Texas A&M Men Set To Face SEC Rival Georgia

by SwimSwam 4

January 10th, 2020 College

Courtesy: Texas A&M Athletics

ATHENS, Ga. – The Texas A&M men’s swimming & diving team returns to action for its first SEC dual meet of the season, facing the Georgia Bulldogs in the Gabrielsen Natatorium on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 9 a.m. 

Back to Business

Texas A&M starts their springs slate with a 5-2 dual meet record. The swimmers are returning from a lengthy, 26-day break from competition, while the divers haven’t competed since the second day of the Art Adamson Invite on Nov. 22. Most recently, the swimmers dominated the Holiday Invite, beating Incarnate Word 155-91 and Trinity 153-80. The bulk of the Maroon & White’s standout times came from the Art Adamson Invite where they managed to set eight new school records and won by a margin of 647 points over second-place USC. Nine different Aggies own times ranked among the top-30 times in the nation, in addition to Texas A&M notching a top five time in all five relay events. As a result, the Maroon & White are the No. 4 team in the country according to the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America, their highest ranking since 2001. 

“I’m really looking forward to this meet,” said head coach Jay Holmes. “There’s going to be some really good races in a lot of places. I’m really looking forward to getting our divers back on the board and competing again. Our divers are historically, very good, and I think they’ll do a good job for us.”

 Aggies in the Top 30

Athlete Event Time Rank
Kaloyan Bratanov 200 IM 1:45.19 24th
Shaine Casas 100 Back :44.48 1st
Shaine Casas 200 IM 1:40.16 1st
Shaine Casas 200 Back 1:37.35 2nd
Shaine Casas 50 Back (Relay Leadoff) :21.07 2nd
Shaine Casas 100 Fly :45.26 3rd
Shaine Casas 200 Free (Relay Leadoff) 1:33.67 9th
Shaine Casas 50 Free (Relay Leadoff) :19.54 20th
Shaine Casas 100 Free (Relay Leadoff) :42.94 25th
Adam Koster 100 Free :42.26 5th
Adam Koster 50 Free :19.49 16th
Tanner Olson 100 Breast :52.68 15th
Andres Puente 200 Breast 1:52.48 7th
Andres Puente 100 Breast :52.49 12th
Andres Puente 400 IM 3:46.75 20th
Luke Stuart 1650 Free 15:06.58 28th
Mark Theall 500 Free 4:12.19 3rd
Mark Theall 200 Free 1:32.96 5th
Mark Theall 1650 Free 15:08.54 30th
Mike Thibert 50 Back (Relay Leadoff) :21.91 27th
Benjamin Walker 200 Breast 1:53.33 11th

On the Diving Boards

Victor Povzner has had an exceptional start to his rookie campaign, collecting two SEC Men’s Diver of the Week awards and winning the 3-meter dive three out of the four times competing in the event. Kurtis Mathews has placed within the top three seven times throughout the season, most recently completing a one-two finish in the 1-meter and 3-meter respectively, at the Art Adamson Invite. The last time Mathews was competing in Georgia was when he earned the silver medal in the 3-meter at the 2019 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships.

Scouting Georgia

“Historically, Georgia has been very good in the [long distance] events, so it’ll be hard for us to beat them in those places. Some of the other races will be really close. I know we’re pretty banged up with some injuries, and chances are, they probably are to. Regardless of the event, we’ll line it up with the best people we got. We’ll throw it at them, and see what happens.”

Georgia owns a 3-1 dual meet record, claiming victories over Alabama, North Carolina and Duke with their lone loss to Florida. Additionally, the Bulldog swimmers won the Tennessee Invitational, while their diver, Zach Allen, placed second and third in the 3-meter and 1-meter respectively at the Tennessee Diving Invitational.

Follow the Action

Check 12thman.com and follow @AggieSwimDive on Twitter for results.

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Superfan
4 years ago

Texas AM men win and UGA Women win!

collegeswimmer
Reply to  Superfan
4 years ago

this didnt age well.

Texas A&M Swim Fan
4 years ago

Though this write up concerns A&M men’ s team, I’m giving a “shout out” to the A&M women’s team as well (since they will be competing against Georgia tomorrow too). Hoping both they & the men beat the “ever livin, ever lovin, compound, complex, Coach Jay Holmes, Coach Jason Calanog, Coach Steve Bultman, Coach Tanica Jamison, Coach Jay Lerew, maroon & white “HELL” outta Georgia! Gig em forever & ever👍👍👍

Texas A&M Swim Fan
4 years ago

It’s gonna be worth watching for sure!! “Rootin” for the team wearing maroon for sure👍👍