MANSFIELD, Texas --- The Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team will open its 2011-12 season at the Southwest Collegiate Plunge Friday through Saturday at the Mansfield ISD Natatorium. The competition begins at 6 p.m. on Friday and starts at 12 noon on Saturday.
The Aggies will take on a strong field of current and former conference opponents with the Texas Longhorns, Missouri Tigers and SMU Mustangs in the field. It's the third straight season that A&M has opened its season at the Plunge.
"With Texas, Missouri and SMU in the field, this is a very good start place for us, Aggie head swimming coach Jay Holmes said. "We don't have to travel far, and there's going to be some really good teams there from top to bottom. Missouri just keeps getting better and better. We've had a great rivalry with SMU over the past few years. Anytime you race Texas, that's a good deal because they're a great program and we're going to get challenged by them. We want to get challenged, we want to see where we're at in our training."
Texas A&M enters the new season with a strong group of returnees from last year's squad that finished 13th at the 2011 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. It was the Aggies' 16th straight top 25 finish at the NCAA Championships, including A&M's fourth straight 15 finish.
"The team has been putting in the hard work to get ready for the season," Holmes said. "This is what they've been putting in all the hard work and long hours for. This is the fun part - step up on those blocks and compete and represent Texas A&M. In my mind, the best part about all this is getting a chance to represent Texas A&M. That's a special thing for us."
The Aggies have 22 returning lettermen, including six of seven point-scorers from last year's NCAA squad - divers Grant Nel and Cam McLean and swimmers Amini Fonua, John Dalton, Henrik Lindau and Kyle Troskot. The Aggies lost just five seniors from last season: Balazs Makany, Nathan Lavery, Bryan Snowden, Andres Van Dam and Jensen Ried.
The Aggies have also received a boost with the healthy return of Boris Loncaric, who missed last season due to an injury. Loncaric is the Aggies' school record holder in the 100-yard butterfly and swam the fly leg on both medley relays.
"We really do need him to be himself, and be who he's capable of being," Holmes said. "We sure missed him last year. He's someone that could be on all five of our relays. And he's someone that's scored individually at the NCAAs. We didn't have him last year and he left a gaping hole. So we're looking forward to having Boris back."
Joining the strong group of returnees is a solid group of newcomers that will be seeking to make some noise in their A&M debuts. Joining the Aggies are five freshmen and two transfers. Also making his A&M debut is breaststroker Diego Suarez, who redshirted last season.
MANSFIELD, Texas --- The Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team will open its 2011-12 season at the Southwest Collegiate Plunge Friday through Saturday at the Mansfield ISD Natatorium.
The Aggies will take on a strong field of current and former conference opponents with the Texas Longhorns, Missouri Tigers and SMU Mustangs in the field. It's the third straight season that A&M has opened its season at the Plunge.
Texas A&M enters the new season with a strong group of returnees from last year's squad that finished 13th at the 2011 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. It was the Aggies' 16th straight top 25 finish at the NCAA Championships, including A&M's fourth straight 15 finish.
The Aggies have 22 returning lettermen, including six of seven point-scorers from last year's NCAA squad - divers Grant Nel and Cam McLean and swimmers Amini Fonua, John Dalton, Henrik Lindau and Kyle Troskot. The Aggies lost just five seniors from last season: Balazs Makany, Nathan Lavery, Bryan Snowden, Andres Van Dam and Jensen Ried.
The Aggies have also received a boost with the healthy return of Boris Loncaric, who missed last season due to an injury. Loncaric is the Aggies' school record holder in the 100-yard butterfly and swam the fly leg on both medley relays.
Joining the strong group of returnees is a solid group of newcomers that will be seeking to make some noise in their A&M debuts. Joining the Aggies are five freshmen and two transfers. Also making his A&M debut is breaststroker Diego Suarez, who redshirted last season.