COLUMBIA, South Carolina, May 16. SOUTH Carolina swimming and diving head coach McGee Moody announced the addition of six spring signees, giving him 16 for this year’s class. The group includes Ahmed Akram Abbas, Nils Wich-Glasen and Bobby Bittner on the men’s side, and Jordyn Barham, Mairyn Branaman and Meredith Vay on the women’s.
The class is highlighted by the men’s signings of Abbas who holds Egyptian national records in the 1500-meter freestyle and the 200-meter butterfly, and German Nils Wich-Glasen, who is currently ranked No. 26 in the world in the 100-meter breaststroke.
With the latest additions, Moody believes that this year’s class has the ability to step in next year and help out the program immensely after losing several key student-athletes due to graduation.
“Things are shaping up the way we wanted it to,” Moody said. “I think this is one of the best classes we’ve had from top to bottom. We have a good, solid foundation in place and we have to just keep growing.
“We have a lot of people coming into this class that have competed at a high level, whether it be national meets in the United States or international competition for Ahmed and Nils. I think they’re probably better prepared than some classes that we’ve had come through.”
Spring Signees
Men:
Ahmed Akram Abbas – Egypt
Event(s): Freestyle/Butterfly
Nils Wich-Glasen – Germany
Event(s): Breaststroke/Sprint Freestyle
Bobby Bittner – Beaufort, N.C.
Event(s): Butterfly
Women:
Jordyn Barham – Morrisville, N.C.
Event(s): Individual Medley
Mairyn Branaman – Lexington Park, Md.
Event(s): Butterfly/Backstroke
Meredith Vay – Chester, Va.
Event(s): Freestyle/Butterfly
Fall Signees
Men:
Bryce Kananowicz – Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Event(s): IM/Backstroke/Butterfly/Middle Distance Freestyle
Patrick McCrillis – Reno, Nev.
Event(s): Sprint Freestyle/Breaststroke
Travis Morrin – Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
Event(s): Distance Freestyle/Middle Distance Freestyle
Tomas Peribonio – Atlanta, Ga.
Event(s): IM/Middle Distance Freestyle
Women:
Kersten Dirrane – Rumney, Mass.
Event(s): Breaststroke/IM
Heather Merritt – Charlotte, N.C.
Event(s): Backstroke/Freestyle/IM
Brittany Oxley – Folsom, Calif.
Event(s): Breaststroke/IM
Marissa Roth – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Event(s): Diving
Tierney Shimansky – Gainesville, Fla.
Event(s): Distance Freestyle
Taylor Worrell – Westampton, N.J.
Event(s): Freestyle
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