Texas A&M Claims Fourth in SEC Championships

Tuesday, February 14

Bryan-College Station

Texas A&M

SEC Championships

Feb 18, 2023 | Men's Swimming and Diving

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By: Katy Gallaher, Athletics Communications

PDF Results | Championship Central

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 11 Texas A&M men's swimming & diving team loaded the 200 back finals and earned silver on the final day of SEC Championships at the Rec Center Natatorium. The Aggies finished the meet in fourth place with 1,018 points, behind Florida (1,488.5), Auburn (1,089.5) and Tennessee (1,035.5).

The Maroon & White collectively earned nine medals throughout the Championship meet, while also notching an NCAA A-cut time in the 200 free relay.

Baylor Nelson earned silver to notch his third medal of the meet as he posted a personal best of 1:39.79 in the 200 back. The freshman is the second Aggie in program history to tally three individual medals at SEC Championships. He was the co-recipient of the SEC Commissioner's Trophy, scoring the most points in the meet with two gold and one silver medal.

Swimmers Andres Puente (400 IM, 100 breast, 200 breast) and Nelson (200 IM, 400 IM, 200 back) qualified for three individual A-finals. Only five other Aggies have accomplished that feat at an SEC Championship meet. Puente just missed the podium on the final day as he earned fourth in the 200 breast, swimming a 1:51.92. Also adding points for the Aggies in the 200 breast was Alex Sanchez, finishing eighth with a time of 1:54.92.

Leading the way for Texas A&M in the 100 free was Kaloyan Bratanov taking 13th (42.97), while Connor Foote placed 18th with a personal best time (42.85).

Rhett Hensley secured a top-five score of 373.00 in the platform final to add even more points from the diving well. Also scoring for the Aggies were Allen Bottego (304.20) and Victor Povzner (239.80).

The A&M diving squad tallied the most points at an SEC Championship meet since the Aggies joined in 2012-13, racking up a total of 275 points throughout the week for the Maroon & White. On day one, the divers totaled 129 points on the 1-meter, marking the most points in program history in a single event and the most points earned by any SEC diving team in one event since A&M's arrival to the conference.

To cap off the meet, the 400 free relay team of Foote, Bratanov, Nelson and Collin Fuchs placed seventh as they touched the wall at 2:50.20.

Up Next
Texas A&M swimming returns to the pool when they travel to Austin for the American Short Course Championships on Mar. 2-4. The divers will prepare to compete in the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships running from Mar. 7-9 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Medal Recap (9)
1-meter: Victor Povzner – Gold, Rhett Hensley – Bronze
200 IM: Baylor Nelson – Gold, Kaloyan Bratanov – Silver
400 IM: Baylor Nelson – Gold, Anze Fers Erzen – Bronze
3-meter: Victor Povzner – Silver, Takuto Endo – Bronze
200 back: Baylor Nelson – Silver

Visit 12thman.com for more information on Texas A&M men's swimming & diving. Fans can keep up to date with the Aggies Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter by following @AggieS wimDive.