The No. 17/19 Texas A&M swimming and diving teams closed out their regular season with a tough matchup against No. 2/1 Texas, falling to their in-state rivals in the return of the Lone Star Showdown. The Longhorns dominated the meet, winning 218.5-80.5 on the men’s side and 197-102 on the women’s side.
The meet kicked off with Texas winning the first three dive competitions in dominant fashion as the Burnt Orange took all the diving competitions but one. The lone bright spot for the Aggies came from sophomore Allen Bottego, who secured his third consecutive victory in the 3-meter competition with a score of 405.98. Bottego also placed in the top five in the 1-meter alongside sophomore Rhett Hensley and fifth-year Leonardo Garcia.
The Aggies’ women’s 400 medley relay squad of senior Kaitlyn Owens, fifth-year Bobbi Kennett, fifth-year Olivia Theall, and graduate Chloe Stepanek opened the swimming portion of the meet with a second-place finish, clocking in at 3:32.55.
Stepanek continued to shine, earning A&M’s first win of the day in the 200-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 1:43.98. Later in the competition, she secured a runner-up finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 48.77.
The Longhorns won the following eight competitions after Stepanek’s performance, giving them a huge boost in the total score.
The sophomore Ben Scholl stopped the ‘Horns’ dominant streak by winning the men’s 50 yard freestyle with a final time of 19.17, barely outdueling Texas’ Chris Guillano by two tenths of a second.
Sophomores Aviv Barzelay and Hannah O’leary provided a spark for the Ags by taking first place in events 19 and 21, respectively.
Texas ended the day in impressive fashion by winning eight of the last nine events, cementing their status as the top swim school in the nation. Theall was the only bright side during the Burnt Orange’s outrageous run as she claimed first place in the women’s 100 yard butterfly.
A&M only managed to grab five wins out of the 30 swim competitions, with the dive team equally struggling against a talented Texas team.
The Aggies will look to put this performance behind them and bounce back at the Southeastern Conference Championship meet, set for Feb. 18., at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Georgia.
