The No. 9 Texas A&M women’s swimming and diving team earned its fourth-straight Southeastern Conference Championship win while the No. 10 men placed fourth on Saturday at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Georgia.
The women took control in day two of the five-day meet with 1,107 points, after falling behind to Florida on Tuesday. Senior Sydney Pickrem placed second in the 200 IM, breaking her own school record with a time of 1:51.66 and helping put the Aggies on top.
The men ended the first day of the meet in second place behind Tennessee and spent three days in third place before falling to fourth on the final day with 907 points.
Junior Anna Belousova and Pickrem notched a 1-2 finish in the 200 breaststroke on Saturday to clinch the win for the women, with .09 seconds separating the two swimmers.
Both teams got off to a fast start, with the women breaking one school record and the men breaking two on the first day of competition. Both 800-yard freestyle relay teams broke school records, with the women winning the event in 6:54.47 for the third consecutive year and the men placing second in 6:16.47. The men’s 200 medley relay also set a school record with a time of 1:23.67.
On the fourth day of the meet, Belousova earned a first-place victory in the 100 breaststroke in 57.99, becoming only the second SEC swimmer to ever break the 58-second mark in the race.
The men’s 400 medley relay team — consisting of freshman Shaine Casas, junior Ben Walker, senior Angel Martinez and junior Adam Koster — placed third in 3:04.86 to take down the old school record of 3:05.13 set by Martinez, Koster, Brock Bonetti and Mauro Castillo at last year’s SEC meet.
The quartet also found success in their individual events.
Walker broke another school record at the meet, placing 17th in the 400 IM with a time of 3:43.01. Walker also earned the second-fastest 100 breaststroke time in school history with his fifth place performance of 52.55, which is his lifetime best, in addition to winning gold in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:52.55.
Casas had a school record-breaking performance in the 200 backstroke, taking silver with her time of 1:39.84.
Casas, Martinez and Koster posted lifetime bests in the 100 backstroke (seventh, 45.94), 200 IM (ninth, 1:44.61) and 200 free (10th, 1:34.93), respectively.
Two Aggies also had success in morning prelims: sophomore Mark Theall broke two school records in the 200-yard freestyle (1:33.91) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:16.79), while junior Mike Thibert notched a lifetime best time of 47.11 in the 100 backstroke.
Thibert also had a lifetime best performance in the 50 freestyle, placing fifth in 19.31, which was the second-fastest 50 free time in school history.
Other Aggies posting lifetime best times include Monika Gonzalez in the 400 IM (third, 4:05.55), Haley Yelle in the 200 free (fourth, 4:37.92), Mckenna Debever in the 200 IM (sixth, 1:55.74), Victoria Roubique in the 100 breaststroke (ninth, 1:00.00), Coco Bratanov in the 200 IM (12th, 1:45.61), Camryn Toney in the 200 butterfly (17th, 1:56.95) and Golf Sapianchai in the 50 free (tied for 20th, 22.50).
As for the men’s team, Luke Stuart posted a lifetime best in the 1650 free (13th, 15:08.00), as did Mateo Gonzalez in the 100 butterfly (20th, 46.86) and the men’s 200 free relay team (fifth, 4:16.71).
The women’s team will compete in the Speedo Sectionals from Feb. 28 to March 3 at the Rec Center Natatorium in College Station. The men’s team will compete in the American Short Course Championships on March 7 and 8 in Austin at the Jamail Texas Swim Center.