The SEC Swimming and Diving Championships have concluded for the Texas A&M Aggie swimming and diving teams. The teams will return home after competing for five days at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center at Auburn University. The No. 5 ranked women’s swimming and diving team placed second in the competition while the men’s team finished in eighth.
The women’s team accumulated 1,166 team points over the five days which led them to a second place finish, 284 points behind winners Georgia. Florida finished in third place with 963.5 points. Tennessee and LSU rounded out the top five with Tennessee finishing fourth with 745.5 points and LSU fifth with 727 points.
Beryl Gastaldello won the women’s team their first championship on Thursday. After breaking the school record the night before in the 50 yard freestyle, Gastaldello won the 100 yard fly, swimming it with a time of 50.87 seconds and breaking both an SEC record and another Texas A&M record.
Senior Sarah Henry helped the Aggies in the 1,650 yard freestyle by winning a bronze medal with a time of 15:53.43.
A&M closed out the competition with a bronze medal in the 400 yard free relay. The relay team included Gastaldello, Malone, Ibanez and Bosma who swam the race with a time of 3:14.57.
The second place finish is the third in a row for the women’s swimming and diving team.
The Texas A&M Men’s swimming and diving team finished in eighth place tallying 555 points over the five days. They finished behind three-time defending champion Florida who scored 1,314.5 points. Georgia finished in second with 1,134.5 points, followed by Auburn (1,084), Tennessee (918), Alabama (911.5), Missouri (768), and South Carolina (567). LSU finished behind A&M with 538.5 points followed by Kentucky with 407 points.
The Aggies were helped by freshman Brock Bonetti who swam the 200 yard backstroke in 1:42.11, beating his own school record and winning the consolation final. Junior Mateo Muzek also contributed to the Aggies’ overall points by placing fourth in the “C” final with a time of 1:44.94.
Texas A&M senior diver Ford McLiney helped the Aggies finish the meet on a strong note, earning a bronze medal in platform diving with a score of 414.55 points. Freshman diver Tyler Hensel also helped the men’s team by placing fifth in the event posting a score of 385.30.
The Texas A&M men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will compete in the Speedo Sectionals in the Student Recreation Center Natatorium in College Station. The event will be held from Thursday, Feb. 6 to Sunday, Mar. 3.