COLUMBIA, Mo. – Texas A&M sophomore Mauro Castillo set the 100-yard breaststroke school record while become the first Aggie under 53 seconds in the race at the 2016 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships on Friday at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
Castillo, from Zacatecas, Mexico, entered the Championship final as the No. 7 seed but surprised the field to place third in 52.65. With his third-place finish, Castillo earns second-team All-SEC honors and joined winner Michael Duderstadt of Auburn (51.94) and Fabian Schwingenschlogl of Missouri on the SEC award podium.
"It was a great experience and like nothing else I've felt before," Castillo said. "It was really special, mostly because of the energy from the team. This meet is just incredible – super fast, and my friends, my teammates have made this super special."
Earlier in the day, Castillo had taken down Amini Fonua's four-year old school record of 53.44 with a time of 53.03. By the end of the day, Castillo had become the first Aggie swimmer to break the 53-second barrier in the 100-yard breaststroke. Castillo now owns Texas A&M record in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke. He is the first Aggie to own both records since Alejandro Jacobo, who broke both school standards in 2008.
"Going under 53 (seconds) was unbelievable," Castillo said. "I wasn't expecting that. The energy the team creates was unique and I could totally feel it."
Head coach Jay Holmes said he saw Castillo's accomplishment coming all season, "My only surprise was how he did it. We've been planning all year for him to go 52, that's been in the works the whole way. But the way he did it…I think he was last at the 50 but his second 50 was pretty incredible. To come back in 27 was the reason he was able to finish third. And he had had a great lunge for the wall. With one or two strokes to the wall, I'm not sure he was third but his lunge made the difference. It was really a great race for Mauro."
Also making noise for the Aggies in a Championship final was fellow sophomore Brock Bonetti in the 100-yard backstroke. Bonetti flirted with the school record of 46.31 (set by Jason Bergstrom on the first leg of the Aggies' 400-yard medley relay at the 2009 NCAA Championships), but fell just shy with a lifetime best time of 46.43 while placing seventh in the race.
Other Aggies contributing individual points on Friday were freshman Angel Martinez (21st, 1:45.94) and junior Turker Ayar (23rd, 1:46.41) in the 200 butterfly; seniors Alexandros Theocharidis (20th, 48.12) and Jacob Wallace (22nd, 48.40) in the 100 backstroke; and sophomore Jonathan Tybur in the 100 breaststroke (15th, 54.39).
The Aggies closed out the night with an eighth-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay with the foursome of Bonetti, Castillo, Ayar and senior Antoine Marc finishing in 3:09.75.
The Aggies remained in eighth place in the team standings with 418 points.
Castillo, from Zacatecas, Mexico, entered the Championship final as the No. 7 seed but surprised the field to place third in 52.65. With his third-place finish, Castillo earns second-team All-SEC honors and joined winner Michael Duderstadt of Auburn (51.94) and Fabian Schwingenschlogl of Missouri on the SEC award podium.
"It was a great experience and like nothing else I've felt before," Castillo said. "It was really special, mostly because of the energy from the team. This meet is just incredible – super fast, and my friends, my teammates have made this super special."
Earlier in the day, Castillo had taken down Amini Fonua's four-year old school record of 53.44 with a time of 53.03. By the end of the day, Castillo had become the first Aggie swimmer to break the 53-second barrier in the 100-yard breaststroke. Castillo now owns Texas A&M record in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke. He is the first Aggie to own both records since Alejandro Jacobo, who broke both school standards in 2008.
"Going under 53 (seconds) was unbelievable," Castillo said. "I wasn't expecting that. The energy the team creates was unique and I could totally feel it."
Head coach Jay Holmes said he saw Castillo's accomplishment coming all season, "My only surprise was how he did it. We've been planning all year for him to go 52, that's been in the works the whole way. But the way he did it…I think he was last at the 50 but his second 50 was pretty incredible. To come back in 27 was the reason he was able to finish third. And he had had a great lunge for the wall. With one or two strokes to the wall, I'm not sure he was third but his lunge made the difference. It was really a great race for Mauro."
Also making noise for the Aggies in a Championship final was fellow sophomore Brock Bonetti in the 100-yard backstroke. Bonetti flirted with the school record of 46.31 (set by Jason Bergstrom on the first leg of the Aggies' 400-yard medley relay at the 2009 NCAA Championships), but fell just shy with a lifetime best time of 46.43 while placing seventh in the race.
Other Aggies contributing individual points on Friday were freshman Angel Martinez (21st, 1:45.94) and junior Turker Ayar (23rd, 1:46.41) in the 200 butterfly; seniors Alexandros Theocharidis (20th, 48.12) and Jacob Wallace (22nd, 48.40) in the 100 backstroke; and sophomore Jonathan Tybur in the 100 breaststroke (15th, 54.39).
The Aggies closed out the night with an eighth-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay with the foursome of Bonetti, Castillo, Ayar and senior Antoine Marc finishing in 3:09.75.
The Aggies remained in eighth place in the team standings with 418 points.