The Texas A&M women’s swimming and diving team had multiple NCAA B-cut times and garnered an NCAA qualifier at the annual Art Adamson Invitational.
Hosting the annual tournament at the Rec Center Natatorium from Nov. 17-19, the Aggies took second place, with 280.5 points, after the University of Southern California, with 327.5 points.
Though the Aggies took second in the tournament, many swimmers showcased their talents in the pool and finished with personal bests. Sophomore Olivia Theall garnered an NCAA-qualifying time in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1.58.23.
Theall also had a career-best, earning an NCAA B-cut time in the 100-yard butterfly, taking second with a time of 52.90 followed by freshman Sarah Holt, who finished in fifth with a season-best and NCAA B-cut time of 53.49. Theall recorded another personal best in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:00.45, taking fifth, followed by sophomore Bobbi Kennett with a time of 2:00.14 in the B-final.
“Last year was definitely a great learning experience for me,” Theall told 12thman.com. “The step up from high school to college training was huge for me, and I didn’t have the SECs that I wanted, but I knew I wanted to come back and show that I worked really hard last season last year and over the summer, and I think I did a good job at proving that today.”
Sophomore Chloe Stepanek garnered three NCAA B-cut times in the tournament with a personal best of 4:43.40 in the 500-yard freestyle, 1:45.16 in the 200-yard freestyle — her sixth-place time of the year — and 49.15 in the 100-yard freestyle. Kennett followed in the 100-yard freestyle with fifth-place finish and a B-cut time of 49.44. Stepanek also had a sixth-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle of 22.92.
Taking first in the 1,650-yard freestyle, sophomore Abby Grottle earned a personal best and NCAA B-cut time of 16:27.65. Sophomore Charlotte Longbottom added another NCAA B-cut time for the team with a fifth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:45.16, a career best. Additionally, freshman Aviv Barzelay took third in the 200-yard backstroke with a B-cut time of 1:55.93.
The Aggies also had a standout performance in the 400-yard IM with four personal bests: freshman Alice Marini took fourth with a time of 4:18:25; sophomore Abigail Ahrens in fifth with a time of 4:19.67; and freshman Joelle Reddin in sixth, whose personal-best time of 4:19.58 came in prelims. Sophomore Emme Nelson also clocked a personal best with a time of 4:24.58.
Another notable performance was freshman Kaitlyn Owens’ second-place finish with a time of 533.64 in the 100-yard backstroke.
The Aggies garnered five second-place finishes in relays including the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1.30.55, 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3.36.57, 200-yard medley with a time of 1.39.06, 800-yard freestyle with a time of 7.13.63 and 400-yard freestyle with a time of 3:17.45, finishing after Southern California.
“Our last 400 free relay was really, really solid,” coach Steve Bultman told 12thman.com. “That was a great swim for us where we are right now. Abby Grottle had a really good mile, best time, and Olivia Theall swam really well.”
Bultman said he was proud of the team for the number of career-bests in the tournament, but he said there is still room for improvement for the entire team.
“We’ve done a number of lifetime bests, which is good,” Bultman told 12thman.com. “There’s spots we definitely need to get better on, but that’s the reason we do this meet. We learn that, not only do the coaches learn, but the swimmers learn as well. There’s some things everybody realizes that we have to do a little better on.”
The diving team also traveled to Austin for the Texas Diving Invitational hosted at the Jamail Texas Swim Center from Nov. 18-20.
Senior Aimee Wilson took fifth on the springboards in the 3-meter dive with a score of 350.45, followed by senior Chloe Ceyanes in eighth with a score of 255.25. Junior Alyssa Clairmont finished with a sixth-place finish on the platform with a score of 247.10 and a seventh-place finish on the 1-meter dive with a score of 237.95.
The Aggies will next travel to Houston, where they will take on Rice in a dual meet at the Rice Aquatics Center Natatorium at 12 p.m. on Dec 4.
