Old rivalries will be renewed this Saturday when the No. 14 Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team faces Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
The Mustangs (3-0) and Aggies (7-1) have been facing off against each other since 1933, the first year A&M had a full varsity swimming team.
Similar to the outcome of that first meet, a 48-44 win for the Aggies, many of the meets between the two have been nail biters. A&M head coach Mel Nash feels that this year will be no different.
“They have a performer in every event that could beat us,” Nash said.
“Every single event is going to be a toss-up.”
The Aggie men look to remain undefeated on the road this weekend, while the unranked Mustangs hope to keep their undefeated record intact.
SMU holds 18 more wins in the series against the Aggies, but A&M has been gaining ground recently, going 4-1 over the past five years.
SMU head coach Eddie Sinnott recognizes A&M’s power in the pool but said he isn’t too concerned about it.
“Right now, is A&M a better team than us? Yes. But Saturday afternoon will decide who the better team is,” Sinnott said.”If we have prepared ourselves properly, there should be no surprises. This meet will be used as a measuring stick to see where we are.”
A&M junior Alfredo Jacobo will attempt to keep his personal streak of eight consecutive wins in the breaststroke alive. Jacobo said he hasn’t thought about SMU too much but knows that the competition will be fierce.
“The fun part of swimming is the competition,” Jacobo said. “It’s almost like going to a party every weekend.”
The Aggies will face especially strong competition in the diving events. A&M senior diver Adam Morgan said the diving events will be hard to judge, but he’s prepared for the challenge.
“It’s going to be a definite battle,” Morgan said. “But we have a chance to win the boards.”
Despite his strong friendship with Sinnott, Nash hopes to return to College Station with a win.
“They have a long tradition of winning in their pool, and hopefully we can break that,” Nash said.