2020 SEC Swimming & Diving Championship

[AlaskanFAN 1,665]

Auburn, Ala. - The Texas A&M men and Florida women take the early lead at the 2020 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships following the opening day of the event at Auburn's James E. Martin Aquatic Center.

To start off the first finals session, Alison Maillard of Auburn won the women's 1-meter springboard with a final score of 364.15, the first Tiger to win the event since 2012

[AlaskanFAN 1,665]

Day 2:

Auburn, Ala. - The Texas A&M men and Tennessee women are in the lead following the second day at the 2020 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships at Auburn's James E. Martin Aquatic Center.

To begin the evening session, Auburn set the SEC meet record in the 200 free relay as Julie Meynen, Claire Fisch, AJ Kutsch and Robyn Clevenger finished with a time of 1:26.15. Tennessee finished second at 1:26.15, and Missouri came in third at 1:27.70.

Alabama retained its title in the men's 200 free relay for the third consecutive year, with Tyler Sesvold, Zane Waddell, Jonathan Berneburg and Sam DiSette finishing with a top time of 1:16.00. Florida took second with a time of 1:16.33, followed by Texas A&M in third with a time of 1:16.57.

Courtney Harnish of Georgia became the two-time SEC champion in the women's 500 freestyle, touching the wall first with a time of 4:36.40. Harnish is the seventh performer to win back-to-back titles at the SEC Championships in the event. Ali Galyer of Kentucky took second place with a time of 4:38.40, while Kensey McMahon of Alabama placed third with a time of 4:38.66.

Kieran Smith of Florida set the US Open, NCAA, American and SEC meet records in the men's 500 freestyle with his time of 4:06.32. Smith is the first performer to break 4:07 all-time. Mark Theall of Texas A&M took the silver with a time of 4:10.77, and Bobby Finke of Florida earned the bronze with a time of 4:10.86.

Meghan Small of Tennessee won her third SEC title in the women's 200 IM with her top time of 1:52.14. Small is the third swimmer in SEC history to win this event three times (Maggie Bowen of Auburn [2001-2003] and Ava Ohlgren of Auburn [2007-2009]). Zoie Hartman of Georgia took second with a time of 1:53.05, and Asia Seidt of Kentucky finished third with a time of 1:53.70.

Shane Caisas of Texas A&M earned the gold and set the pool record in the men's 200 IM with a time of 1:39.91. Caisas is the seventh performer to break 1:40 and has recorded three of the fastest swims in the country this year. Missouri took the next two podium spots, as Nick Alexander came in second with a time of 1:42.49 and Danny Kovac placed third with a time of 1:43.24.

Erika Brown of Tennessee won the women's 50 free for the third consecutive year, setting the SEC meet and pool records with a time of 21.03. Second place went to Anna Hopkin of Arkansas with a time of 21.44, and third to Julie Meynen of Auburn with a time of 21.54.

Zane Waddell of Alabama was the winner of the men's 50 free with a time of 19.07. Adam Koster of Texas A&M took second (19.12) and Lewis Burras of South Carolina finished third (19.17).

Kurtis Mathews of Texas A&M won his second individual title in two days, posting a top score of 436.50 in the men's 1-meter springboard. Conner Pruitt of Auburn finished second with a score of 376.60, and William Hallam of Tennessee came in third with a score of 374.35.

The 2020 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships continues on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 9:30 a.m. CT with the preliminaries for the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free and the women's 3-meter diving, followed by the finals of those four events starting at 5:30 p.m. CT. Both sessions can be viewed on SEC Network+.

[AUBwins 10,074]

The women seem to be doing better this year. Men are starting to fade a bit. How did the season go with the new coach this year? Any improvement?

[Mikey 16,576]

4 hours ago, AUBwins said:

The women seem to be doing better this year. Men are starting to fade a bit. How did the season go with the new coach this year? Any improvement?

"The season" pretty much boils down to the SEC and national championship meets. Most of the dual meets and other competitions are used to prepare for the championship meets and let some new swimmers get a little experience. At least that's how it's been looked at in prior years.

