One Aggie made diving program history Sunday at the four-day NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta.
Senior Kurtis Mathews became the first men’s diver to win, not one, but two national titles in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. He closes out his career on the Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team as a two-time NCAA Champion and six-time All-American. The Aggies also marked career- and season-best times, swimming to tally 44 points to tie with Minnesota for 19th place overall at the March 23-26 event.
Starting Day 1, junior Ethan Gogulski, junior Andres Puente, junior Jace Brown and senior Kaloyan Bratanov started the meet with a 25th-place finish in the 200-meter medley relay with a time of 1:24.38. Brown and Bratanov swam career-best splits while Brown went 20.34 in the 50-meter butterfly, posting the third-fastest split in program history. Bratanov made it to the top five on A&M’s all-time list for the 50-meter freestyle split with a time of 18.87. The 800-meter free relay of Bratanov, Gogulski, sophomore Collins Fuchs and senior Clayton Bobo closed out Day 1, placing 21st with a time of 6:19.54, the fifth-fastest time in program history.
On Day 2, Mathews made the record books in the 1-meter diving event, winning his first national title. He beat his personal best and set a new school record with a score of 438.20. Sophomore Victor Povzner placed 22nd in the 1-meter, scoring 320.40 in his first NCAA Championships. The 200-meter free relay team of Bratanov, sophomore Kraig Bray, Gogulski and Bobo placed 24th with a season-best time of 1:17.27, the fifth-fastest time in program history. Bray, with a 50-meter free split of 19.35; Gogulski, with 19.24; and Bobo with 19.26, all posted season-best splits.
On Day 3, Mathews became a back-to-back champion when he won another national title in the 3-meter diving event. On his sixth and final dive in the event, he accumulated a score of 91.20, adding to a total score of 466.85, making him a two-time NCAA Championships victor.
Povzner earned Honorable Mention All-America honors with a 15th place finish and a score of 362.30. The 400-meter medley relay of Gogulski, Puente, Brown and Bratanov placed 19th with a season-best time of 3:05.70, making it the fourth-fastest time in program history. Puente also clocked a personal best time of 52.02 in the 100-meter breaststroke, finishing 21st.
Closing out the championships on Day 4, Puente earned Honorable Mention All-America honors as he finished 15th in the 200-meter breast final with a time of 1:52.78. Bratanov, Fuchs, Bray and Bobo swam a 2:52.50 for the 400-meter free relay, placing 25th. Bobo’s 100-meter free split was a season-best time of 43.39. Bratanov also had a top-30 finish in the individual 100-meter free with a time of 42.48.
For a full list of results, visit 12thMan.com.