Men 5th, women 7th to finish 2026 SEC Championships

by Thomas Hoffman
Men 5th, women 7th to finish 2026 SEC ChampionshipsMen 5th, women 7th to finish 2026 SEC Championships

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A sixth day of strong efforts rounded out the 2026 edition of the SEC Championships for the Auburn Tigers inside the Allan Jones Aquatic Center. After a week of competition, the men placed fifth with 652 points, while the women locked up seventh with 654.5 points. 

Zoey Zeller’s exceptional SEC Championships continued with the 200 IM. A 1:59.01 put Zeller squarely in the evening’s B final. Taylor Bacher (2:00.12) and Annika Finzen (2:00.33) made it back in the C final. 

Zeller dropped a personal-best 1:58.55 to move all the way up to 11th at night. Finzen (1:59.96) took 21st and Bacher (1:59.96) grabbed 22nd. 

Senior Danny Schmidt made sure to grab a second swim on the men’s side, hitting the wall at 1:45.62 to make the B final. Freshman Maston Ballew made it 3-for-3 in his events to make it back to finals, putting together a 1:46.54 to grab a spot in the C final. 

Schmidt found almost a second and a half in finals to put up a 1:44.14 and take 12th. Ballew went 1:45.51 to take 21st. 

Fresh off a bronze medal in the 50 free, Lisa Klevanovich glided to a spot in the A final of the 100 free on Saturday. A 47.92 was the fifth-fastest qualifying time. Izzy Iwasyk (48.92) and Bella Ekk (49.00) made the C final. 

It wouldn’t be another podium for Klevanovich, but a respectable 48.17 gave her seventh. Iwasyk (48.93) sealed 19th and Ekk (48.93) grabbed 21st. 

In the men’s 100 free, Daniel Krichevsky dialed up a 42.17 to make the B final. Warner Russ (42.61) and Luke Bedsole (42.95) earned spots in the C final. Bedsole had to outduel rival Alabama for the final spot. 

Krichevsky saved another top 10 swim for the evening, jumping to No. 8 all-time with a blistering 41.87. Bedsole (42.82) moved up to 22nd and Russ (42.83) finished 23rd. 

The largest drop of the morning belonged to junior Ellis Fox in the 200 back. Her 1:54.91 was nearly three seconds faster than her previous best. It also earned Fox a spot in the B final. Maggie McGuire (1:56.69) made the C final, as did Annika Finzen (1:56.69), completing her exhausting double. 

Fox would fit into 16th with a 1:57.26 in the evening. McGuire moved up to 20th after a 1:56.10. Finzen finished off her marathon of a day with a 1:57.63 and 24th place. 

Ivan Tarasov was just good enough to make the B final in the men’s 200 back, sliding in at 1:42.13. The Russian made it into the 1:41s in finals, conjuring a 1:41.91 to take 14th. 

As the women took to the tower, Chloe Brothers capped off her stellar championships with another finals-worthy performance. A 253.80 gave Brothers her second chance to dive in the evening during this week and made it 3-for-3 for the Auburn women’s diving program and coach John Fox.

Brothers scored a 208.65 in finals to finish eighth overall. 

Meanwhile, Emily Hallifax found important points, making the consolation final with a 222.60. 

Hallifax was even better in consoles, piecing together five solid dives for a 241.40 and 10th place overall. 

Rounding out the championships, Klevanovich, Ekk, Iwasyk and Komoroczy combined for a 3:15.23 to lock up eighth in the 400 free relay.

The men’s relay was disqualified due to an early takeoff on the third exchange. 

Final Scores
Men
1. Texas – 1449.5
2. Florida – 1292
3. Tennessee – 1061.5
4. Georgia – 721
5. Auburn – 652
6. Alabama – 642.5
7. LSU – 614
8. Kentucky – 582
9. Texas A&M – 503.5
10. Missouri – 427
11. South Carolina – 349

Women
1. Texas – 1413.5
2. Tennessee – 1086
3. Florida – 1015.5
4. Alabama – 689.5
5. LSU – 668.5
6. South Carolina – 666.5
7. Auburn – 654.5
8. Georgia – 604
9. Texas A&M – 550
10. Missouri – 468
11. Arkansas – 350
12. Kentucky – 284.5
13. Vanderbilt – 146