A&M Adds Three Medals on Final Day of SEC Championships

Tuesday, February 15

Knoxville, Tenn.

Texas A&M

SEC Championships

Feb 19, 2022 | Men's Swimming and Diving

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By: Rachel Perreault, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Texas A&M men's swimming & diving team added three medals on the final day of SEC Championships at the Jones Aquatic Center. Ethan Gogulski returned to the podium, this time bringing Anze Fers Erzen with him, while Andres Puente also earned a spot on the medal stand. The Aggies finished the meet in fifth place with 865.5 points.

As a team, A&M tallied eight medals on the week, qualified all five relays for NCAA Championships and saw a number of individuals position themselves to compete at NCAA Championships.

"We knew today would probably be our best scoring day for swimming events, and it was, but it wasn't enough," head coach Jay Holmes said after the meet. "We just didn't get enough of our people into finals. Something about the meet this year in particular, while Florida was way out ahead of us all, the rest of the conference had a great battle all week. We definitely expected more out of ourselves, we expected to be better than fifth in the conference. This was an intense meet as usual, but the team scores were tighter than I remember being since we've been in the SEC. It was tight and nothing was easy.

"Our backstrokers and breaststrokers were the ones who showed up today. Getting 2-3 in the back plus the points scored in the consolation heat were the highlight for our team swimming wise. And the 200 breast continues to be one of our strongest events year after year."

After medaling for the first time in his career earlier in the week, Gogulski made it a pair of silver medals in the backstroke events with a second-place finish in the 200. His time of 1:39.58 is the second fastest in program history and the fourth-fastest time in the nation this season. Fers Erzen clocked in at 1:40.31 to earn his first medal at SEC Championships, bringing home bronze with the third-fastest time in program history.

Puente returned to the podium for the first time since his freshman season, claiming bronze in the 200 breast with a time of 1:52.77. He was joined in the A-final by Vincent Ribeiro, who finished seventh with a time of 1:54.76.

Kaloyan Bratanov was the lone Aggie in the 100 free final, placing fifth with a time of 42.39.

Alex Sanchez and Jacob Schababerle added top-15 finishes for the Aggies in the 200 breast when Sanchez finished 11^th with a time of 1:55.14 and Schababerle took 15^th, clocking in at 1:56.76.

Thomas Shomper and Tyler Hulet lowered their personal best times in the 200 back, as Shomper went 1:43.32 to place 14^th and Hulet took 20^th with a time of 1:43.57.

Trey Dickey and Luke Stuart added points for the Aggies in the 1,650 free with Dickey going 15:19.43 to place 23^rd and Stuart clocking in at 15:21.00 to take 24^th.

The meet concluded with the 400 free relay team of Bratanov, Gogulski, Collin Fuchs and Clayton Bobo finishing fifth in a time 2:52.05.

The swimmers will return to action Friday, Feb. 25 for a three-day last chance meet hosted at the Rec Center Natatorium, while diving will begin preparing for NCAA Zones, March 7-9.

Top Finishers
1,650 Free: Trey Dickey – 15:19.43 (B)
200 Back: Ethan Gogulski – 1:39.58 (B)
100 Free: Kaloyan Bratanov – 42.39 (B)
200 Breast: Andres Puente - 1:52.77 (B)
400 Free Relay: Kaloyan Bratanov, Ethan Gogulski, Collin Fuchs, Clayton Bobo – 2:52.05 (B)

Medal Recap (8)
200 Free: Kaloyan Bratanov – Bronze
100 Back: Ethan Gogulski – Silver
200 Back: Ethan Gogulski – Silver, Anze Fers Erzen – Bronze
200 Breast: Andres Puente - Bronze
1-Meter: Kurtis Mathews – Gold, Victor Povzner – Silver
3-Meter: Kurtis Mathews - Silver