Texas A&M Women Begin SEC Title Defense, Face LSU

The Texas A&M Aggies swimming and diving teams welcome the LSU Tigers for the Aggie's Senior Day in College Station.

Jan 21, 2017 by Maclin Simpson

Texas A&M Women Begin SEC Title Defense, Face LSU

Texas A&M coach Steve Bultman and the reigning SEC champion Aggies women's team look to begin their title defense against David Geyer and the LSU Tigers on Saturday. Bultman and men's team head coach Jay Holmes will honor 14 seniors in total (six men and eight women) in their final home meet of the season. Although the Aggies have separate men's and women's programs, they will both be taking on LSU on Senior Day.

The eighth-ranked Aggies women took the SEC Championships by storm last season, dethroning the Georgia women, who had won the previous six straight years. Returning a solid contingent, Texas A&M will look to continue that success in its regular season finale against No. 25 LSU, while the Aggies men's team will also be looking for momentum going into this year's SEC and NCAA Championships against the 24th-ranked Tigers.

"This has been one of the most competitive and exciting dual meets in our lineup that we have every year," Geyer said. "There's something about the LSU-A&M dual meet on the men's side that brings the best out of both teams. It comes down to a few swims and touches, and you can usually determine the meet in less than a second between a couple of finishes."

Important Meet Info & Links:

Location: College Station, TX
Time: 11 AM CST
Live Results

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5 Swimmers to Watch

Each of these programs has a slew of lock-ins for the NCAA Championships, and it was VERY difficult to pick only five swimmers.

Logan Rysemus (LSU)

The Tigers' sprint ace has thrown down some very impressive times already this season. Presumedly, Rysemus has already locked up NCAA-qualifying times in the 100-yard backstroke (45.89) and 100 butterfly (45.98). He has also put up a 21.32 in the 50 backstroke and a 43.28 in the 100 freestyle. Geyer will have a very difficult time determining how to best utilize Rysemus on LSU's relays going into SECs and NCAAs.

Sarah Gibson (Texas A&M)

The Aggie women had a stellar 2016, and Gibson played a pivotal role in that success. At the 2016 NCAA Championships, Gibson finished runner-up in the 100 butterfly (50.61) to 2016 Olympian and American record holder in that event, Kelsi Worrell. She also finished fifth in the 200 butterfly and was pivotal in each of the Aggies high-performing relays. To top it all off, Galat had a strong showing at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, where she finished fifth in the 100m butterfly.

Mauro Castillo Luna (Texas A&M)

Castillo Luna is a primetime breaststroker for the Aggies, already putting up blazing times of 53.22 and 1:53.84 in the 100 and 200, respectively. His 200 time should comfortably qualify him for the NCAA Championships in March and he will look to add the 200 IM to his repertoire as well with a season best of 1:45.88.

Bethany Galat (Texas A&M)

Galat had a bittersweet 2016. She finished in the dreaded third-place position at the U.S. Olympic Trials in two events, the 200m breaststroke and 400 IM, just missing out on making the Olympic team. However, Galat saw some tremendous success in the college season, finishing fifth in both the 200-yard breast and 400 IM at the NCAA Championships. She has already put up some impressive times this season so far in her two speciality events with a 2:10.23 and 4:04.36, respectively.

Leah Troskot (LSU)

The senior and sprint freestyle specialist will look to capitalize on two races Saturday, the 50 and 100 Freestyle, that are arguably gaps in an otherwise infallible Texas A&M team. Troskot has already recorded times of 22.39 and 48.90 in the 50 and 100 freestyle, respectively.
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