No. 6 Aggies Take Down LSU in Final Road Dual Meet

Saturday, January 20

Baton Rouge, La.

12:00 PM

Texas A&M

182

118

LSU

Jan 20, 2024 | Men's Swimming and Diving

PDF Results

By: Rachel Perreault, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

BATON ROUGE, La. -- The No. 6 Texas A&M men's swimming & diving team took down LSU, 182-118, on Saturday afternoon at the LSU Natatorium to close out the road portion of its dual meet schedule and pick up its eighth victory of the season.

Baylor Nelson helped set the tone early, taking down the 200 free pool record with a first-place time of 1:34.68. He later closed out the individual events with the top time in the 200 IM (1:45.49) which stands as a new pool record, but Nelson's impressive performance didn't end there. He also recorded the third-fastest time in program history in the 500 free, clocking in at 4:19.06 to secure the top spot. This made it back-to-back meets in which he added his name to the A&M record books after posting the fifth-fastest time in program history in the 1000 free (9:04.41) in the TCU victory a week ago.

Thomas Shomper dominated the backstroke events for the second straight meet, clocking top times of 47.38 in the 100 and 1:44.98 in the 200. Tyler Hulet again added key points for the Aggies, taking third in both backstroke events with times of 48.59 in the 100 and 1:45.85 in the 200.

Logan Brown was the first Aggie to touch the wall in each of the breaststroke events as he placed second with a time of 54.04 in the 100 before posting a top time of 1:56.14 in the 200.

The Aggies posted four of the top five times in the 200 fly, led by Clayton Conklin in second with a time of 1:46.51. Conklin later took second in the 100 fly (47.36), finishing just behind Connor Foote, who went 47.00.

The 400 free relay team of Collin Fuchs, Foote, Seth Reno and Nelson closed out the day with a third pool record for the Maroon & White on the day, clocking in at 2:54.92 to finish first.

Diving landed at least three Aggies in the top four on both springboards as Allen Bottego's score 370.35 helped him secure the top spot on the 3-meter and Rhett Hensley was just behind him in second with a score of 368.03. Victor Povzner took first on the 1-meter with a score of 369.98.

POST MEET QUOTES
Head coach Jay Holmes on the team's performance ...
"Standing on the pool deck, our staff had a bit of deja vu at the first break. Just like last week, we got behind early and had to work our way back into it. We were behind this time 72-59, and diving again did a great job for us going 1-3-4 on 1-meter and 1-2-4 on the 3-meter. After that 1-meter event the swimmers got on a roll and started winning events.

"We again changed some events up at that first break. This time we took Baylor [Nelson] out of the 200 back and put him into the 500 free. When we asked him how fast he could go if we moved him to the 500 he called his shot and said he would go under 4:20, and he did just that for the win. He did just about everything today. He won all three individual events and then anchored our winning 400 free relay. He has developed in himself an incredible knack of doing what it takes to win. It is a pleasure watching him do it time after time.

"Putting Baylor in the 500 was only feasible because we were confident Thomas Shomper would still win the 200 back. If Tommy hadn't already proven himself it would not have made sense to move Baylor, but Tommy did his job today winning both backstroke events.

"I thought LSU did a great job today. There were several pool records set from both teams. LSU had several in their early event wins and Baylor did too. Baylor's 200 free, 200 IM and our 400 free relay broke their pool records. It was two teams getting after it. We are not sharp yet, and January is like that. But February is coming at everyone fast. We still have a lot to get done, but for today we are again thankful to get the win."

UP NEXT
Texas A&M will close out the dual meet season and honor its senior class on Friday, Feb. 2 as the Aggies host SMU for a 5 p.m. meet at the Rec Center Natatorium.

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/X by following @AggieS wimDive.