AUSTIN, Texas --- The Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team opened the 2019 NCAA Championships with a school record and 13th-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay on Wednesday at the Jamail Texas Swim Center.
The foursome of freshman Shaine Casas, sophomore Mark Theall, freshman Clayton Bobo and senior Steven Richardson took down the school mark with a 6:15.59, lopping more than a second off the old standard of 6:16.63 set last month at the SEC Championships. It was the third time that the Aggies have shattered the school mark in 2018-19.
Highlighting the race for the Aggies was Theall's split of 1:31.97, which was the fastest 200 freestyle split in school history. Additionally, Casas' opening leg of 1:33.75 was just off Theall's 200 free record of 1:33.68.
"We broke our school record that we set at the SEC meet and any time you're getting faster at the national meet is a good thing," Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. "It was just a great swim by Mark Theall. We've never had anybody do something like that. We are definitely headed in the right direction and we have so much swimming ahead of us."
The 800 free relay was the lone race of the day and the Aggies stand in 13th place in the team standings with eight points.
The foursome of freshman Shaine Casas, sophomore Mark Theall, freshman Clayton Bobo and senior Steven Richardson took down the school mark with a 6:15.59, lopping more than a second off the old standard of 6:16.63 set last month at the SEC Championships. It was the third time that the Aggies have shattered the school mark in 2018-19.
Highlighting the race for the Aggies was Theall's split of 1:31.97, which was the fastest 200 freestyle split in school history. Additionally, Casas' opening leg of 1:33.75 was just off Theall's 200 free record of 1:33.68.
"We broke our school record that we set at the SEC meet and any time you're getting faster at the national meet is a good thing," Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. "It was just a great swim by Mark Theall. We've never had anybody do something like that. We are definitely headed in the right direction and we have so much swimming ahead of us."
The 800 free relay was the lone race of the day and the Aggies stand in 13th place in the team standings with eight points.