ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The No. 20 Auburn men's swimming and diving team won two dual meets all of last season. Two meets into this season, they have already matched that total following Saturday's 175-125 victory on the road at Navy.
"I'm really proud and excited by the overall performance," Auburn head coach Gary Taylor said. "Any time you go on the road and get a win, it's a big deal. And certainly after last year, the opportunity for this team to fight hard, to finish and get a win, it's obviously a positive outcome."
Competing on the road for the first time this season, Taylor challenged his squad to start fast and capitalize on the early energy and momentum in a new environment. The Tigers responded with first-place finishes in the first four events.
The relay team of Christian Ginieczki, Spencer Rowe, Santiago Grassi and Jack Armstrong got it started with a win in the 200 medley relay. Next, sophomore Aryan Makhija cruised to victory in the 1,000 freestyle, winning the event for the second straight week. Christian Sztolcman and Thomas Heinzel followed with a 1-2 finish in the 200 freestyle, and then it was freshman Lleyton Smith earning his first collegiate win in the 100 backstroke.
It was another strong meet for Grassi, who won the 50 free and 100 butterfly and also contributed on winning relay teams in both the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay. He's now finished first in all eight races he's swam in this season.
Armstrong and fellow freshman Aidan Stoffle finished second and third behind Grassi in the 50 free, giving the Tigers a clean sweep in the event. Armstrong was also a part of both of Auburn's winning relay teams while Stoffle finished second in the 200 backstroke.
In total, Auburn won nine of the 14 swimming events Saturday.
"Just continued growth from the team," Taylor said. "I told them before the meet that Navy would fight really hard. They would not roll over. And what I'm most proud of is our men came out on the road in a different environment and I thought performed really well. They got a lot of close wins and come away with a big victory and are 2-0."
DIVING RECAP
Sophomore Conner Pruitt beat his scores from a week ago with two new personal bests in both the 1-meter (372.53) and 3-meter (393.98) diving competitions. Pruitt won the 1-meter event and finished second in the 2-meter.
"He's got a different level of focus and even a different level of confidence this year," Taylor said. "I don't think he's ever lacked confidence, but he's come in this year and just been an absolute hammer on the boards for us. He has a cool confidence to him, and you can really count on him to come out from one meet to the next and perform at a high level."
Junior Logan Andrews also earned points for Auburn with a third-place finish in the 1-meter event and a fourth-place finish in the 3-meter event.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Auburn men and women will both travel to Greensboro, North Carolina later this month to compete in the Wolfpack Invitational. The event begins on Thursday, Nov. 21 and runs through Saturday, Nov. 23.
The Tigers will be joined by North Carolina State, Arizona State, Wisconsin and Duke. Between the men's and women's sides, seven of the 10 teams are ranked in the CSCAA top 25.