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■Che ©amccock Gamecock swimmers impress at U.S. Open meet by Maneshka Eliatamby The Gamecock The USC swim team ended a semester of competition with a bang last weekend, doing exceptionally well at the U.S. Open in Auburn, Ala. Before the competition, Carolina head coach Don Gibb said they were all looking forward to the meet to gain experience and maybe make the finals in a few events. But the brilliant show that the Gamecocks put on last weekend turned out to be a sur prise to everyone, including the coach and the athletes themselves. The best performances came from Zsolt Gaspar and Istvan Bathazi, both Olympic ath letes in Sydney this past summer. Gaspar’s performance might have been the highlight of the day, as he came in first in his best event, the 100-meter butterfly. Gaspar went on to finish fifth in the 50-meter freestyle and ninth in the 200-meter butterfly. Gaspar, who went into this competition merely hoping to make the final in his three events, was extremely happy with his per formance. “I was surprised by my. performance,” he said. “I swam a lot better than I thought I would. It was interesting because everyone else was tapered and shaped for this meet, while we just went in for the experience, and I think we performed very well. “Overall, I am quite satisfied with the way I performed during this entire season.” Gaspar has already qualified to represent Hungary at the Swimming World Champi onships next July to be held in Fukuoka, Japan. He went on to say that he hopes to finish among the top three at the World Champi onships in the 100-meter butterfly event. ^B A Fellow teammate and Hungarian Olympian Bathazi had a successful meet as well. A fresh man competing at his first major meet, Bat hazi did well to come in second in the 400 meter individual medley. He also swam the 200-meter individual medley and came in fifth. “After just five weeks of practice, I thought my timing was pretty good,” Bathazi said. “The break in between the Olympics and this meet didn’t hinder my timing too much. I’m looking forward to training camp in ear ly January, and the next season. I hope that I can win both the 200 and 400IM at the SEC (Championships), and I hope the team will do well at both the SEC and the NCAA. This is my first time at either one of these com petitions, and I hope to start off by doing well.” Bathazi will join Gaspar at the World Championships next summer. Another surprise at the U.S. Open was Gamecock Tricia Rye. Even though she didn’t make it into the finals in the 200-meter breaststroke event, Rye’s timing in the heats would have placed her'in sixth place overall. Other athletes who earned points for the USC were Mika Salik, who came in 18th in the 100-meter backstroke, Bret Bums, who finished in 16th place in the 200-meter breast stroke, and Christen Butler, who came in 14th in the 200-meter backstroke. Gamecocks Chris McCrary and Lir De rieg came in 21st and 23rd in their respective events. Of the 13 swimmers that went to the U.S. Open from USC, nine of them are freshmen. So, there is much hope for the Gamecocks in years to come. Gibb was extremely satisfied with his team’s performance in Auburn. “I thought it was good exposure for our program and good experience for our fresh man to be able to compete at that level,” he said. “It also shows that the direction the pro gram is going in is very good. “The level of competition at the U.S. Open was very good. There were at least three U.S. Olympians, and there were some of the best up-and-coming swimmers in the country, and our team did well against the competition.” The Gamecocks will compete in One more meet before they head home for 10 days. The team will then come back to USC for a week on Dec. 27 before leaving for Cocoa Beach, Fla. for training. The sports desk can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. 