The Texas A&M women’s swimming and diving team won the Southeastern Conference Championships on Sunday for the third consecutive year, tallying 1,319 points throughout the five-day competition.
Sydney Pickrem, Anna Belousova, Bethany Galat and Esther Gonzalez swept the top four places in the 200 back on the final day of competition, securing the women’s victory.
Pickrem was instrumental in the Aggies’ success, helping them earn four first place victories. She was part of the victorious 800 free relay team and added individual victories in the 200 back, 200 IM and 400 IM.
The 800 free relay team, comprised of Pickrem, Katie Portz, Claire Rasmus and Kristin Malone, gave A&M the lead at 160 points to end the first day, which they would maintain throughout the rest of the competition.
Pickrem led Galat in a 1-2 finish in the 400 IM. Pickrem finished the race in 3:59.30, and Galat followed in 4:04.17.
Pickrem notched a first place victory for the women with 1:52.69 in the 200 IM, setting school, pool and SEC meet records. Lisa Bratton followed in fifth place in 1:55.05.
Rasmus earned first place in the 200 free with 1:43.62. Portz followed her in fourth place with 1:45.08 and McKenna DeBever in sixth with 1:46.36.
Rasmus also nabbed a third place finish in the 500 free with a time of 4:39.23, while Jing Quah notched first place in the 200 fly with a time of 1:53.05.
Alais Kalonji earned first place in the platform diving event. The junior also placed 12th in the three-meter diving and 23rd in the one-meter diving.
Bratton scored a third place finish in the 100 back with a time of 51:10. Raena Eldridge also scored in the event, finishing in 13th place with 53.14. Sara Metsch followed in 21st place with 53.87.
Belousova led a 1-2 finish in the 100 breast with a time of 58.86 and Caneta followed her with 58.9. Bratton notched a second place victory in the 200 back with 1:49.83.
The women breached the 1,000-point mark after four Aggies scored in the 200 back. Malone placed fourth with 48.31, Rasmus in eighth with 48.56, Portz in 12th with 48.99 and McKenna DeBever in 22nd with 49.27.
Both the men and women had second place finishes in the 400 medley relay. For the women, Bratton, Belousova, Quah and Rasmus completed the race in 3:29.40. The men’s quartet of Brock Bonetti, Mauro Castillo, Jose Martinez and Adam Koster finished in 3:05.13.
Although the men’s team ended day one at the top of the leaderboards, they finished the championships in second place with 994 points.
On day one, Tyler Henschel grabbed the top spot in the three-meter diving event to secure the men’s place at the top of the leaderboards to end the first day of competition. Henschel also added a fifth place victory in one-meter diving and fourth place in platform diving.
In the men’s 200 IM, Bonetti led the Aggies in fifth place. Bonetti also swam a leg of the fourth-place 200 medley relay team, joining forces with Martinez, Castillo and Koster to complete the race with a time of 1:24.19.
Castillo added a second place finish in the 200 breast with 1:52.15. Jonathan Tybur followed him in fourth place.
The men’s 200 free relay team placed fourth, with Koster, Martinez, Justin Morey and Steven Richardson combining to complete the event in 1:18.30.
The men notched a 2-3 finish in the 100 fly with Castillo finishing in 45.63 and Martinez finishing in 45.69. Overall, Castillo earned two second place victories in the 100 and 200 breast.
Martinez was also part of another 2-3 finish, this time in the 200 fly. He led Bonetti in the event with 1:41.56. Bonetti finished a second after Martinez with a time of 1:41.57.
The women will return to the pool on Feb. 23 when they host the Texas A&M Last Chance Meet. The men’s next meet is the American Short Course Championships at the University of Texas on March 1-3.