COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Another frenetic day of action brought forth more top-10 swims for Auburn Swim and Dive on Wednesday. After two days of the SEC Championships, the men sit tied for second with 380 points while the women sit in ninth with 222.
Lexie Mulvihill, Emma Steckiel, Claudia Thamm and Rebekah Hamilton kicked off the evening in the 200 free relay. Their time of 1:28.70 dropped 0.28 seconds from the fall and placed the Tigers sixth in the event.
Also dropping time by nearly a half second was the men's 200 free relay crew of Logan Tirheimer, Kalle Makinen, Mihalis Deliyiannis and Nate Stoffle. A 1:15.94 marked the ninth-fastest relay in Auburn history and earned the Orange and Blue its second bronze medal of the week.
Auburn's distance queen Emily Hetzer conjured up a solid swim in the prelims of the 500 free. A 4:41.82 wasn't her best time of the season but was good enough to lock the Virginia native into the No. 1 spot of the B final. Averee Preble dropped a full second off her best time with a 4:46.29 but fell just outside the last spot of Wednesday's finals.
Hetzer would swim a 4:45.68 in the evening session to grab 16th.
Michael Bonson did the heavy lifting in prelims for the men's distance group. His 4:13.96 in the 500 free was fourth overall and guaranteed him a spot in the A finals. Mason Mathias and Grant Davis each earned a spot in the B finals.
When it came to the finals, Mason Mathias jumped to the No. 2 performer in program history with a 4:13.06 to win the B final. Bonson delivered a 4:13.10 for sixth place overall.
In the 200 IM, Hannah Ownbey equaled her best swim of the year with a 1:57.46 to secure a spot in the B finals. Meanwhile, teammate Daisy Platts dropped almost a full second to slide into the C finals.
Ownbey swam her fastest time of the season, hitting the wall at 1:56.98 in the finals to secure 12th.
On the men's side, a host of Tigers made it a crowded final in the evening. Reid Mikuta, Jacques Rathle and Danny Schmidt all put together top-10 program swims in the morning to make the B final. Henry Bethel's also managed to be the last man into the C final.
There's little Mikuta can't do. His 1:42.90 to win the B final is now the fourth-fastest 200 IM time in program history. Rathle also dropped time to take 11th while Schmidt glided in for 15th.
Lexie Mulvihill flirted with going sub 22.30 in the morning. Her 22.31 was good enough for a spot in the B finals. She'd go on to swim an identical 22.31 in finals to place 11th.
The Auburn fans had something to cheer about in the men's 50 free. Logan Tirheimer dropped a 19.05 to become the ninth-fastest performer in Auburn history and solidified a spot in the A final. Kalle Makinen and Mihalis Deliyiannis each slid into the B final.
Tirheimer efforted a 19.17 in the evening session to finish seventh. Deliyiannis and Makinen tallied 11th and 13th finishes, respectively.
DIVING
The women's 1-meter was the only event in the diving well on Wednesday. Ashlynn Sullivan managed a 252.60 for 16th place. Abigail Farrar and Gretchen Wensuc 29th and 31st, respectively.
SCORES
Men
1. Florida – 542.5
2. Auburn – 1380
2. Texas A&M - 380
4. Tennessee - 347
5. Georgia – 268.5
6. Alabama - 249
7. Missouri - 214.5
8. South Carolina – 203.5
9. Kentucky - 162
10. Louisiana State – 131
Women
1. Florida - 502
2. Louisiana State - 378
3. Tennessee - 375
4. Georgia - 329
5. Alabama - 306
6. Kentucky - 300
7. South Carolina – 286
8. Texas A&M - 226
9. Auburn - 222
10. Arkansas - 205
11. Missouri - 177
12. Vanderbilt - 94
UP NEXT
Thursday's competition is set to include the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free and the men's 3-meter diving. Prelims begin at 9:30 a.m. CT. All of the action can be found on the SEC Network+.
Individual medleys bolster strong day two at SEC’s for Auburn Swim and Dive
