SARASOTA, Fla. --Â Sophomore Trey Dickey of the Texas A&M men's swimming & diving team competed at USA Swimming Open Water Nationals over the weekend, racing in the 10K to start the weekend and closing things out with a medal-finish in the 5K on Sunday.
"Competing in open water events is so much different than pool racing. All the variables such as the wind, the currents and of course the water temperature are not controlled. There are no flip turns. It's just a wide-open free-for-all with no lane ropes," head coach Jay Holmes said. "Trey is going to keep getting better at this, just because he is learning so much about race strategy every time he does one. In the 10K he was in a good place at the 7K mark and then just got left by the lead pack. He swam the last quarter of the race in no man's land. Trey is best when he has someone to chase and the 10K just got away from him."Â
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Dickey opened competition Friday morning with the 10K. He went on to take 16th with a time of 1:56:44.77. Dickey closed out the event strong on Sunday morning as he earned a medal and placed sixth with a time of 55:12.22 in the 5K.Â
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"In the 5K he stayed with the lead pack and basically just went hunting in the last 1000 meters. The last 500 meters was a slug-fest with that lead pack of about nine guys. That group was really flying down the home stretch. It was impressive just watching the aggressive maneuvering that each one of those guys had trying to get away from each other as they were all heading for the same finish line.  The 5K was Trey's best race of the season. Being sixth in the field, and the fourth-best American, is going to give him even more confidence the next time he races."
Visit 12thman.com for more information on Texas A&M swimming & diving. Fans can keep up to date with the Aggies Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter by following @AggieSwimDive.
"Competing in open water events is so much different than pool racing. All the variables such as the wind, the currents and of course the water temperature are not controlled. There are no flip turns. It's just a wide-open free-for-all with no lane ropes," head coach Jay Holmes said. "Trey is going to keep getting better at this, just because he is learning so much about race strategy every time he does one. In the 10K he was in a good place at the 7K mark and then just got left by the lead pack. He swam the last quarter of the race in no man's land. Trey is best when he has someone to chase and the 10K just got away from him."Â
Â
Dickey opened competition Friday morning with the 10K. He went on to take 16th with a time of 1:56:44.77. Dickey closed out the event strong on Sunday morning as he earned a medal and placed sixth with a time of 55:12.22 in the 5K.Â
Â
"In the 5K he stayed with the lead pack and basically just went hunting in the last 1000 meters. The last 500 meters was a slug-fest with that lead pack of about nine guys. That group was really flying down the home stretch. It was impressive just watching the aggressive maneuvering that each one of those guys had trying to get away from each other as they were all heading for the same finish line.  The 5K was Trey's best race of the season. Being sixth in the field, and the fourth-best American, is going to give him even more confidence the next time he races."
Visit 12thman.com for more information on Texas A&M swimming & diving. Fans can keep up to date with the Aggies Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter by following @AggieSwimDive.