Alabama
SEC Championships
Alabama Swimming and Diving Wins Two More Titles, Breaks Another School Record to Close SEC Championships
2/23/2019 10:07:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
Senior Robert Howard won the Commissioner’s Trophy as the championships top point scorer and was voted SEC Swimmer of the Meet by the league’s head coaches
ATHENS, Ga. – Robert Howard closed out his final Southeastern Conference Championships in style, winning his second individual and third relay title of the week before collecting more SEC hardware at the conclusion of the five-day event.
The Alabama swimming and diving senior earned the SEC Commissioner's Trophy as the championships' top point scorer and was voted the SEC Swimmer of the Meet by the league's head coaches. Earlier in the week he was honored as the 2019 SEC Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
"To have the potential to do something like that and to step up and do it are two very different things," Pursley said. "For Robert to earn those honors and be the kind of leader that he is as a captain and the kind of teammate he is … needless to say, we're very proud of him."
On Saturday, the Alexander City, Ala., native won the 100 freestyle with a career-best 41.57, adding championship that to the 50 freestyle title he won earlier in the week. Then he combined with freshman Jonathan Berneburg, junior Zane Waddell and senior Knox Auerbach to win the 400 freestyle relay with a school record 2:48.52.
"I was proud of the guys getting six gold medals this week, which is the most since I've been here," Pursley said. "We need to work on shoring up the depth a little bit, but those gold medals bode well for a strong showing at the NCAA Championships next month."
Earlier in the week, the Tide men won the 200 freestyle and 200 medley relays, with both victories coming in SEC-record time. Overall, the Tide won three relays and took second in a fourth, while Waddell won the 100 backstroke on Friday. It was the most relay titles in a single year in program history and the most SEC titles in a year since 1990.
"The relays are special, because in our sport they're consummate team events with four guys coming together to compete against the four best from every other school," Pursley said. "It takes all four to step up to end up on the top of the podium."
In the team standings, the Tide men finished sixth overall with 789.50 points.
On the women's side of the night, freshman Kensey McMahon reached the podium in the 1,650 freestyle on Saturday, clocking a 16:00.57 to take the bronze medal, just seven hundredths of a second out of second.
"Kensey is a fierce competitor and that race is 66 lengths of the pool long and she battled the whole way," Pursley said. "That was exciting."
As a team, the Tide women finished the week in 11th place with 429.50 points.
"Where we finished in the team standings was disappointing," Pursley said. "I don't fault the ladies for that. We've been working very hard on trying to build a championship culture, which I don't think we had a few years back, and the team has responded. They're focused, they're very supportive of one another and they've done everything we've asked. I feel like it's my responsibility, if they're doing what we're asking, to provide them with a program that is going to get the results we all want. We've maybe gotten a little off track trying to find a better way and gotten away from the things that I know in my heart we need to do to be where we need to be. We're going to address those issues, and as long as they keep working the way they are and supporting each other the way they are, then it's going to come together and we're going to have a bright future."
With the conference championships behind them, the men's and women's teams are gearing up for NCAA postseason competition, with the diver's heading to the NCAA Zone B Championships, while the swimmers continue preparing for nationals.
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