Feb. 23, 2011
Texas A&M junior Grant Nel wowed the crowd with a record-setting win in the one-meter springboard to highlight the Aggie men's first day at the 2011 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships on Wednesday at the Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin.
After day one, the Aggies lead with 122 points, followed by Missouri (117) and Texas (107)
Nel, last year's Big 12 Co-Diver of the Meet, took the victory with a score of 426.0, which broke 11-time Big 12 Champion Eric Sehn's school record (420.0) and Texas' Drew Livingston's Big 12 meet record (415.75). Also scoring points for the Aggies in the 1m were junior Cam McLean (4th, 334.70), freshman Adam Ruiz (7th, 291.50) and sophomore Paul Xiques (9th, 242.35).
"I felt really good and I was happy with my set of dives," Nel said. "Eric's record had been there for a few years and it's a great honor to be able to break it."
Added Aggie head coach Jay Holmes, "You always know what you're going to get with Grant. He's a phenomenal athlete and an even better competitor."
The Aggies also had a record-setting effort in the 800-yard free relay as the foursome of senior Paul-Marc Schweitzer took down the school record set last year while earning runner-up honors. With Makany setting the pace with a 1:35.13 leadoff leg, the Aggies touched the wall in 6:24.74, which broke the old mark of 6:25.94. Makany's 1:35.13 was just .03 of a second off his school record in the 200-yard freestyle.
"That was a very good swim and I'm proud of the way we competed," Holmes said. "It's a second faster than the last year's team that set the school record and went to nationals but I don't think this time is going to get them into the NCAAs. It was a great swim, but there's too many teams across the nation making their `A' cuts in this race."
The Aggies opened the meet with a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay with a season-best and "B" cut time of 1:27.13. In a time trial after the day's races, the same foursome swam again and lowered their time to 1:26.41.
"That was a very disappointing race for us," Holmes said. "That group is definitely a NCAA scoring relay, but they didn't show it tonight. They were better in the time trial, but still not fast enough."
A highlight from the time trials was a school record by senior Bryan Snowden who turned in a time of 1:56.55 in the 200-yard breaststroke, which lowered his own school record by nearly a half-second.
Day 1 Results 200-yard medley relay Amini Fonua, Nathan Lavery, Henrik Lindau, Kyle Troskot 3rd, 1:27.13 (NCAA "B" cut, season best)
3-meter springboard Grant Nel, 1st, 426.0 (Big 12 meet record, school record) Cam McLean, 4th, 334.70 Adam Ruiz, 7th, 291,50 Paul Xiques, 9th, 242.35
800-yard free relay Paul-Marc Schweitzer 2nd, 6:24.74 (school record, NCAA "B" cut)