[AlaskanFAN 1,665]

Day 3 results:

Auburn, Ala. - The Florida men and Tennessee women are in the lead at the 2020 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships after day three of the event at Auburn's James E. Martin Aquatic Center.

To begin the evening session, Tess Cieplucha of Tennessee became the first Lady Vol to win the women's 400 IM at the SEC meet with her best time of 4:01.88. Vanessa Pearl of Florida placed second with a time of 4:04.61, and Bailey Bonnett of Kentucky finished third with a time of 4:05.62.

Florida swept the podium in the men's 400 IM, starting with Kieran Smith setting the pool record with a time of at 3:37.31. Joining Smith were teammates Grant Sanders in second (3:40.20) and Bobby Finke in third (3:41.56).

Erika Brown of Tennessee won the women's 100 fly for the third consecutive year, posting an SEC meet record time of 49.38. Brown is now the all-time third fastest performer in the event. Rhyan White of Alabama claimed the silver with her time of 50.80, and Sherridon Dressel of Florida earned the bronze with her time of 51.20.

First place in the men's 100 fly went to Danny Kovac of Missouri, who finished with a time of 45.29. Santiago Rossi of Auburn took second (45.32), while Camden Murphy of Georgia placed third (45.47).

In the women's 200 free, Veronica Burchill of Georgia touched the wall first with her time of 1:42.33. Anna Hopkin of Arkansas came in second at 1:42.35, and Courtney Harnish of Georgia finished third at 1:43.26.

Khader Baqlah of Florida won the men's 200 free with his top time of 1:32.05. Brooks Curry of LSU placed second with a time of 1:32.43, and Mark Theall of Texas A&M took third with a time of 1:32.45.

In the final event of the night, Kyndal Knight of Kentucky won the women's 3-meter springboard with a final score of 353.75. Elizabeth Perez of Florida came in second at 346.50, followed by Alison Maillard of Auburn in third with a score of 336.15.

The 2020 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships continues on Friday, Feb. 21 at 9:30 a.m. CT with the preliminaries for the 200 fly, 100 back, 100 breast and men's platform diving. The finals of those four events plus the 400 medley relay will start at 5:30 p.m. CT. Both sessions can be viewed on SEC Network+.

[AlaskanFAN 1,665]

Day 4 results:

Auburn, Ala. - The Florida men and Tennessee women maintain their lead after day four at the 2020 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships at Auburn's James E. Martin Aquatic Center.

To begin the evening session, Dakota Luther of Georgia won the women's 200 fly with a final time of 1:52.47. Izzy Gatti of Kentucky came in second with a time of 1:52.54, and Courtney Harnish of Georgia took third with a time of 1:53.22.

Camden Murphy of Georgia defended his title in the men's 200 fly and set the pool record with his time of 1:40.93. Micah Slaton of Missouri placed second with a time of 1:42.01, while Harry Homans of Georgia came in third place with a time of 1:42.02.

Rhyan White of Alabama set the SEC meet record in the women's 100 back with the fastest time in the nation this season of 50.02. Sherridon Dressel of Florida placed second with a time of 50.64, and Asia Seidt of Kentucky took third with a time of 50.73.

Zane Waddell of Alabama won the men's 100 back for the second consecutive year with an SEC meet record time of 44.24. Shane Caisas of Texas A&M finished second (44.68), and Daniel Hein of Missouri took third (45.93).

Georgia went 1-2 in the women's 100 breaststroke, with Zoie Hartman taking the gold with a time of 58.21 and Danielle DellaTorre earning the silver with a time of 58.88. Anna Belousova of Texas A&M came in third with a time of 59.60.

Itay Goldfaden of South Carolina defended his title in the men's 100 breaststroke and set the pool record in the event with a time of 51.35. Liam Bell of Alabama finished second with a time of 51.39, and Dillion Hillis of Florida came in third with a time of 51.46.

In men's platform diving, Kentucky took the first two podium spots as Danny Zhang placed first with a score of 422.10 and Chase Lane came in second with a score of 403.65. Emanuel Vazquez of LSU finished third with a score of 393.60.

