KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Seven top 10 swims and dives in program history propelled Auburn up the team standings on day three of the 2026 SEC Championships inside Allan Jones Aquatic Center. At the halfway point, both the men and women sit fourth with 316 and 274.5 points, respectively.
Wednesday marked the first full day of competition, and the action did not disappoint the fans of the Orange and Blue.
Lora Komoroczy has been dynamite in the 100 back this season and Wednesday was no different. Her 52.00 earned the eighth spot in qualifying and gave the sophomore a place in the night’s A final. Ellis Fox (52.94) and Kyla Maloney (53.78) would make the B and C final, respectively.
Komoroczy moved up a spot in finals, dialing up a 51.97 for seventh place. Fox (52.83) took 16th and Maloney (53.12) locked up 20th.
Leading the charge on the men’s side was Kalle Makinen and Sohib Khaled. Makinen turned in a 45.53 to jump to the eighth-fastest performer in program history. Khaled would join Makinen in the B final with a 45.86. Ivan Tarasov narrowly missed the B final, settling for the C final with a 46.03.
Makinen moved even further up the standings to No. 6 in program history with a 45.34 to come in 10th place. Khaled (45.72) hit the wall 15th and Tarasov (47.09) took 24th.
The women’s 200 fly saw Carissa Rinard (1:57.53) and Taylor Bacher (1:57.85) each earn a place in the B final. Morgan Carteaux would also lock in a second swim, making the C final at 1:58.91.
Rinard (1:58.03) finished in 15th, right ahead of Bacher (1:58.03). It was Carteaux, though, who utilized a 1:57.39 to move all the way up to 18th.
Freshman Abdalla Nasr was not going to miss out on the A final in the men’s 200 fly. His 1:40.73 jumped the Egyptian to the No. 3 spot in program history and qualified him third overall. Fellow rookie Luke Bedsole continued his strong SECs, hitting the wall ninth with a 1:41.96 for a spot in the B final and leapfrogging to the No. 6 spot in program history. Danny Schmidt qualified for the C final with a 1:44.45.
In finals, Nasr ultimately finished fifth with a 1:41.02. Finally in the middle of the pool, Bedsole used it to his advantage to win the B final at 1:41.85. Schmidt finished in 23rd at 1:44.18.
Annika Finzen was forced into a swim-off for the final spot in the A final of the women’s 100 breast. Despite an electric 59.93, Finzen settled for the B final with teammate Zoey Zeller (1:00.07). Both Olivia Dinehart (1:00.75) and Hanna Schmidt (1:01.35) got second swims in the C final.
Zeller brought her A game to finals. A 59.65 moved the sophomore up to 11th in the championships and up to No. 5 on Auburn’s all-time performer list. Finzen (1:00.51) finished 16th and Dinehart (1:00.11) grabbed 17th. Schmidt (1:01.19) would lock up 24th.
In a business-like performance in prelims, Uros Zivanovic glided to a 51.70 and fifth overall in the men’s 100 breast. The time was also good enough to jump to the No. 4 performer of all-time at Auburn. Maston Ballew also leapt into the top 10 with a 52.42, moving up to No. 8 and a spot in the evening’s B final.
A solid 51.74 in finals put Zivanovic seventh overall. Ballew would slide into 16th with a 52.91.
John Fox’s diving crew extended their strong showing in Knoxville. Ben Wilson’s personal-best 387.15 and Ethan Swart’s 386.55 moved both to the championship final of the 1-meter in the night session. Talan Blackmon made his second consolation final of the week with a 342.10.
Swart saved his best for last, compiling a career-best 402.50 to move up to fifth. The score also jumped the Indiana native to No. 7 on the all-time performers list. Wilson wasn’t done either. His 378.05 was good enough for seventh and massive points for the Tigers on the men’s side.
Blackmon would solidify 16th place after a 326.45 in his second six dives.
Scores
Men
1. Texas – 470.5
2. Florida – 462
3. Tennessee – 414.5
4. Auburn – 316
5. LSU – 282
6. Georgia – 281
7. Kentucky – 280
8. Missouri – 206
9. Alabama – 198.5
10. Texas A&M – 159.5
11. South Carolina – 142
Women
1. Tennessee – 377
2. Texas – 345
2. Florida – 340.5
4. Auburn – 274.5
5. South Carolina – 254.5
6. LSU – 248
7. Alabama – 238
8. Texas A&M – 211
9. Georgia – 201
10. Missouri – 169.5
11. Kentucky – 132
12. Arkansas – 89
13. Vanderbilt – 58
The schedule of remaining events is below:
Thursday, Feb. 19
8:30 a.m. CT – Prelims (100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free)
11 a.m. CT – Prelims & Consolations (Women’s 3-meter)
4:30 p.m. CT – Finals (100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, Women’s 3-meter, 400 MR)
Friday, Feb. 20
8:30 a.m. CT – Prelims (200 breast, 50 free, 500 free)
11 a.m. CT – Prelims & Consolations (Men’s Platform)
4:30 p.m. CT – Finals (200 breast, 50 free, 500 free, Men’s Platform, 200 FR)
Saturday, Feb. 21
8:30 a.m. CT – Prelims (200 IM, 100 free, 200 back)
11 a.m. CT – Prelims and Consolations (Women’s Platform)
4:30 p.m. CT – Finals (200 IM, 100 free, 200 back, Women’s Platform, 400 FR)