Courtesy: Texas A&M Athletics
DALLAS — The Texas A&M men’s swimming & diving team kicks off the 2021-22 campaign at the SMU Classic for a two-day, six-team event beginning on Friday, Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m. inside the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium.
Competition continues on Saturday at 11 a.m. The Aggies are joined alongside Louisville, Arizona, Missouri, Michigan and SMU.
The SMU Classic features eight swimmers and one diver from each competing institution. Events will be contested in two heats, with one swimmer from each school in each heat. Divers will compete on the 1- and 3-meter.
The Aggies return to the pool following their 2020-21 campaign, where they ranked in the top-10 the entire season and matched a program-best 10th-place team finish at NCAA Championships. The Maroon & White return 22 swimmers, including six All-Americans: Kaloyan Bratanov, Jace Brown, Clayton Bobo, Carter Nelson, Andres Puente and Iowa transfer Anze Fers Erzen. Alongside the returnees, A&M added a top-15 recruiting class according to Swimswam.com.
Bratanov leads a senior class of seven Aggies, all of whom are captains for the 2021 season. The Katy, Texas native looks to build off his 2020-21 campaign, where he added points in the A-final at the SEC Championships, taking sixth in the 100 free (42.98) and 200 free (1:34.24), and seventh in the 200 IM (1:44.29). He also aided the 800 free relay, alongside senior returnee Clayton Bobo, to a first-place finish at the SEC Championships and matched a program-best relay finish as they took third place in the event at the NCAA Championships.
Junior Fers Erzen joins the Maroon & White after an impressive two-year span at Iowa, where he set multiple school records in the 200 back (1:41.21), 200 IM (1:46.16) and 400 IM (3:45.76) and finished 24th in the 200 back (1:41.24) at NCAAs.
Senior Kurtis Mathews will lead the A&M diving unit after defending his 3-meter title and earning silver on the 1-meter at last year’s SEC Championships. Sophomore Victor Povzner returns after redshirting last season.
Texas A&M’s lone appearance in the SMU Classic came in 2007, where the Aggies placed first with 330 points in a field of SMU, Florida State, USC, Wisconsin and Alabama.
For updates and results, follow along on Twitter @AggieSwimDive.
Schedule
Friday – Swim Results / Dive Results / Watch Live
- 400 medley relay
- 400 IM
- 200 free
- 50 free
- 1-meter
- 100 fly
- 100 back
- 100 breast
- 800 free relay
Saturday – Swim Results / Dive Results / Watch Live
- 200 medley relay
- 500 free
- 200 breast
- 200 back
- 3-meter
- 100 free
- 200 fly
- 200 IM
- 200 free relay