Texas A&M vs SMU
- Friday, January 28, 2022
- College Station, Texas
- Results
- Scores
- Women: Texas A&M 174, SMU 114
- Men: Texas A&M 178, SMU 115
Texas A&M rolled to a second consecutive sweep on Friday against SMU, sending out its senior class in style with a pair of dominant victories at home.
The Aggie women posted the fastest time in each and every event as they eased to a 174-114 decision over the Mustangs, while the Texas A&M men cruised in for a final tally of 178-115.
Women’s Recap
The TAMU women had 12 different swimmers earn an individual victory, led by senior Danielle Hepler who picked up two in the 100 butterfly (55.39) and 200 freestyle (1:50.25).
Hepler’s 100 fly swim was a new season-best, improving on her 55.90 from a December clash with Rice, while her 200 free time falls less than a second shy of the 1:49.64 she posted at the Art Adamson Invitational in November.
Overall, the Aggies had strong performances from underclassmen, including freshman Sarah Holt producing her third sub-2:00 200 fly of the season for a big victory. Holt, who set a best time of 1:58.95 last weekend against LSU, was 1:59.44 to lead SMU’s Olivia Grossklaus (2:01.00).
Another TAMU freshman, Bobbi Kennett, was the victor in the 100 free (50.87), her fastest time this season outside of the Art Adamson Invite (49.44), and also swam the fastest time in the 200 IM (2:00.86) despite it being officially (un)scored as exhibition. That 200 IM was just shy of the PB she set at Art Adamson in November (2:00.14).
Aggie sophomore Chloe Stepanek picked up a win in the 50 free (23.13) and set a best time in the 1000 free (9:59.27), taking second to fellow second-year Abby Grottle (9:58.87).
In the 200 back, first-year Aviv Barzelay posted her fastest non-invite time of the season in 1:58.19, with Stepanek (2:00.49) posting the second-fastest time swimming exhibition.
On the SMU side, the lone official individual event win went to fifth-year Gabi Grobler, who clocked 2:03.31 in the 200 IM. The team also took first in the 200 free relay (1:35.20), though TAMU went 1:34.27 as exhibition.
Men’s Recap
Texas A&M freshman were a big part of the story on the men’s side, as first-years Trey Dickey and Tyler Hulet both roared to a pair of individual victories.
Dickey got the ball rolling in the first individual event of the meet, the 1000 free, clearing the field by almost 20 seconds in 9:07.70. That time is just .02 off his fastest time this season, 9:07.68, which was done opening up the 1650 at the Art Adamson Invite in November. It’s also notably nearly 14 seconds faster than he was six days earlier against LSU (9:21.43).
Dickey followed up with another easy win in the 500 free, touching in 4:27.11 to narrowly miss his season-best (4:26.48) from the November Invite.
Hulet swept the men’s 100 back (48.67) and 200 back (1:46.62), having set respective season-bests of 47.49 and 1:43.65 at the Art Adamson Invite. Senior teammate Ethan Gogulski was the runner-up in the 100 back (49.31), while TAMU junior Anze Erzen (1:47.58) was the second-fastest swimmer in the 200 back, swimming exhibition.
Also winning two times on the day for the Aggies was junior Andres Puente Bustamante in the 100 breast (54.63) and 200 breast (1:58.77), and sophomore Victor Povzner in the 1-meter (402.60) and 3-meter diving events (402.30).
The standout for SMU was junior Colin Feehery, who picked up a pair of tight victories over Texas A&M senior Koko Bratanov.
In the 200 free, Feehery closed in 24.69 to seal a narrow win over Bratanov, 1:39.21 to 1:39.69. This was Feehery’s first 200 free swim of the season, having set a best time last February at the 2021 AACs (1:36.78).
Towards the end of the dual in the 200 IM, the two men locked horns again, as Bratanov opened up a big early lead before Feehery erased a 1.6-second deficit with a 30.99 breaststroke split. He then out-touched Bratanov, 1:49.54 to 1:49.70, for his second victory of the meet.
Feehery also took second to Puente Bustamante in the 200 breast, clocking 2:00.34.
