The No. 14 Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team defended home turf, out-scoring TCU 174-109 on Friday, Nov. 4. The Aggies extended their win streak, following a win against Kentucky on Nov. 3.
The Aggies opened up with strong placements in the 200-yard medley relay, with freshman Connor Foote and seniors Ethan Gogulski, Kaloyan Bratanov and Andres Puente taking first with a time of 1:28.34. Juniors Thomas Shomper, Vincent Riberio, David Oderinde, and Collin Fuchs were able to follow up with a time of 1:31.32.
The maroon and white dominated the meet, winning the majority of the events. Senior Anze Fers Erzen was able to win the 1,000-yard freestyle, with a time of 9:27.45. Freshman Maximiliano Vega was able to finish second, with a time of 9:30.25. Fers Erzen was also able to win the 200-yard backstroke, finishing with 1:47.49.
Freshman Baylor Nelson added on to his already-impressive collegiate résumé, winning the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:49.53 and the 500-yard freestyle, with a time of 4:28.83.
Bratanov was able to win the 200-yard freestyle, finishing with 1:39.47, and senior William Coakley placed third, with a time of 1:40.04. Bratanov also won the 200-yard individual medley, finishing with 1:50.81. Sophomore Tyler Hulet secured a first-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 48.66. Shomper was right behind him, running up with a time of 49.70.
The Aggies saw a 1-2-3 finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. Puente was able to win the event, finishing with 54.27. Junior Alex Sanchez followed up with a time of 55.92 and Riberio secured a third-place finish, with a time of 56.72. The Aggies were able to finish the 200-yard butterfly with another 1-2-3 finish. Nelson finished first with 1:49.53 with sophomore Clayton Conklin following up with a time of 1:51.13. Sanchez closed out the third spot with a time of 1:53.71.
The team was able to win both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events. Fuchs closed out the 50-yard freestyle with a first-place finish, with a time of 20.54 and junior Carter Nelson followed up with a time of 20.63. Gogulski was able to win the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45.20.
Sanchez won the 200-yard breaststroke, with a time of 2:02.24. Senior Jace Brown also secured a first-place finish for the Aggies, winning the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 48.35.
Junior diver Victor Povzner was able to sweep the diving events, winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving with scores of 427.88 and 436.55 respectively.
The maroon and white will look to continue their dominance in the next meet, the Art Adamson Invitational. It will take place Wednesday-Friday, Nov. 16-18 at the Student Rec Center Natatorium in College Station.
For more information and updates, visit 12thMan.com and follow the team @AggieSwimDive on Twitter and Instagram.
Justin Chen is a general studies junior and contributed this piece from the course JOUR 359, Reporting Sports, to The Battalion.