Courtesy: Texas A&M Athletics
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Texas A&M men’s swimming & diving team celebrated its 2022-23 season at the annual team banquet on Saturday. The program came together to recognize team award winners, recap the season and hear from the senior class.
Baylor Nelson earned the Danny Green Memorial MVP Award following an impressive debut season in Aggieland that saw him become the first A&M freshman to finish top eight at NCAA Championships and the first to earn the Commissioner’s Trophy at SEC Championships. After helping the 800 free relay team notch a top-16 finish on day one of NCAAs, Nelson made his podium debut with a seventh-place finish in the 200 IM in his first individual event of the meet. He added Honorable Mention All-America honors with a top-16 finish in the 400 IM, clocking the eighth-fastest time in the nation this season and the second fastest in program history (3:38.11). At SECs, Nelson became the second Aggie in program history to earn the Commissioner’s Trophy, given to the top point-earners at the championship meet. Nelson made it back-to-back gold-medal finishes as he swept the IM events, notching the seventh-fastest time in the nation and second in program history after going 1:40.86 in the 200 IM. The Huntersville, North Carolina native also added a silver medal in the 200 back and helped the 200 free, 800 free and 200 medley relays to top-five finishes.
Rhett Hensley garnered Most Improved honors, as well as the Trey Heye Memorial Award, given to a swimmer or diver who came to A&M as a non-scholarship athlete, but proved himself with his work ethic, performance and teamwork. Hensley made his NCAA Championships debut this season as the only Aggie to qualify in all three diving events. He earned Honorable Mention All-America honors after taking 13th on the platform with a score of 345.55. At SEC Championships, Hensley put big points on the board for the Aggies after advancing to the championship final and scoring in the top six in all three diving events. Henlsey medaled for the first time in his career, taking third in a historic performance on the 1-meter by the Aggie diving squad. Earning the team’s Performance of the Year Award, all five Aggie divers competing at SEC Championships finished in the top nine on the 1-meter, highlighted by Hensley and event winner Victor Povzner on the podium. The squad racked up 129 points on the 1-meter, marking it the most points in program history in a single event and the most points earned by any SEC diving squad in one event since the Aggies joined the league ahead of the 2013 Championships.
To conclude the 2022-23 season, 14 Aggies traveled to Minneapolis for NCAA Championships, including six individual swimmers and four divers. A&M earned its sixth-straight top-20 finish at NCAAs, as nine different Aggies helped tally 20 All-America honors at the meet, including individual top-eight finishes from Nelson, Andres Puente, Povzner and Bottego.
Complete list of 2022-23 awards:
- Danny Green Memorial MVP – Baylor Nelson
- Most Improved – Rhett Hensley
- Performance of the Year – 1-meter at SEC Championships
- Aggie Heart Award – Kaloyan Bratanov, Anze Fers Erzen
- Trey Heye Memorial Award – Rhett Hensley
Danny Green was cold from downtown