1. Oklahoma 2. Miami (FL) 3. Florida State 4. Washington 5. Oregon State 6. Virginia Tech 7. Florida 8. Oregon 9. Nebraska 10. Notre Dame 11. Kansas State 12. Texas 13. TCU 14. Purdue 15. Georgia Tech 16. Clemson 17. Michigan 18. Northwestern 19. Ohio State 20. Auburn 21. Tennessee 22. Louisville 23. Colorado State 24. Georgia 25. Toledo • Sports editor bashes JN BA trends in hnal tarewell by Jared Kelowitz The Gamecock Kelo-Witz Sports Commentary Ladies and gentlemen, much to your dismay, this will be the last col umn I ever write for The Gamecock. To my thousands of fans who I re ceive correspondence from on a week ly basis, all I can say is, it’s been re al, and now I must bid you adieu. But fear not, because my farewell will not disappoint. I remember writing my first col umn here at USC just two years ago, back when my column was called “At Least I’m Not From Jersey.” And I sit here and remember the world of sports then and look at the world of sports now, and I can’t help but be awestruck at the drastic differences. A lot has changed in just two short years, and I can tell you, not all of the changes have been for the better. A great example is the world of fashion rearing its ugly head all over athletics. I don’t know when exactly it hap pened, and I don’t quite understand the appeal, but could someone please explain to me why there is an influx of black athletes who style their hair like Whoopi Goldberg? They call these things comrows, or “dredlocks.” The latter is probably a more accu rate description because these things are dreadful to a team’s appearance. Whatever you guys want to call them, it doesn’t matter because, news flash — they look stupid. This is just one of the new and upcoming fashion trends in sports which send me sprinting for the stalls of my hall’s bathroom. Another trend is the increasing number of collegiate uniforms that are too baggy. I guess we can thank Michigan’s “Fab Five” for this one. But when shorts on the basketball teams are starting to be longer than baseball teams’ pants, a blind man could see the world of fashion in sports is bass-ackwards. Yet another fashion trend that dis turbs me is the tattoos that are plas tered all over our athletes. As if these guys weren’t already walking bill boards with all their shirts, shorts, sneakers and headband endorsements, now they have to engrave the Nike Swoosh into their skin. Yeah, just what I want — a symbol on my body for the rest of my life which just shouts, “I support East Asian sweat shops.” Very classy guys, almost as tactful as Allen Iverson’s musical de but. By the way, Iverson, please stick to basketball. The last thing the world needs is another hood telling us all how bad he is. Know your role, and play basketball. How many times did you see Dr. J teaming up with Run DMC and Grandmaster Flash to rap about his hard knock life? Well, maybe that’s an unfair comparison. After all, Julius Erving concentrated most of his time on bringing an NBA Title to Philadelphia. What a novel idea. So that brings me to my next dis gusting trend in sports. Are these guys athletes or entertainers? I’m not say ing you can’t be athletes who enter tain, but do it on the playing field, not in the box office or on the billboard charts. Athletes nowadays are more concerned with getting a movie deal or a recording contract than they are with bringing home a champi onship to their respective cities. I don’t know how to explain ei ther of these phenomena, but I can tell you where most of it started. It started in the NBA. And we all know who started this stuff, but let’s just leave it at that. I don’t know why it started, or how it started, and I don’t know of any legal means to fix it. I do have some ideas on how to make things better, but I’m gonna keep those to myself for now. If you do know me, then you probably have a good idea of what I’m talking about. If not, then find me, and I’d be more than happy to sit down and share my views with you. Before I go, I just want to thank all the people here at The Gamecock for the last three years. From Atlanta to Ghetto Fabulous II, to the many nights spent fighting a deadline, I know I won’t forget any of it. In clos ing, I’d like to quote Jimmy Buffett and say, “It’s been a lovely cruise.” Thank you all. Jared Kelowitz can be reached at gamecocksports@hotmail.com. _$ • Registered first triple-double-triple of career vs. Nebraska in NCAA second round • Had 58 assists, 23 digs, 12 kills and .458 hitting percentage against Nebraska • In first round vs. George Washington, added 39 assists, four kills, eight digs and three blocks USC's Athletic-Academic Department is seeking tutors for the Spring 2001 semester. Interested individuals, who are reliable ‘ with great communication skills and a desire to help others learn, please apply. Pay: $10.00/hour for graduate students Location: $ 7.50/hour for undergraduate students Contact: Hours: Sunday between 5pm-11 pm and Monday- Thursday 6pm - 11pm. 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