Tennessee captured the women's 400 medley relay for the third consecutive year as Meghan Small, Alexis Yager, Erika Brown and Stanzi Moseley posted the top time of 3:28.83. Second place went to Alabama (3:28.90) and third place to Kentucky (3:29.69).

Alabama won the men's 400 medley relay by setting the SEC meet record as Waddell, Liam Bell, Tyler Sesvold and Jonathan Berneburg finished first with a time of 3:02.17. Florida finished second in a time of 3:04.96, and Texas A&M took third with a time of 3:05.15.

The 2020 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships concludes on Saturday, Feb. 22. Preliminaries for the 200 back, 100 free and 200 breast begin at 9:30 a.m. CT. Prelims for women's platform diving will begin at noon CT, followed by timed finals for the 1650 free. The evening session will begin at 5:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network +, with the finals for the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, women's platform and the 400 free relay.
 

[AlaskanFAN 1,665]

Final Results - 

 

The Lady Vols earned their first-ever SEC title in women's swimming & diving with a final score of 1,108 points. Florida came in second with 1,079.5 points. The Gators won their eighth consecutive and 41st overall title in men's swimming & diving with a total score of 1,194 points. Texas A&M finished second with 975.5 points.

The Commissioner's Trophy, which is awarded to the student-athletes who score the most individual points at the championships, went to Erika Brown of Tennessee for the women and Zane Waddell of Alabama and Shaine Casas of Texas A&M for the men.

Brown and Kieran Smith of Florida were named the SEC Swimmers of the Meet. Alison Maillard of Auburn and Kurtis Mathews of Texas A&M were named the SEC Divers of the Meet.

The final night of the championships began with the women's 1650 free, with Kensey McMahon from Alabama finishing first with a time of 15:43.74. McMahon is the first member of the Crimson Tide program to win the SEC title in this event. Amanda Nunan of Tennessee came in second with a time of 15:53.39, and Leah Braswell of Florida placed third with a time of 15:54.54.

Bobby Finke of Florida set the US Open, NCAA, American and SEC Meet record in the men's 1650-yard freestyle with his time of 14:12.08. Finke defended his title in the event from last season with his record-breaking finish. Greg Reed of Georgia finished second with a time of 14:45.03, and Brennan Gravely of Florida took third with a time of 14:47.41.

Rhyan White of Alabama set the SEC meet and pool records in the women's 200 back, touching the wall first with a time of 1:48.15. Kentucky captured the next two podium positions, with Asia Seidt earning the silver (1:48.86) and Ali Galyer taking the bronze (1:49.92).

Shaine Casas of Texas A&M set the SEC meet record in the men's 200 back, posting a top time of 1:37.20. Clark Beach of Florida placed second (1:39.56), and Matthew Garcia of Tennessee finished third (1:40.75).

Erika Brown won her third consecutive title in the women's 100 free with her SEC meet record time of 45.83. Second place went to Anna Hopkin of Arkansas with a time of 46.20. Julie Meynen of Auburn took third with a time of 46.96.

Brooks Curry of LSU became the third Tiger in program history to win the men's 100 free at the SEC Championships with his top time of 41.81. Zane Waddell finished second with a time of 41.82, followed by Kieran Smith of Florida with a time of 42.14.

Georgia went 1-2 in the women's 200 breaststroke as Zoie Hartman finished first at 2:06.20 and Danielle DellaTorre came in second at 2:07.11. Third place went to Bailey Bonnett of Kentucky with a time of 2:07.92.

Benjamin Walker of Texas A&M won the gold medal in the men's 200 breaststroke for the second consecutive year with a time of 1:51.92. Second place went to Bustamante Puente of Texas A&M (1:52.39) and third to Grant Sanders of Florida (1:52.49).

Tanesha Lucoe of Alabama captured first place in the women's platform with a final score of 338.75. Emma Whitner of Florida recorded 285.45 points to earn second place, and Gretchen Wensuc of Auburn took third with 276.90 points.

In the 400 free relays, Auburn won the women's event with an SEC meet record time of 3:09.18, while Alabama won the men's race with a time of 2:49.06 to close out the meet.

