Fresh off an upset victory over No. 22 ranked LSU in Baton Rouge, the Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team looks end their season with a victory Friday as they host SMU on Senior Night.
Senior Mitch Glander said that Friday will be a very emotional day for him as his career as a Texas A&M athlete will come to an end. Glander said that the thing that makes his last swim at A&M more meaningful will be the fact that he will no longer be with his teammates on a daily basis.
“I’m kind of excited but at the same time I’m going to miss it – just because being around the guys for four years,” Glander said. “Home meets are always exciting so I’m going to miss that aspect.”
Unlike most athletes on A&M’s team, Antoine Marc did not have a spot reserved for him when he first came in; he attended fall tryouts and earned a position which he is still grateful for today. Marc, who is also celebrating his last home meet as an Aggie, said he feels the most grateful to have the opportunity to represent the maroon and white.
“This university gave me everything, it gave me a second chance to be an athlete, to be a swimmer. I didn’t know I would be doing this four years ago,” Marc said. “To see it all come to an end after all of what I’ve done, I’ll definitely be emotional for sure.”
Texas A&M head coach Jay Holmes said that Marc’s decision to come to Texas A&M despite possibly having to leave competing behind surprised him. Holmes said that Marc made such an impact on him and the rest of the coaching staff during the tryout process. He was able to earn a spot on the team and eventually become one of the leaders of this squad.
“I was actually surprised when he went up here at A&M; it was just really where he wanted to go to school,” Holmes said. “He’s very academically oriented he could have gone a lot of places but this is where he wanted to go to school… Antoine spent a couple of weeks with us, we were like ‘We have to find a spot for this guy’. He’s just got such a big upside to him, and he’s now doing our relays for us at our conference championships.”
The Aggies will host the SMU Mustangs Friday at 7 p.m. at the Student Rec. Natatorium, the first 50 people in attendance will receive a free 12th man beach towel.
