2024 SEC Championships: Texas A&M Men Score Big in Diving on Day 1

2024 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships

• February 19 – February 24, 2024
• James E. Martin Aquatic Center — Auburn, AL
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Florida (1x)
  • Men: Florida (11x)
• Start Times (ET): 9:30 am prelims/5:30 pm finals
  • Day 1 (diving only): 11 am prelims/4:20 pm finals
  • Day 2: 11 am prelims (diving only)/ 5 pm (relays only)
• Championship Central
• 2023 SEC Championships Box Score
• Major Conference Roster Limits and Scoring Rules
• Psych Sheets
• Women’s Fan Guide
• Men’s Fan Guide
• Live Results
• Live Video (SEC+ Network)

The 2024 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships kicked off on Monday evening with a pair of diving events at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center in Auburn, Alabama.

The women began with the unscored team diving event, while the men completed three rounds (prelims, consols, and finals) on the 1-meter board.

Team diving, still in its exhibition phase, is diving’s version of a medley relay. Each team consists of 3 divers: one does 2 dives on the 1-meter board, one does 2 dives on the 3-meter, and one does 2 dives on the platform, for a total of six dives. The idea is to score this event like a relay, so that each participating team earns double points.

Tonight’s results for the women’s team event:

1. LSU 322.30
2. Florida 303.50
3. Auburn 293.35
4. Alabama 276.15
5. Kentucky 273.10
6. Texas A&M 266.90
7. Tennessee 260.90
8. Arkansas 255.70
9. South Carolina 229.90

In men’s 1-meter diving, Texas A&M swept 3 of the top 4 spots and racked up a total of 103 points, nearly twice as many as second-place Tennessee. Victor Povzner led the way for the Aggies, scoring 403.05 points to earn his second consecutive conference title in the event. Trailing in 3rd place at the end of round 2, he nailed his next 2 dives – a forward 2-1/2 somersault 1 twist pike that earned him 70.4 points and a reverse 2-1/2 somersault pike good for 73.6 points – and remained in the lead throughout the rest of the rounds.

Povzner said, “Pretty happy about it (gold-medal performance). Very satisfied with a lot of things that I did out there. I did a lot of big things a lot of people don’t do on 1-meter and it’s really exciting. It is just disappointing I had all that energy and kind of whiffed it on the last one (dive). Honestly, it is nice — the second in a row for me — so I don’t know exactly how to process it just yet. I’m pretty chill which is kind of strange, but give me about an hour and I will be more pumped.”

Teammate Rhett Hensley scored 381.60 points for second place, while Conor Gesing of Florida took the bronze with 371.30. A&M’s Takuto Endo placed 4th, while Florida’s Christopher Donald came in 5th. Tennessee had 2 in the A final – Bryden Hattie and Nick Stone – and Mizzou had one – Collier Dyer.

Alabama improved on its seeding by 18 points; Tennessee was 15 ahead of the psych sheet. Given that we are predicting a too-close-to-call race for 2nd place among Auburn, Georgia, Texas A&M, and Tennessee, these diving points could make the difference.

The SEC Championships will continue on Tuesday with the women’s 3-meter, the men’s team diving event, the women’s and men’s 200 medley relays, and the women’s and men’s 800 free relays. Diving prelims will begin at noon Eastern time with finals starting at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Men’s Standings Through Day 1

1. Texas A&M 103
2. Tennessee 53
3. Florida 52
4. Georgia 42
5. Missouri 27
6. Kentucky 23
7. Auburn 19
8. Alabama 18
9. LSU 16
10. South Carolina 9