Alabama
Auburn University
Alabama Swimming and Diving Falls after Hard Fought Meet at Auburn
11/4/2016 6:33:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 5 ranked Alabama men's swimming and diving team came up just short at No. 10 Auburn Friday afternoon, 166-134, in a meet that produced some of the nation's top times and came down to the wire. The No. 25 ranked Alabama women fell to No. 10 Auburn, 225-75.
"I'm proud of the way we fought," UA head coach Dennis Pursley said. "We kind of came into the lion's den, but we went toe-to-toe with them. They were a little stronger today but today will help us down the road."
Freshman Daniel Kober won the first individual race of the day, posting a 9:17.40 in the 1,000 freestyle to hold off Auburn's Grant Schenk by nine-hundredths of a second. Sophomore Laurent Bams threw down a blistering 200 freestyle in the next race, bettering the field by more than a second with a time of 1:36.09. Later in the meet Bams went on to win the 100 freestyle with a 43.87.
Senior Connor Oslin made Alabama a perfect 3-for-3 in individual races to start the meet when the two-time SEC champion won the 100 backstroke by more than a second, touching the wall with a 47.37. Alabama's men then went 1-2-3 in the 50 freestyle, led by freshman Zane Waddell's winning mark of 20.03.
Junior Will Freeman won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:29.02 to give the Alabama men a clean sweep of the freestyle events Friday afternoon.
Alabama closed out the meet with a win the 400 freestyle relay when Waddell, sophomore Robert Howard, junior Luke Kaliszak and Bams stopped the clock at 2:55.12, the fastest time in the nation this season.
The 400 medley relay of Oslin, senior Pavel Romanov, Kaliszak and Waddell opened the meet with a 3:10.04, just a hundredth of a second out of first. Alabama's and Auburn's "A' relays posed the two fastest 400 medley relay times in the country this season by more than three seconds.
On the women's side of the meet, Mia Nonnenberg led the Tide with a second place finish in the 1,000 freestyle (9:51.42) to start the meet and a win the 200 individual medley (2:01.73) to close things out. Juniors Hannah Musser and Temarie Tomley also picked up second place finishes on the day. Musser was runner-up in the 200 butterfly (2:00.67) and Tomley was second in the 100 freestyle (50.25).
"We didn't win at the end of the day, but we won a lot of the battles along the way," Pursley said. "We fought all the way to the end, and I'm pleased with them and proud of them."
Alabama's men go to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in Southeastern Conference competition while the Tide women are 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the SEC. Auburn's men and women are both 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the SEC. The Crimson Tide returns to action November 17-19 at the Georgia Tech Invitational, in Atlanta, Ga.
"We just need to use today to make us stronger and I think our team is in place where that's exactly what they'll do," Pursley said.
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