The Texas A&M men and women’s swimming and diving teams dominated at this year’s Art Adamson Invitational over LSU and Incarnate Word.
The maroon and white had numerous record-breaking performances over the three-day event and were successful in garnering back-to-back victories following their last home meet against TCU.
On Wednesday, Nov. 18, A&M’s junior Shaine Casas had a record-breaking performance in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 1:38.95 — the third fastest time in the event’s history. Casas also broke a school record in the 100-meter back as the lead-off swimmer in the 400-meter medley relay with 44:25. Sophomores Andres Puente and Jace Brown and senior Mark Theall also contributed to that relay victory.
Theall also bested an individual school record by winning the 500-meter free with a time of 4:10.67 and helped shatter the 200-meter free relay school record along with Casas, senior Tanner Olson and junior Kaloyan Bratanov with 1:16.48.
A&M’s women’s team had an incredible debut at the invitational as well, placing first in every event they raced in. Freshman Chloe Stepanek had two individual wins on the day in the 500 and 50-meter free. Senior Jing Wen Quah garnered another Aggie victory with a first-place finish in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 1:57.25.
The women’s relay teams did not disappoint, either. A&M’s 400-meter medley relay team, composed of junior Emma Carlton, junior Kylie Powers, Quah and Stepanek took first with a time of 3:35.61. The 200-meter free relay team was also victorious with a time of 1:30.30 by Carlton, Quah, sophomore Emma Stephenson and Stepanek.
A&M’s diving teams also contributed to success on day one with the men sweeping the three-meter board and women sweeping the one-meter.
Sophomore Tony Stewart earned first with a top score of 325.88 with freshmen Kyle Sanchez and Shane Mardick earning second and third place, respectively. Meanwhile, A&M’s senior Charlye Campbell earned a top score of 303.6 with junior Chloe Ceyanes earning second, sophomore Alyssa Clairmont taking third and freshman Payton Props placing fourth.
The Aggies led the way heading into day two of the meet in which both teams had similar success as the day before. A&M’s men’s team had three record-breaking performances while the women accumulated four top finishes over LSU and Incarnate Word.
Casas had another record-breaking performance with a time of 43:87 in the 100-meter back while Olson broke the record for 100-meter breast with 51.39. Olson broke the record in prelims earlier in the day then bested himself a few hours later in finals, now holding the fastest time in school history.
Other highlights of the day include Theall’s 200-meter free win, Puente’s victory in the 400-meter individual medley and Brown’s first-place finish in the 100-meter fly. Additionally, Casas, Olson, Brown and Theall placed first in the 200-meter medley relay with 1:24.21 and Theall, junior Clayton Bobo, Bratanov and freshman Elijah Sohn took first in the 800-meter free relay with 6:21.18.
The Aggies once again swept the diving competition with senior Kurtis Matthews leading the way on the one-meter board with a top score of 343.65. Sanchez, Stewart and Mardick placed second, third and fourth, respectively.
While the men’s team managed to accumulate 1,229 points and stay at the top of the leaderboard, the women kept their lead as well by tallying 1,125 points at the conclusion of day two.
Individual wins for the women’s team included Quah’s first-place finish in the 400-meter individual medley, senior Taylor Pike’s victory in the 100-meter fly, Stepanek’s success in the 200-meter free and Carlton’s win in the 100-meter back.
The maroon and white’s 200-meter medley relay team of Carlton, Powers, freshman Olivia Theall and Stepanek garnered a win in addition to the ladies’ 800-meter free relay first-place finish by senior Haley Yelle, senior Camryn Toney, Quah and Stepanek.
Once again, the 3-meter board was swept by the Aggies, led by Ceyanes with a top score of 327.83, followed closely by Campbell and Clairmont in second and third.
Both A&M’s men and women’s teams entered day three of the meet with a considerable lead over their opponents and used that momentum to finish strong.
Friday’s highlights included A&M’s junior Luke Stuart setting a new school record in the 1000-meter free with a time of 8:59.72, as well as Casas breaking the pool record in the 200-meter back with a time of 1:36.62. Casas’ week included an astonishing five school record-breaking performances and five top finishes.
Other wins recorded on day three included Puente’s win in the 200-meter breast and Brown’s first-place finish in the 200-meter fly, accumulating two more wins for the Aggies.
Senior Camryn Toney finished first in the 1650-meter free with 16:15.05 with A&M’s junior Mollie Wright placing second. Stepanek and Pike garnered additional victories for the maroon and white with a first-place finish in the 100-meter free and a win in the 200-meter fly, respectively. Stepanek’s 47.84 finish became the fourth-fasted time in school history.
A&M was especially dominant in the 200-meter breast. Powers finished first in 2:11.79 with freshmen Desirae Mangaoang and Emme Nelson following closely behind, placing second and third, ultimately sweeping the event.
Additionally, the Aggies’ 400-meter free relay teams finished out the night with strong first-place finishes. Carlton, Stepanek, freshman Bobbi Kennett and Quah finished in 3:18.31 while Bratanov, Bobo, Theall and freshman Kraig Bray got the job done in 2:51.56.
A&M’s Clairmont and Stewart closed out the weekend with a pair of first-place finishes in the platform dive with a score of 274.50 and 276.53, respectively.
The women’s team concluded the meet with five first-place finishes and a total of 1,612 points. LSU finished second with 883 points and Incarnate Word finished third with 542 points.
The men’s team, now ranked No. 6, notched 1,759 total points, guaranteeing a win over LSU with 650 points and Incarnate Word with 635.
Up next for A&M’s men and women’s swimming and diving teams is another home meet against Incarnate Word on Saturday, Dec. 12 at the Rec Center Natatorium. The event will remain closed to the public due to COVID-19 protocols.