AUBURN, Ala. – Fueled by some excellent performances in 2023, Auburn Swim and Dive marches toward College Station, Texas for the SEC Championships Feb. 14-18.
Coverage begins with diving prelims on Tuesday, Feb. 14. The entirety of the championships will be broadcast live on the SEC Network+.
Head coach Ryan Wochomurka's squad enters with a No. 9 ranking on the men's side and a No. 13 ranking on the women's.
It's already a banner year for the Tigers. Aside from its pair of top-15 rankings, the Orange and Blue have dialed up three record-breaking swims in 2022-23. Both Anastasia Makarova and Reid Mikuta took aim at the 100 breast at the UGA Invite in November. Most recently, Mason Mathias shattered the mark in the 1,000 free with previous record-holder Zane Grothe holding his lap counters.
Auburn swimmers have also mustered 15 other top-10 swims in program history.
Entering the conference championships, the Auburn men have accounted for 18 top-25 swims in the country across the 2022-23 season. Tiger relays also own three top-10 times, including the 400 medley relay which ranks third in the nation and No. 1 in the Southeastern Conference.
Emily Hetzer, Meghan Lee and Anastasia Makarova each hold two top-25 swims in the country in their respective events as the women own nine total such swims this season.
On the diving side, Jeff Shaffer's crew has been busy in their own right. Prior to SEC's, all seven divers have hit zones scores in their respective events. Ashlynn Sullivan picked up momentum towards the end of the dual meet season, earning wins on the 3-meter against both Texas A&M and Alabama.
Graduate Conner Pruitt was downright dominant on the springboards during the regular season. The Opelika, Alabama native owns seven individual wins between the 1-meter and 3-meter events this season.
Transfer Walker Creedon has shown why he's earned multiple All-American honors. Twice, Creedon has won events on the tower in 2022-23, including a season-high 406.88 effort at Georgia Tech.
Fellow teammate Whit Andrus will be eying to continue his best season in the Orange and Blue. A career-best 392.63 earned the Winston-Salem, North Carolina product a victory on the 3-meter at Georgia Tech. Andrus has managed career-highs in all three disciplines this season.
SEC CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Auburn Swim and Dive is certainly no stranger to success this time of year. The men and women have combined for 23 total team titles, including 16 straight SEC Championships for the men from 1997 to 2012, the Tigers' last team victory.
Individually, Auburn has produced more than 250 SEC Champions on the women's side and over 400 on the men's. Those totals include eight titles from head coach Ryan Wochomurka and eight from assistant coach Gideon Louw when they were wearing an Orange and Blue cap.
Wochomurka has brought instant success to the Plains since arriving from Houston. Last season, the men jumped up to sixth in the SEC, while the women finished seventh. It was the highest finish for the men since 2018 and highest for the women since 2020.
The full schedule of events for the 2023 SEC Championships is below:
Tuesday, Feb. 14
10:30 a.m. CT | Prelims – 1-meter diving (M), 3-meter diving (W)
4:20 p.m. CT | Finals – 1-meter diving (M), 200 medley relay, 3-meter diving (W), 800 free relay
Wednesday, Feb. 15
9:30 a.m. CT | Prelims – 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free
Noon CT | Prelims – 1-meter diving (W)
5:30 p.m. CT | Finals – 200 free relay, 500 free, 50 free, 1-meter diving
Thursday, Feb. 16
9:30 a.m. CT | Prelims – 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free
Noon CT | Prelims – 3-meter diving (M)
5:30 p.m. CT | Finals – 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 3-meter diving
Friday, Feb. 17
9:30 a.m. CT | Prelims – 200 fly, 100 back, 100 breast
Noon CT | Prelims – Platform (W)
5:30 p.m. CT | Finals – 200 fly, 100 back, 100 breast, platform (W), 400 medley relay
Saturday, Feb. 18
9:30 a.m. CT | Prelims – 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast
Noon CT | Prelims – Platform (M)
5:30 p.m. CT | Finals – 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, platform (M), 400 free relay
Auburn Swim and Dive sets sights on College Station for SEC Championships
