AUBURN, Ala. – The SEC Women's Championships wrapped up Saturday, and now the focus has turned to the men's meet. The SEC Men's Championships will run this week, Tuesday through Friday, from the Mizzou Aquatic Center in Columbia, Missouri.
The meet will feature swimming events only as the men's divers competed last week in Columbia as a part of the SEC Diving Championships.
Auburn comes in looking to improve off an eighth-place finish at last year's SEC meet. The Tigers have a young team, but a team that has championship experience. Eight swimmers on the roster scored points at last year's SEC Championships, including senior Christian Ginieczki and juniors Aryan Makhija and Christian Sztolcman – all of whom swam in an A-Final a year ago.
"We've got more NCAA performers, athletes who have had the opportunity at that meet and qualified in our junior and senior classes," Auburn head coach Gary Taylor said. "We had guys in our sophomore class who really stepped up last year as well. And so they're all going to be there to lead that freshman group.
"Our team has really worked hard all year. While it's been very different from a training standpoint, not a whole lot has changed over the last five or six months. This is their first opportunity to get that full taper, be fully ready to go and prepared for this meet, and I think they will rise to the occasion. I'm excited to see what our men do."
Like the women's team, who finished ninth at SECs last week, the Auburn men have an impressive group of freshmen who have already made an impact this year.
The trio of Michael Bonson, Mikkel Gadgaard and Reid Mikuta are responsible for seven of the team's 12 NCAA B-cut times this season and have also accounted for eight of Auburn's 14 individual swimming victories between the Auburn Fall Invitational and the four dual meets.
The men's meet will begin Tuesday with time trials at 10 a.m. CT, and then beginning at 5 p.m. CT, all 10 men's teams will compete in the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay. Each session of the meet will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
Session 1: Time Trials
Session 2: Day 1 Finals
Auburn readies for SEC Men’s S&D Championships
