Texas A&M men’s swim and dive kept last season’s momentum going in the 2021 season opener.
The Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team began its year at the SMU Classic, finishing in fourth as a team after plenty of new swimmers made their A&M debuts. Six schools from five different conferences met at the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center in Dallas for a two-day competition. The Aggies scored 255 points, placing them behind Michigan, Louisville and Missouri.
Friday, Oct. 8, marked day one of the SMU Classic and multiple freshmen participated in their first collegiate competition with the Aggies. Woodlands native and freshman swimmer Tyler Hulet was the highest A&M finisher of the day, placing third in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 47.85.
Redshirt sophomore Victor Povzner made his first appearance for the maroon and white since the 2019-2020 season. The Canadian diver finished second in the 3-meter dive after posting a score of 346.90.
On day two, Povzner followed up on his previous performance by giving A&M its only first place performance of the competition. Povzner participated in the 1-meter dive and scored a 314.85.
“[Povzner’s win] was fun to see,” A&M coach Jay Holmes said. “Just one mistake on the 3-meter event kept him from sweeping the boards here. It will be great having him back with us this season.”
Junior swimmer Anze Fers Erzen had the next-best finish of day two for the Aggies. The Iowa-transfer from Slovenia made his A&M debut at the SMU Classic. He was the runner-up in the 200-meter IM with a time of 1:46.78. Andres Puente, a junior from Mexico, placed third in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:56.83.
The Aggies also saw top-five individual finishes from senior Kaloyan Bratanov, for the 100 and 200-meter freestyles, Hulet for the 200-meter backstroke, sophomore Alex Sanchez in the 200-meter breaststroke and freshman Trey Dickey in the 500-meter freestyle and 200-meter butterfly.
“An opportunity for us to race some real quality teams early like this shows us a lot of where we are right now,” Holmes said. “While we obviously have a long way to go, the meet itself was fun. We just have to get better at the things we are doing.”
The Aggies will get the chance to further improve upon their performance against long-time rival Texas at The Lonestar Showdown in College Station on Friday, Oct. 15. The meet begins at 5 p.m. in the A&M Rec Center Natatorium.