Tar Heels Head To Columbia Thursday To Face Gamecocks

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The University of North Carolina's men's and women's swimming and diving teams return to action this Thursday after a three-week break when they travel to face the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, at 4 p.m. at Carolina Natatorium in Columbia, S.C.

Coach Rich DeSelm's Tar Heels have already faced the nationally Top 10-ranked University of Georgia Bulldogs. The fourth-ranked Georgia women defeated the North Carolina women by a score of 180-120. The Georgia men, who are tied for eighth in the country, defeated the Tar Heels 187-113 on October 6.

"The Georgia meet helped us see where we are, learn from it and train to be better," says DeSelm.

South Carolina's men's and women's swimming and diving teams swept Cincinnati last Saturday. The men (1-2) received their first win of the 2017-18 season while the women (3-1) earned their third. The Gamecocks won 21 out of 32 events between the men and women. The South Carolina men's team is currently ranked in the Top 20 of the most recent College Swimming Coaches Association poll, coming in at number 20. The latest CSCAA poll was released Wednesday morning. The Gamecocks were 16th in the previous poll. The Tar Heel men are unranked.

The Tar Heel women moved up three spots in the latest coaches' poll, going from 22nd to 19th. The South Carolina women moved from 32nd to 22nd in the latest ranking.

The last time the Tar Heels traveled to visit the Gamecocks was in October 2012. The Tar Heel men defeated South Carolina 168-132 and the UNC women scored a booming 198-99 win over the Gamecocks.

"It's been a few years since we swam against South Carolina and we are looking forward to going down to Columbia," DeSelm remarks. "They have an incredibly improved team. Southeastern Conference teams are all tough. They are well coached. They recruit well, they train well and they have had some tremendous success at a very high level so we definitely respect what we are heading into and expect some amazing competition.

"We've got an eager, hungry group coming off a good meet despite a loss at Georgia, another powerful SEC school," said DeSelm.

Coach DeSelm has high hopes for senior captain Caroline Baldwin in the upcoming meet and the 2017-18 season as a whole. "Caroline Baldwin is on fire," exclaims DeSelm. "She is very determined. She has improved every year at UNC. She has been a fantastic individual swimmer, a fantastic relay swimmer. You're always going to get everything that she's got. At Georgia, she swam times that would have qualified for the NCAAs last year which is pretty phenomenal for the first meet of the season."

In addition, Coach DeSelm has high expectations for first year Tar Heel Alvin Jiang. "Alvin was a top recruit," says DeSelm. "He could have gone just about anywhere. He's very talented. His underwater dolphin kicking, which is a great asset to have, is among the best that we have ever seen. He is an exciting swimmer, stepped up against a Top 10 team at Georgia and competed with the best of them."

The freshman Class of 2021 has continued to impress Coach DeSelm throughout the early stages of the season. "They have already made an impact," claims Coach DeSelm. "They started off unified and it is showing. They have fun competing together."

Redshirt junior Sean Burston swept the diving events in the first meet of the season at Georgia. Unfortunately, Burston will be unavailable at South Carolina due to a toe injury. Diving coach Abel Sanchez believes Burston's injury can positively impact his younger teammates.

"Believe it or not he can contribute more to the young ones outside of the pool because when he is in they can all hide behind him and let him do his thing," says Sanchez. "But now he needs to be a good cheerleader and get these guys going. It will be a good testament to see what happens."

With Burston being injured, Sanchez said that he believes first-year Greg Duncan will step up. "He's a special kid," remarks Sanchez. "He will do the same thing whether someone is there or not there. He may feel more of the weight, which is a good thing. It will be good to see what he does with more of the pressure on him. I think he will rise. He is a tough competitor and he trains really hard."

After junior Maria Lohman's dominant performance at the Georgia meet, the Tar Heel women's divers have their work cut out for them traveling to South Carolina. "I was looking at their lineup and their schedule, they have a pretty tough team," Coach Sanchez claims. "They have a young woman that went to the Olympic Games with Julia Vincent competing for South Africa. It should be a good fight."

After meeting the Gamecocks on Thursday, the Tar Heels will host their first home meet of the season on Saturday, November 4 at Koury Natatorium against the Virginia Tech Hokies at 1 p.m.. The following week the Tar Heels will host another home meet against the three-time reigning men's national champion, the University of Texas Longhorns on Saturday, Nov. 11 at noon.

"There is some incredible competition coming to Chapel Hill," says DeSelm. "I hope we get some Carolina fans out here."

Live stats for this week's meet against South Carolina will be made available through GoHeels.com shortly before the start of competition. Be sure to follow the Tar Heel swimmers and divers this Thursday and throughout the season.

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