November 17, 2006
All-American diver Eric Sehn?â„¢s victory on the one-meter springboard highlighted the Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team?â„¢s first day at the inaugural Art Adamson Invitational on Friday at the TAMU Student Rec Natatorium.
After one day of swimming and diving, the Aggie men stand in second place by two points behind LSU, 314 - 312. SMU is close behind with 295 points and Pacific is in fourth with 211 points.
Sehn, a six-time Big 12 Champion from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. outclassed the field with a score of 354.10 that was nearly 50 points better than the second place finisher.
?We?â„¢ve been training extremely hard, so Eric?â„¢s legs were a little tired, but he still competed very well,? Aggie head diving coach Kevin Wright said. ?We?â„¢ve been experimenting with some new dives that have a very high degree of difficulty. He was able to do it pretty well and that bodes well for the future.?
In the pool, it was the Aggies?â„¢ depth that scored the bulk of A&M?â„¢s points. The Aggies took third and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay, and then finished off the night with a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. In between, the Aggies put three swimmers in the ?'A?â„¢ final of the 50-yard freestyle and two in the ?A? final of the 500 free.
?It was our depth that helped us today and it?â„¢s allowing us to stay in the team race,? Aggie head swimming coach Jay Holmes said. ?We?â„¢ve got a bunch of young guys playing big roles for us in so many places. We are pushing them hard and they are doing everything we ask them to do. Overall, I was happy with the way we competed. We had some really good efforts, but now we have to learn how to start winning events. We scored a bunch of points without winning any races. It was our depth that kept us close today.?
The Art Adamson Invitational continues on Saturday with the prelims at 10 a.m. and the finals at 6 p.m. Admission is free.