Friday evening at the SEC championships in College Station, Texas, Aggies\u00a0Sydney Pickrem\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Bethany Galat\u00a0<\/strong>finished 1-2 in the women’s 400 IM to extend Texas A&M’s lead in the women’s team competition. Afterwards, the two sat down for an extensive interview.<\/p>\n

Pickrem and Galat each discussed what it’s been like having the meet in their home pool and how they go about treating it differently than a normal home meet because of the importance. They also discussed their team goals and how, after two straight SEC team titles, such victories at the conference meet have become the expectation.<\/p>\n

The duo also looked back on their respective World Championship experiences, where Galat won a silver medal in the 200 breast and Pickrem a bronze in the 400 IM after she had to pull out of the 200 IM final at the 50-meter mark. Pickrem explained how that incident in the 200 IM World final continued to affect her, even as she returned to the college season, and how she has dealt with the emotions from that meet.<\/p>\n

Finally, with Texas A&M’s men’s team in the midst of a surge, Pickrem and Galat explained\u00a0how exciting\u00a0it’s been watching the rise of their male counterparts.<\/p>\n