KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A bronze medal from graduate Elizaveta Klevanovich in the 50 free highlighted a thrilling day five at the 2026 SEC Championships inside the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.
With one day remaining, the men sit fourth with 595 points. The women moved to eighth with 499.5 points.
Zoey Zeller had already turned in a strong SEC Championships and would continue with a stellar performance in the 200 breast. A 2:10.59 put her in the B final. Hanna Schmidt (2:12.49) and Olivia Dinehart (2:12.54) each made the C final.
Zeller saved her lifetime best for finals, winning the B final at 2:09.23. The time was also good enough to jump the California native to No. 6 on the all-time performers list in program history. Dinehart (2:11.77) and Schmidt (2:12.27) each dropped time from the morning to take 22nd and 23rd, respectively.
Freshman Maston Ballew has been terrific on the men’s side. A new personal-best 1:53.10 put Ballew square in the A final and jumped him to the No. 3 performer in program history. Uros Zivanovic (1:55.24) clinched a spot in the C final.
Ballew managed a 1:55.22 in finals, sliding into eighth place. Zivanovic hit the wall at 1:55.42 for 22nd.
No one has been as stout as Elizaveta Klevanovich in the 50 free. A 21.67 was the second-fastest of her career and qualified the Russian international third overall. Izzy Iwasyk (22.42), Bella Ekk (22.57) and Lora Komoroczy (22.59) all made the C final.
Klevanovich provided the largest roar of the championships on Friday evening. A blistering 21.55 in finals pushed her to third place and Auburn’s second podium finish, and first on the women’s side. Her time was also good enough to jump Klevanovich to the No. 3 spot in program history.
Komoroczy (22.53), Iwasyk (22.60) and Ekk (22.71) finished in 21st, 23rd, 24th, respectively.
Both Kalle Makinen (19.31) and Sohib Khaled (19.39) managed to go sub-19.40 to make the B final. Warner Russ (19.57) locked up a spot in the C final.
Makinen swam a 19.39 in finals to finish in 15th, moments ahead of Khaled who placed 16th at 19.51.
Putting together a new personal-best in the women’s 500 free, Julia Strojnowska (4:47.38) earned a second swim in the C final. She would lower her time to win the C final at 4:43.07.
Equaling Strojnowska’s effort, Abdalla Nasr (4:19.38) and Mack Schumann (4:19.90) also pocketed a place in the men’s C final.
Schumann dialed up his second top 10 performance in finals. A 4:17.26 moved him up to the No. 9 performer in program history. Nasr finished 23rd at 4:24.87.
Over in the diving well, the Auburn men moved up to the tow. Ethan Swart’s 303.30 was just good enough to earn a second list in the B final. Talan Blackmon (287.95), Ben Wilson (287.20) and Tsvetomir Ereminov (278.85) all scored points, finishing 20th, 21st and 24th, respectively.
Swart pieced together a 282.45 in his second list to move up a spot, finishing 15th overall.
Rounding out the evening, Makinen, Khaled, Bedsole and Russ combined for a 1:16.20 in the 200 free relay to take sixth overall.
The women’s relay was disqualified due to an early takeoff on the third exchange.
Scores
Men
1. Texas – 1110.5
2. Florida – 1056
3. Tennessee – 840.5
4. Auburn – 595
5. Georgia – 554
6. LSU – 525
7. Alabama – 505.5
8. Kentucky – 487
9. Texas A&M – 391.5
10. Missouri – 347
11. South Carolina – 308
Women
1. Texas – 1003.5
2. Tennessee – 817
2. Florida – 804.5
4. South Carolina – 543.5
5. LSU – 533.5
6. Alabama – 532.5
7. Georgia – 504
8. Auburn – 499.5
9. Texas A&M – 424
10. Missouri – 344
11. Arkansas – 245
12. Kentucky – 201
13. Vanderbilt – 118
The schedule of remaining events is below:
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)