COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team downed Southeastern Conference foe South Carolina, 176-118, in its home opener on Alumni Weekend at Student Recreation Center on Friday.
An estimated crowd of 400 fans, littered with Texas A&M swimming and diving letterwinners, watched the Aggies put on a dominating performance with 11 wins in 16 possible events, including taking at least the top two spots in seven events.
"All the teams in the SEC are good so for us to open up our SEC schedule with a win like this…yeah, that was fun," Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. "The guys did a really good job. There were a couple of events where we just couldn't match up with South Carolina and there's a couple of places that we have a lot of work to do, but I thought we really competed and that's encouraging."
Leading the way for the Aggies with multiple individual victories were junior Brock Bonetti, junior Mauro Castillo and senior Jacob Gonzales.
Bonetti, from Bakersfield, Calif., won the 100-yard backstroke (47.67) and the 200 back (1:45.38). Castillo, from Zacatecas, Mexico, won the 100 breaststroke (54.31) and the 200 breast (1:58.37). Gonzales, from Spring, Texas, swept the 50 free (20.34) and the 100 free (44.65).
Logging solo victories were sophomore Skylar Lake in the one-meter dive (353.10), senior Turker Ayar in the 100 butterfly (49.23) and junior Tyler Henschel in the three-meter dive (352.43).
The Aggies opened and closed the meet with wins in the 200-yard medley relay and the 400 free relay. The foursome of Bonetti, Castillo, junior Justin Morey and Gonzales touched the wall in 1:28.85 to win the 200 medley relay, while freshman Adam Koster, Ayar, freshman Raiz Tjon-A-Joe and Gonzales combined to win the 400 free relay in 3:01.77.
An estimated crowd of 400 fans, littered with Texas A&M swimming and diving letterwinners, watched the Aggies put on a dominating performance with 11 wins in 16 possible events, including taking at least the top two spots in seven events.
"All the teams in the SEC are good so for us to open up our SEC schedule with a win like this…yeah, that was fun," Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. "The guys did a really good job. There were a couple of events where we just couldn't match up with South Carolina and there's a couple of places that we have a lot of work to do, but I thought we really competed and that's encouraging."
Leading the way for the Aggies with multiple individual victories were junior Brock Bonetti, junior Mauro Castillo and senior Jacob Gonzales.
Bonetti, from Bakersfield, Calif., won the 100-yard backstroke (47.67) and the 200 back (1:45.38). Castillo, from Zacatecas, Mexico, won the 100 breaststroke (54.31) and the 200 breast (1:58.37). Gonzales, from Spring, Texas, swept the 50 free (20.34) and the 100 free (44.65).
Logging solo victories were sophomore Skylar Lake in the one-meter dive (353.10), senior Turker Ayar in the 100 butterfly (49.23) and junior Tyler Henschel in the three-meter dive (352.43).
The Aggies opened and closed the meet with wins in the 200-yard medley relay and the 400 free relay. The foursome of Bonetti, Castillo, junior Justin Morey and Gonzales touched the wall in 1:28.85 to win the 200 medley relay, while freshman Adam Koster, Ayar, freshman Raiz Tjon-A-Joe and Gonzales combined to win the 400 free relay in 3:01.77.