Women's Team Results

1.	Tennessee	1108
2.	Florida	1079.50
3.	Kentucky	987.50
4.	Georgia	986
5.	Auburn	866
6.	Texas A&M	851
7.	Alabama	748
8.	Missouri	500
9.	South Carolina	427
10.	Arkansas	422
11.	LSU	417
12.	Vanderbilt	150

Men's Team Results:

1.	Florida	1194
2.	Texas A&M	975.5
3.	Georgia	953.5
4.	Alabama	935.5
5.	Missouri	846.5
6.	Tennessee	817
7.	Kentucky	724
8.	Auburn	697
9.	LSU	517
10.	South Carolina	504

[aubaseball 2,594]

Sad to see what was once the dominant program in the SEC become an eighth place team.   Thank you former athletic director!!

[AURex 1,994]

As a swimmer and now a geezer alum, I used to be so excited by Auburn S&D. The team was always among the best, not only in the SEC, but nationally. The long, sad decline has been painful to watch. I'm not criticizing the swimmers, because I know they are working their butts off, performing to the best of their ability. It all boils down to recruiting, and the coaches are just not getting t done.

 

[steeleagle 2,945]

1 hour ago, AURex said:

As a swimmer and now a geezer alum, I used to be so excited by Auburn S&D. The team was always among the best, not only in the SEC, but nationally. The long, sad decline has been painful to watch. I'm not criticizing the swimmers, because I know they are working their butts off, performing to the best of their ability. It all boils down to recruiting, and the coaches are just not getting t done.

 

Isn't this coach in his 2nd year? I would think it's a little early to say the coaches aren't getting it done.

Unless ofc there are swimming experts who can give us a better grasp of how the program is headed....

[tigerman1186 537]

UF men won for the 8th time in a row....I remember when the AUBURN men won the championship like 10 years in a row, plus were national champs too....and now the 'turds' from across the state ended up higher than we did....need to see a major improvement...

[doc4aday 1,887]

This  has been very hard to watch slowly unfold over the past years. I thought the new coaching staff would yield better results. Tough pill to keep swallowing.

[Mickeyb1 10]

On ‎2‎/‎24‎/‎2020 at 2:18 PM, steeleagle said:

Isn't this coach in his 2nd year? I would think it's a little early to say the coaches aren't getting it done.

Unless ofc there are swimming experts who can give us a better grasp of how the program is headed....

Coach Taylor only recruited the Freshmen class. When Brett Hawke left, major talent walked out the door and several swimmer's we signed decided not to honor their NLI. The only way to judge Coach Taylor and his staff is on the improvement of the swimmers here. There was major improvement in the individual swimmers on the team. Two SEC relay records were set by the women. Christian Sztolcman became the second fastest swimmer at Auburn in the 200 yard freestyle, even faster than Rowdy Gaines. From what I see we have major talent coming in from the next two classes. The future is bright.  

[AURex 1,994]

On 2/24/2020 at 3:18 PM, steeleagle said:

Isn't this coach in his 2nd year? I would think it's a little early to say the coaches aren't getting it done.

Unless ofc there are swimming experts who can give us a better grasp of how the program is headed....

Of course, I was also including the previous swimming coaches since David Marsh left. Richard Quick did well for a short time after David Marsh left, but that was with swimmers that Marsh recruited, and he did not recruit well during his stay. Then Hawke, who was not pulling in top swimmers. (The ones who he had recruited and then did not attend Auburn when he left have not exactly gone on to championship glory.)

Okay, Taylor is only in his second year. Has he signed one -- even one -- swimming phenom? Does he have one -- even one -- swimming phenom eager to sign with Auburn? One who has Auburn in their top 5? Their top 10? Waiting.

I don't blame this on the swimmers. I blame it on JJ for driving Marsh away.

 

[aubaseball 2,594]

2021 championship goes to Florida again.   Auburn finishes 8th for the second year in a row 

[blakem 296]

https://twitter.com/auburnswimdive/status/1384177800278515718?s=21

[AUBwins 10,074]

Wow, didn’t sit on this one a while. 3 years and gone. Good. Tired of being mediocre. Get it done.