Texas freshman Austin Temple’s 100-meter breaststroke swim highlighted day three for the Longhorns Saturday at the USA Swimming Arena Pro Swim Series event at UT’s Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
Temple qualified fourth for the 100m breaststroke final during the preliminary round and went on to place seventh in the championship final at 1 minute, 3.03 seconds.
UT junior Ian LeMaistre took fourth (56.32) in the 100m backstroke consolation final while UT signee Ryan Harty placed fifth (55.42) in the championship final.
Alabama
A small contingent of University of Alabama swimmers posted a strong showing at the star-studded Arena Pro Swim Series in Austin, Texas this weekend.
Head coach Dennis Pursley sent just six members of the Crimson Tide’s combined roster – four men and two women - to the meet which featured some of the world’s top talent, including several Olympic medalists.
Senior Kaylin Burchell posted the Tide’s top finisher on the weekend, swimming a time of 1:08.21 to take the silver medal in the 100-meter breaststroke, finishing behind Olympic gold medalist Breeja Larson. Burchell also posted a strong showing in the 200m breaststroke, shaving nearly two seconds off her preliminary time of 2:32.98 to win the “B” final with a time of 2:31.09.
Sophomore Anton McKee, slowed throughout the fall after breaking his collarbone during the offseason, showed he was rounding back into form in Austin. He shaved more than two seconds off his prelims time in the men’s 200m breaststroke, clocking a 2:14.36 to take third place in the championship final. McKee finished sixth in the 100m breaststroke, posting a time of 1:02.59 in finals. He also earned a finals swim in the 200m freestyle, taking 19th with a time of 1:53.38.
Sophomore Kristian Gkolomeev posted a scorching 22.31 in the 50m freestyle, finishing third, just a hair behind defending Olympic 100m champion Nathan Adrian and Olympic 50m finalist Bruno Fratus. Junior Brett Walsh won the consolation final of the 50m freestyle with a time of 22.84, taking ninth overall.
In the 100m freestyle Gkolomeev clocked a 50.52 in finals, after posting a 50.47 in prelims, to take 12th place while Walsh posted a 50.88 in finals, after going 50.76 in prelims, to take 15th place. Walsh also grabbed a spot in the 100m butterfly final, taking 16th with a 55.00.
Junior Emma Saunders finished sixth in the championship final of the 100m backstroke, touching the wall with a 1:02.08. She also took second in the “B” final of the 200m freestyle with a 2:02.07, just a quarter of a second behind Olympic gold medalist Allison Schmitt. In the 200m backstroke, Saunders was 14th overall with a 2:16.99 after posting a 2:16.52 in prelims.
Along with McKee, sophomore Pavel Romanov also swam the men’s breaststroke events in Austin, taking 10th in the 200m breaststroke after clocking a 2:17.90. Romanov was also 10th in the 100m breaststroke after stopping the clock in a time of 1:04.12.
The Alabama men’s and women’s squads return to action Friday, Jan. 23 at 4 p.m. in the Alabama Aquatic Center, facing Cincinnati in the Crimson Tide’s final home meet of the season, celebrating Senior Day.
Texas A&M
The Texas A&M women’s swimming and diving team closed out the Arena Pro Swim Series at Austin with a sweep of the top two spots in the 400-meter medley relay on Saturday at the Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
The Aggies, the No. 4-ranked team in the collegiate ranks, punctuated their strong performance in Austin with a 1-2 finish in the final race of the meet. The Aggies’ foursome of junior Claire Brant, sophomore Franko Jonker, freshman Beryl Gastaldello and sophomore Sarah Gibson took top honors with a time of 4:09.13. Finishing right behind was the relay of freshman Lisa Bratton, junior Ashley McGregor, senior Emily Neubert and freshman Bethany Galat in a time of 4:12.86.
In other final day action, 2014 senior Cammile Adams took third place in the 200-meter butterfly in a time of 2:09.25, just ahead of her NCAA nemesis in the race Katinka Hosszu. Hosszu edged Adams for the NCAA crown in her freshman and sophomore seasons before Adams won the national title as a junior and senior.
Another 2014 senior Breeja Larson, who still trains in Aggieland, outclassed the field in the 100 breaststroke by nearly a full second in a time of 1:07.33. Jonker took fourth in the race in 1:09.24, while junior Ashley McGregor and sophomore Sycerika McMahon took third and seventh in the consolation final. Freshman Bethany Galat finished second in the C final, while freshman Esther Gonzalez won the D final.
Brandt placed seventh with a time of 1:02.45 in the Championship final of the 100 backstroke, while Gastaldello took seventh in the consolation race.
A pair of Aggie freshmen, Galat and Bratton, swept the top two spots in the consolation final of the 200 IM with Galat taking first in 2:17.13 and Bratton right behind in 2:17.74.
Senior Sarah Henry closed out a strong weekend with a fourth place finish in the 800 free with a time of 8:44.32, while Gibson was 10th in 8:49.32. For the weekend, Henry placed fourth in the 400 IM, 200 free, 400 free and 800 free, and sixth in the 200 breaststroke. She also had the fourth-fastest qualifying time in the 200 IM on Saturday, but elected to not swim in the final.
