Multiple athletes medaled, personal and season bests and notable SEC awards when the Aggies hosted the 2023 Swimming and Diving SEC Championship Feb. 14-18..
Junior Caroline Theil received the SEC Community Service Team award on Tuesday, Feb. 14, which honors student athletes who give back to their community. Junior Chloe Stepanek received the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year award on the third day of finals. Stepanek joins Lisa Bratton and Sarah Gibson as the third Aggie to earn the award, according to 12thMan.com.
The No. 19 Aggies hosted this year’s championships at the Student Recreation Center Natatorium for the first time since 2018, and finished ninth overall with 583.5 points. The University of Florida took home the conference title with a total of 1,255 points followed by the University of Tennessee, 950.5, University of Kentucky, 946, The University of Alabama, 791, and Louisiana State University, 775, in the top five.
The maroon and white amassed a total of 56 points on Day 1 of the competition.
Senior Jordan Buechler and juniors Charlotte Longbottom, Olivia Theall and Bobbi Kennett notched a 1:38.18 to place 11th in the 200-meter medley relay.
Earlier in the day, three Aggie divers earned points to place in the top 24. Freshman Joslyn Oakley earned 12th place with a score of 280.90. Junior Mayson Richards scored 256.50 points to place 19th, and junior Alyssa Clairmont finished 22nd with a score of 252.15.
On Wednesday, Kennett, Theall, Buechler and Stepanek finished seventh in the 200-meter freestyle relay with the team’s season-best time of 1:29.08.
Junior Abby Grottle finished 15th in the 500-meter freestyle finals after recording a career-best of 4:42.74 in prelims earlier that day.
Oakley finished top-five in the 1-meter diving finals with a score of 295.40. Clairmont and Richards both added top-15 scores, as Clairmont finished 11th with 268.50 points and Richards in 14th with 258.75 points.
Two swimmers claimed medals on day three of the competition. Freshman Giulia Goerigk secured a bronze medal in the 400 IM A-final with a recorded time of 4:06.84.
Stepanek secured silver in the 200-meter freestyle with a recorded 1:43:37. This is the third consecutive year Stepanek has medaled in the heat. Buechler also finished 21st with a time of 1:46.47 to add points for the Aggies.
Theall contributed points for the maroon and white after finishing fifth in the 100-meter butterfly A-final with a recorded 51.80.
On Friday, Theall finished fourth in the 200-meter butterfly, recording a 1:55.17 and Kennett finished seventh in the 100-meter breaststroke, recording a 59.72.
In the 400-meter medley relay, Buechler, Kennett, Theall and Stepanek recorded their best time of the season with a 3:31.89 to claim fourth place. To lead off the relay, Buechler recorded a personal best of 52.79 in the 100 back.
In the diving portion of the day, Clairmont finished 16th on the platform with a score of 216.65.
On the last day of championships, two Aggies recorded personal bests in the 1650-meter freestyle. Abby Grottle notched the sixth fastest time in school history with a recorded 16:12.04 to finish 17th. Freshman Rachel Love followed in 20th place with a recorded time of 16:17.33.
Sophomore Aviv Barzelay swam a 1:52.91 to claim a top-10 finish for A&M in the 200-meter backstroke final. Senior Abigail Ahrens finished 21st and earned a personal best of 1:55.37.
Stepanek swam a 48.20 in the 100-meter freestyle final to take fifth place.
Junior Desirae Mangaoang finished 2:11.66 and Longbottom 2:14.14 in the C-final of the 200-meter breaststroke to add to A&M’s final score.
Buechler, Kennett, Theall and Stepanek placed seventh with a season-best in the 400-meter freestyle relay with a 3:14.88 to close out the meet.
Aggie swimmers will host again for the Last Chance Meet Feb. 23-25 at the Rec Center Natatorium. The divers head to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships March 7-9. Follow the team @AggieSwimDive on Instagram and Twitter.
Madison Fay is a tourism management senior and Cory Richardson is an agricultural communications and journalism sophomore, both contributed this article from course JOUR 359, Reporting Sports, to The Battalion.