Nora Fluck (4:46.41) and Ellery Ottem (4:47.39). Gormley’s time moves her to sixth-fastest in program history.

After Pelzek’s 100 butterfly and Sophie Verzyl’s diving board sweep, the Gamecocks put the meet away—barring a disqualification—in the 200 IM. It was a close race between Meagan Harnish, Komoroczy, and Franklin; Harnish came from behind on the freestyle with a 27.89 split to grab the win in 1:59.37. She touched four-hundredths ahead of Komoroczy and Franklin, who tied for second place in 1:59.41.

As a team can’t go 1-2-3 in a relay event at a dual meet, all South Carolina needed to do to win was not get disqualified in the 400 freestyle relay. They did that, taking second (3:16.24) behind Nevmovenko (48.98), Lisa Klevanovich (48.53), Lawson Ficken (49.29), and Mulvihill (48.12), who swam away for the win in 3:14.92.

After the last event, the Gamecocks had secured their comeback upset over the Tigers, winning by five points, 152.5 to 147.5. This appears to be the first time the South Carolina women have beaten Auburn in a dual meet.

Men’s Meet

The men’s meet wasn’t nearly as close as the women’s; the Auburn men dominated, scoring 215 points to South Carolina’s 85. Auburn’s relay strength was on display here as well, as the Tigers went 1-2 in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays. Nate Stoffle (21.21), Henry Bethel (23.65), Logan Tirheimer (20.74), and Kalle Makinen (19.03) won the 200 medley relay with a 1:24.63. Makinen (43.04), Ryan Husband (42.27), Tirheimer (43.05), and Jon Vanzandt (43.04) capped the meet by winning the 400 free relay in 2:51.40.

Stoffle, Makinen, Danny Schmidt, and Talan Blackmon each won two individual events as the Tigers claimed 14 of the 16 events on offer at the meet. In addition to the 1-2 finishes in both relays, the Tigers earned at least the top two spots in the 200 freestyle, 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, and both diving events.

Makinen highlighted Auburn’s sprint freestyle dominance by winning both the 50 and 100 freestyle. The junior sprinter claimed the 50 freestyle in 19.50 and was the only man in the field to break 20 seconds in the event. After the diving break, he got right back to his winning ways by leading Auburn’s sweep of the top four spots in the 100 freestyle with a 43.05.

Schmidt, an NCAA ‘B’ finalist in the 400 IM, led another podium sweep for the Tigers, winning the 200 IM with a 1:46.36. Earlier in the meet, he’d claimed the 200 butterfly with a 1:43.64, pushing ahead of a South Carolina 2-3 finish. Vanzandt led the other Auburn podium sweep at the meet, holding off late charges from his teammates Husband and Michael Bonson to win the 200 freestyle in 1:35.31. Husband and Bonson were just over two-tenths behind him, taking second and third in 1:35.63 and 1:35.64, respectively.

Stoffle is Auburn’s go-to backstroker. Now a senior, he swept the backstroke events in 45.73/1:42.40 to round out Auburn’s double event winners in the water. Blackmon won both diving events.

South Carolina earned two event wins on the day. Their first came in the second event, as sophomore Connor Fry held off Mason Mathias to win the 1000 freestyle by .18 seconds with an 8:57.03. Fry won this event last week at the meet against Virginia Tech, which like this meet, was one of the Gamecocks’ few event wins on the day. Senior Linus Kahl added a win in the 100 breaststroke (53.71). This was one of South Carolina’s strongest events of the day, as Kahl and fellow senior Liam Kerns went 1-2. Kahl jetted out to a lead at the first 50 yards, while Kerns used a strong back half to power past two Auburn swimmers for second place in 53.91.

Up Next

Auburn is back in action next week on Jan. 17 as the team takes on Kentucky, another in-conference foe. South Carolina hosts Georgia Tech on Jan. 25 and will honor their seniors as they close the regular season.