The No. 8 Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team lost a close matchup against No. 9 Auburn in its first SEC matchup, with a final score of 167.5 to 132.5.
The maroon and white opened up the day with a second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. Seniors Ethan Gogulski, Andres Puente, Jace Brown and Kaloyan Bratanov combined for a time of 1:28.09. The Aggies swept the distance events. Freshman Batuhan Filiz secured first in the 1000-yard freestyle, with a time of 9:10.00 and sophomore Trey Dickey grabbed a third place spot, with 9:16.01. Filiz also won the 500-yard freestyle, finishing at 4:24.62.
Freshman Baylor Nelson continued to impress, with first-place finishes throughout the meet. He won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:36.91 as well as the 200-yard backstroke, finishing with 1:45.01. The maroon and white saw three top-five finishes in the 200-yard individual medley, with Nelson leading the way with a time of 1:48.66. Puente finished third with 1:49.43 and senior Anze Fers Erzen rounded up a fifth place finish with 1:50.69.
The Aggies continued to place throughout the day. Gogulski placed fourth in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing at 49.06. Junior Thomas Shomper placed fourth in the 200-yard backstroke, with a time of 1:48.11. Brown and Fers Erzen finished first and second in the 200-yard butterfly, with times of 1:48.17 and 1:48.35, respectively. Freshman Connor Foote placed in the top three in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing at 20.82. Bratanov finished as the runner-up in the 100-yard freestyle, with a time of 44.54.
The breaststroke events went to the Aggies, with Puente placing second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 54.79. The 200-yard breaststroke saw three top-5 finishes, with Puente winning the event in a 1:58.77 time. Fers Erzen placed third with 2:02.38 and junior Vincent Riberio finished fifth with 2:03.54.
Sophomore Allen Bottego won the 1-meter diving event with a score of 373.28, and junior Victor Povzner finished right behind him with a score of 369.15. Povzner also finished second in the 3-meter diving, tallying a score of 362.63.
The team closed out the day with a second-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Bratanov, Foote, Nelson, and junior Collin Fuchs combined for a time of 2:59.59.
The Aggies fell to a record of 2-3 as they look to bounce back on Jan. 6, taking on No. 21 Georgia Tech and Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta. According to 12thMan.com, the meet will be broadcasted on ESPN at 10 a.m.
Justin Chen is a general studies junior and contributed this piece from the course JOUR 359, Reporting Sports, to The Battalion.