Despite a valiant effort from Texas A&M swimming & diving, Alabama swept both the men’s and women’s competitions at the Texas A&M Student Recreation Center Natatorium on Friday, Jan. 23.
A&M put on a clinic from the boards. Senior Joslyn Oakley topped the women’s 1-meter diving event with a score of 283.95 followed by sophomore Bridget Foster in second place with a score of 282.68. Foster took first in the women’s 3-meter with a score of 297.98, while sophomore Gabrielle Filzen placed second with a score of 289.73 and Oakley finished the event sweep in third with a score of 286.13.
Aggie freshman Emilio Trevino finished first in both the men’s 1-meter and 3-meter diving events, scoring 359.78 and 405.00, respectively. Sophomore Jaxon Bowshire finished second in the 1-meter at 318.98 and senior Matthew Aigner finished third in the 3-meter at 326.55.
Between the lanes, the Aggies garnered four NCAA qualifying cuts, a top-three swim in program history and eight top finishes throughout the afternoon. The unranked A&M men fell 158.5-148.5 to No. 14 Alabama, while the No. 24 women were vanquished 169-131 by No.16 Alabama.
The women began the meet with a second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay, logging a time of 1:36.15 with the combination of fifth-year senior Kaitlyn Owens, sophomore Ella McQuinn, junior Ava Whitaker and freshman Eloise Williamson. Owens clocked a time of 51.06 in the 100-yard backstroke that brought the Fightin’ Farmers their first top finish of the afternoon. The win was a personal best and an NCAA qualifying time to bump Owens up to No. 3 in the school record book.
Junior Hannah O’Leary rode the wave of momentum into the 200-yard breaststroke, bringing freshman Lillie Sczech and sophomore Ella Smoker with her to sweep the podium. O’Leary and Sczech both logged NCAA qualifying times of 2:10.73 and 2:11.05, respectively, followed by Smoker in third with a time of 2:12.75. Whitaker also took first place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:55.28, while senior Giulia Goerigk took first place in the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:59.18.
The men also earned a second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay, logging a time of 1:25.80, led by juniors Logan Brown, Will Heck, Ben Scholl and sophomore Ben Sytsma. The men found greater success with top finishes by Scholl in the 100-yard freestyle with 43.46 and Brown in the 200-yard breaststroke with 1:55.53. Fifth-year senior Munzy Kabbara took second in the 200-yard backstroke with a personal best of 1:41.69. He also recorded a personal best of 1:43.27 in the 200-yard butterfly, narrowly clearing the NCAA qualification standard by 52-hundredths of a second and bringing the Aggies another top finish.
However, the Maroon and White’s success didn’t extend beyond those races, with the Crimson Tide rolling to victory in 16 of 24 individual races. Alabama started fast and early, winning both men’s and women’s 200-yard medley relays by approximately a second each. Shortly after, the Crimson Tide swept the podium in the women’s 1000-yard freestyle, led by seniors Mackenzie Brandt and Stella Watts and freshman Lolly Milbaum.
The men’s 1000-yard freestyle initially looked promising for the Aggies with freshman Bucky Gettys taking a narrow lead early in the race. But as the race went on, Gettys slowly fell behind with Alabama ultimately taking the top two spots. Hinting at Alabama’s superior conditioning, the pattern continued throughout the afternoon, with Alabama placing first in twice as many events as A&M.
The Maroon and White did manage to end on a high note with the men winning the 400-yard free relay with the quartet of Sytsma, Scholl, freshman Alejandro Michelena and junior Daniil Pancerevas finishing in 2:52.35. The women placed second in 3:16.88 with the foursome of McQuinn, Owens, Williamson and freshman Reagan Sherrard.
Up next, A&M will host rival Texas on Friday, Jan. 30. The Longhorns men are ranked No. 1, with the women ranked No. 2.
