Southwest Collegiate Plunge, Day One

MANSFIELD, Texas, October 28. THE Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team stands in second place by just six points after the first day of the Southwest Collegiate Plunge on Friday at the Mansfield ISD Natatorium.

The Aggies scored 395 points and are just behind the Texas Longhorns, who scored 401 points on day one. Looking up at the Aggies and Longhorns are Missouri (341) and SMU (335).

"I thought we did a bunch of good things on the first day, and we'll look to keep that going on Saturday," Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. "We need to just keep competing, and continue to get better at that. It was a very good start for us."

A&M logged a pair of wins on Friday with senior Amini Fonua taking the victory in the 100-yard breaststroke, and the foursome of sophomore Kyle Troskot, junior John Dalton, sophomore Henrik Lindau and junior Austin Wilson touching first in the 200-yard free relay to close out the night.

"Obviously the wins in the 100 breast and the 200 free relay were the highlights of the evening for us," Holmes said. "There weren't the prettiest things we've ever done, but I loved the way we competed. We wanted them to show all the techniques that we've been working on, but mostly we just wanted them to compete and they did a great job of that."

Fonua, from Auckland, New Zealand, turned in a solid time of 56.06 to hold off Texas' Dax Hill who was just behind at 56.43. The Aggies' 200 free relay touched in 1:22.39 , which was nearly a second ahead of runner-up SMU (1:23.07). A&M received a runner-up finish from the 400 medley relay of senior John Ariens, Fonua, senior Boris Loncaric and Dalton in a time of 3:21.33, and took second and third in the one-meter dive with sophomore newcomer Hayden Jones posting a score of 389.20 and senior Grant Nel scoring 357.80.

"Both relays are probably the fastest that we ever done to start the season," Holmes said. "The time in the 400 medley relay was faster than I thought we were going to go, and the 200 free relay really did a nice job. The divers did a great job, like they always do. I think that Hayden Jones is going to surprise a lot of people this year."

The Southwest Collegiate Plunge continues on Saturday at 12 noon at the Mansfield ISD Natatorium.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x