Jan. 13, 2012
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AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn and Texas men's swimming teams got together Friday afternoon for a laid-back, non-scoring meet to wrap up three days of competition between the schools at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center.
"Today was fun," Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. "It was good for both teams to come together and get some good work in. I like it when our guys put themselves in unfamiliar situations, and we can see how they respond. We had some good efforts today."
The teams split into six groups - distance free, IM, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and sprint free - and swam three races of decreasing distances. The distance and IM groups swam a 300-, 200- and 100-yard race while the stroke and sprint groups swam a 150-, 100- and 50-yard race of their respective events.
Auburn junior Stuart Ferguson had a strong day, sweeping all three breaststroke events. The Tigers also won all three backstroke swims with Kyle Owens taking the 50 and 100 and Max Murphy winning the 150.
Sophomore Marcelo Chierighini won the 100 free and 50 free, and sophomore Zane Grothe won the distance group's heat of the 100 free. Grothe also took second in the 300 free. Freshman Alex Hancock had three strong swims in the butterfly events, taking runner-up honors in two of the three events.
The Auburn men and women will wrap up the dual meet season next Saturday, Jan. 21, with an SEC showdown against the Florida Gators. Action is slated to get underway at 9 a.m. CT at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla.