After suffering a 153-113 defeat to Texas on Oct. 17, the Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team heads back on the road, facing Incarnate Word in the Annie Barshop Natatorium at 6 p.m. Friday.
The Aggies failed to record a victory in any event against the 2013 NCAA Championship runner-ups, and the Longhorns elected not to count the points they earned in the final five events. Despite the outcome, Aggie head coach Jay Holmes left the meet with a positive outlook.
“Swimming against the defending national runners-up is always a challenge, and the bottom line is we have a long way to go as a team,” Holmes said. “This is a hard-working group and they are working extremely hard to get where we need to be for the conference and national meets in the spring.This was a good meet in that we got to race, see where we are and see the things we have to improve.”
The Redbirds have not competed since late March, and A&M will serve as the school’s season opener.
Although they weren’t invited to the NCAA Championships, Incarnate Word had a successful postseason. The Redbirds placed first in the CCSA Championships and first in the CSCAA Invitational.
The young Aggies showed promise out of their large pool of freshman. Spain native Gonzalo Carazo placed third in the 200 individual medley with a time of 52.78 seconds. Fellow freshman Mauro Castillo finished in the 100 meter breaststroke, finishing with a time of 58.07 seconds. The teammates would later finish first in their other respected events, the 500 free and the 200 breaststroke.
Both teams share one aspect in Friday’s matchup: they are young. The Redbirds and the Aggies have just seven seniors combined. They each have 13 freshman, and only one is redshirted on each squad. Incarnate Word will look to seniors Scott Jonsson, Joey Reeves and twin brothers Alex and Ben Brouwer to provide veteran leadership.
The two squads met last year on Oct. 17, where the Aggies defeated Incarnate Word by a count of 179-114. A quick start for A&M was a benefactor in their previous matchup, with the top two finishers in three of the first four events being Aggies.