Texas A&M men hold steady in third at SEC Swimming & Diving

ATHENS, Ga. --- The Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team broke two more school records while holding steady in third place in the team standings at the 2019 Southeastern Conference Championships on Thursday at the University of Georgia.

Florida took over the day three lead with 636 points, followed by Missouri (625), Texas A&M (492), Tennessee (442), Alabama (441.5), Georgia (436), Kentucky (386.5), Auburn (343), South Carolina (292) and LSU (265).

Leading the way for the Aggies was sophomore diver Kurtis Mathews, who earned the silver medal in the 3-meter springboard dive with a 444.05 point total. Mathews' list produced four dives with 75-point-plus scores, including a sublime 84.0 total on a reverse 3 ½ somersault tuck. Teammate Sam Thornton was in the mix for the bronze, but missed third place by just .35 of a point with a 439.15 performance.

"I came out feeling great in the warmup," Mathews said. "I'm just a couple months out of surgery so I haven't had the greatest preparation, but I managed to get away with the silver. Great performances by my competitors and a very tough competition."

Breaking school records in the pool were sophomore Mark Theall and junior Ben Walker. Theall, who shattered the 500 freestyle record on Wednesday, took down the 200 freestyle record with a 1:33.91 clocking in the morning prelims and then placed sixth in the evening final with a time of 1:34.02. Walker took nearly a second and a half off his previous lifetime best as he eclipsed the 400 IM record with a time of 3:43.01 while winning the bonus final.

Event Recaps:

400 IM
Junior Ben Walker shatters the 400 IM school record while winning the C final in 3:43.01.

100 butterfly
Angel Martinez places 5th (45.79), and Mateo Gonzalez takes 20th in lifetime best 46.86.

200 freestyle
Aggies total 53 points in the 200 free with sophomore Mark Theall leading the way with a 6th place finish (1:34.02). Adam Koster was second in the B final in lifetime best 1:34.93, while Steve Richardson was 15th in 1:35.57.

3-meter dive
Aggie duo of sophomore Kurtis Mathews and senior Sam Thornton take second and fourth to combine for 54 valuable points. Mathews took the silver with his college best score of 444.04, while Thornton was right behind with 439.15 points.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Mateo Gonzalez

Adam Koster

Angel Martinez

Kurtis Mathews

Mark Theall

Sam Thornton

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