Senior diver Sophie Verzyl secured the Southeastern Conference (SEC) title in the 1-meter dive during Tuesday night’s session of the 2026 SEC Championships at the Allen Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. Verzyl achieved a score of 342.35 to win gold, after qualifying for the finals as the top seed with a preliminary score of 340.00. Last year, she earned silver in this event.
Reflecting on her victory, Verzyl said, “I mean, it’s amazing. This is my last year of competition as well, so it was really just a goal that I had, and I’m really excited to have made it come true.”
She also spoke about contributing to her team: “Well, at South Carolina, swimming and diving are very together, which is very unique, I think, compared to other programs. Even though it’s an individual sport, I really enjoy helping the team as a whole. The swim team cheers for us when no one else is around and we try to do the same for them. It feels like a family, so I’m really glad I can help my family out.”
Looking ahead to NCAA post-season meets, Verzyl stated: “Just to know that I have this experience under my belt. The outcome will happen no matter what it is, so I just want to perform and enjoy the process while having fun. I can only control myself and that’s the best I can do. I’m really excited for the rest of the season.”
Other results from day two included a fifth-place finish by the women’s 800 freestyle relay team—Ellery Ottem, Amy Riordan, Breckin Gormley and Meaghan Harnish—with a time of 7:03.23. The men’s 800 free relay team—Pierre Largeron, Bexon Harrison, Ryan Hufford and Kyle Korvick—finished eighth with a time of 6:19.51.
In additional events:
– The women’s 200 medley relay (Dylan Scholes, Liz Goodwin-Birnie, Taylor Grimley and Kara West) placed eleventh with a time of 1:38.05.
– The men’s 200 medley relay (Ryan Hufford, Einar Agustsson, Eldor Usmonov and Quinn Buck) also took eleventh place at 1:24.97.
– In morning timed finals for the women’s 1650 freestyle, Nora Fluck (16:15.69), Breckin Gormley (16:18.78), and Emma Reiser (16:19.16) finished eighth through tenth respectively; all posted top ten program times.
– For men’s distance swimming in the same event Pierre Largeron placed thirteenth with a time of 14:57.56—the seventh-fastest in program history—while Connor Fry finished seventeenth (15:05.00) and Ryan Turner twenty-third (15:23.00).
– Time trials featured Delaney Franklin (1:57.60) and Molly Yacoviello (1:58.82) in the women’s 200 butterfly; Michael Cooper swam a 55.04 in the men’s 100 breaststroke.
Team scores after day two showed Texas leading on the women’s side with South Carolina third overall among thirteen teams; Florida led on the men’s side with South Carolina tenth among eleven teams.
