COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 11 Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team broke through for its highest conference finish since joining Southeastern Conference with a runner-up finish in its home pool at the 2018 SEC Championships on Sunday.
In the Team Standings…
Head Coach Jay Holmes said:
(On being in the hunt for the SEC title) "It was exciting for our team. It was exciting for our alums and our fans up in the stands. It was very exciting for me too to be that relevant in a meet like the SEC Championships. This is the best conference meet in America. For our team to hop up there and be in the hunt was fun, and it was also frustrating seeing all these points slip through our fingers. For us to make a run at Florida, we knew what we had to do but we just couldn't catch them."
Day 5 event recaps
1,650 freestyle
Freshman Felipe Rizzo scratched a point for the Aggies with a 24th place finish in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 15:21.07.
200 backstroke
Sophomore Anthony Kim, who had a lifetime best of 1:41.49 in the prelims, placed seventh in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:41.87. Senior Brock Bonetti placed 14th with a time of 1:43.29.
100 free
Sophomore Adam Koster placed 10th in the 100 free with a lifetime best time of 43.08, which put him No. 4 on the Aggies' all-time list in the race.
200 breaststroke point outburst puts Aggies into second place
The Aggies used a 115-point scoring outburst in the 200 breaststroke move into second place with only the 400 free relay remaining. The Aggies put four swimmers into the Championship final and received a runner-up effort from Mauro Castillo in a time of 1:52.15. Castillo was trailed by teammates Jonathan Tybur (4th, 1:53.55), Tanner Olson (6th, 1:54.29) and junior Austin Van Overdam (7th, 1:54.81). Sophomore Ben Walker also chipped in a 13th place finish in 1:55.50.
400 free relay
With second place virtually assured, the Aggies placed eighth in the 400 free relay with the foursome of Koster, sophomore Mike Thibert, junior Steven Richardson and junior Connor Long touching in 2:54.73.
In the Team Standings…
- Florida 1,237
- Texas A&M 994
- Georgia 975.5
- Tennessee 899
- Missouri 794.5
- Auburn 791.5
- South Carolina 765
- Alabama 661.5
- Kentucky 575.5
- LSU 430.5
Head Coach Jay Holmes said:
(On being in the hunt for the SEC title) "It was exciting for our team. It was exciting for our alums and our fans up in the stands. It was very exciting for me too to be that relevant in a meet like the SEC Championships. This is the best conference meet in America. For our team to hop up there and be in the hunt was fun, and it was also frustrating seeing all these points slip through our fingers. For us to make a run at Florida, we knew what we had to do but we just couldn't catch them."
Day 5 event recaps
1,650 freestyle
Freshman Felipe Rizzo scratched a point for the Aggies with a 24th place finish in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 15:21.07.
200 backstroke
Sophomore Anthony Kim, who had a lifetime best of 1:41.49 in the prelims, placed seventh in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:41.87. Senior Brock Bonetti placed 14th with a time of 1:43.29.
100 free
Sophomore Adam Koster placed 10th in the 100 free with a lifetime best time of 43.08, which put him No. 4 on the Aggies' all-time list in the race.
200 breaststroke point outburst puts Aggies into second place
The Aggies used a 115-point scoring outburst in the 200 breaststroke move into second place with only the 400 free relay remaining. The Aggies put four swimmers into the Championship final and received a runner-up effort from Mauro Castillo in a time of 1:52.15. Castillo was trailed by teammates Jonathan Tybur (4th, 1:53.55), Tanner Olson (6th, 1:54.29) and junior Austin Van Overdam (7th, 1:54.81). Sophomore Ben Walker also chipped in a 13th place finish in 1:55.50.
400 free relay
With second place virtually assured, the Aggies placed eighth in the 400 free relay with the foursome of Koster, sophomore Mike Thibert, junior Steven Richardson and junior Connor Long touching in 2:54.73.