March 30, 2019
AUSTIN, Texas --- The Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team finished 17th after four days of competition at the 2019 NCAA Championships on Saturday at the Jamail Texas Swim Center on the University of Texas campus.
Texas A&M scored 93 total points, its most at the national meet since 2012, as the Aggies placed in the top 25 for the fourth straight year. California scored 560 points to snap Texas' four-year reign at the NCAA Championships. Rounding out the top 10 were Texas, Indiana, NC State, Louisville, Florida, Alabama, Harvard, Ohio State and Virginia.
"This has been an action-packed NCAA meet. There are so many teams that are just jam-packed in (the top 20)," Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. "From a spectator standpoint, it was a great meet to watch because of all the point swings. From our team standpoint, we scored more points that we have in a long time but we still dropped a few spots in the standings. We had visions of a top 10 finish and we were just a swim or two from that happening. I'm proud of what this team accomplished this year and I'm very excited about our future."
On the final day of the NCAA Championships, the Aggies' top finish came from junior Benjamin Walker, who placed seventh in the 200-yard breaststroke in 1:53.09. For his top eight NCAA finish, Walker earned All-America honors.
The Aggies collected 10 points in the 200-yard butterfly as a pair of Aggies turned in sub-1:42 clockings. Freshman Shaine Casas placed third in the consolation final (11th overall) in 1:41.31, while senior Angel Martinez placed fifth (13th overall) in 1:41.61. Earlier in the day, Martinez lowered his own school record in the race to 1:41.25.
2018-19 Season Notables
The Aggies broke 11 school records this year, establishing new school standards in the 100 free (Adam Koster | 42.38), 200 free (Mark Theall | 1:32.86), 500 free (Theall | 4:12.70), 200 back (Shaine Casas | 1:39.84), 200 fly (Angel Martinez | 1:41.25), 200 IM (Casas | 1:42.29), 400 IM (Benjamin Walker | 3:42.29), 200 free relay (Casas, Koster, Mike Thibert, Clayton Bobo | 1:16.71), 800 free relay (Casas, Theall, Bobo, Steven Richardson | 6:15.59), 200 medley relay (Casas, Walker, Martinez, Koster | 1:23.67) and 400 medley relay (Casas, Walker, Martinez, Koster | 3:05.70).
For the first time ever, the Aggies produced All-Americans in the 500 free (Theall, first-team All-American) and the 200 IM (Casas, honorable mention All-American).
Casas became the third Texas A&M freshman swimmer to score individual points at the NCAA Championships and the first to do it in two events (200 IM and 200 fly).
Walker became Texas A&M's first swimming SEC Champion with his victory in the 200 breaststroke at the 2019 SEC Championships.
Texas A&M was ranked No. 9 in the final College Swim Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Top 25 dual meeting poll.
The 93 points scored by the Aggies at the 2019 NCAA Championships was the most since 2012.