Auburn swimmers Peter Holoda and Julie Meynen each swept the sprint freestyle events, with Zach Apple picking up a pair of runner-up finishes, but their efforts were not enough to sink Texas on Thursday afternoon at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center. The No. 12 Auburn swimming and diving men fell to No. 2 Texas, 164-136, while the No. 14 Auburn women fell to No. 5 Texas, 156-139.
“Even though we didn’t come away with the (team) win, we fought really hard and got some individual wins,” head coach Brett Hawke said.
Despite not earning the victory, Meyen and Holoda dominated in the freestyle, and took home top honors. Meynen touched in 22.75 to win the event by .01 seconds over Texas' Rebecca Millard while Holoda topped Tiger teammate Apple by .25 seconds. The win was Meynen’s fourth of the year in the event and Holoda’s third.
Both Meynen and Holoda made it a sprint-free sweep with wins in the 100 free. Meynen touched in 49.89 while Holoda claimed his third win of the season, touching in 43.82. Apple finished second, touching in a season-best 44.20.
“I thought Peter and Julie were extremely good today, extremely strong,” Hawke said. “I thought Aly Tetzloff had a phenomenal swim.”
Some Tiger swimmers also took home a sweep in the 100 fly as Tetzloff won the women’s race in 53.05 and Luis Martinez the men’s race in 47.41. It was the fifth time winning the event for both this season.
Kyle Darmody won the 100 back in a time of 47.31, beating Longhorn swimmer John Shebat by .12 seconds.
Holoda, Apple, Hugo Morris and Darmody closed out the meet with a win in the 400 free relay (2:56.55).
Ashley Neidigh started the meet off with a personal-best 9:41.98 in the 1000 free, which is the third-fastest in Auburn history. Neidigh dropped almost three full seconds from her previous best set in the fall of 2014.
Senior Allyx Purcell saw her first action of the season, and finished fourth in the 50 (23.12) and 100 free (50.76). She was on Auburn’s top 400 free relay team.
“It was really nice to see Allyx back,” Hawke said. “That really put a smile on my face. It was nice to see her compete. She’s had a long road back from shoulder surgery.”
In Auburn diving, Maddie Cox (304.73) and Alison Maillard (297.75) finished second and third, respectively, on the 3-meter, with Maillard also placing third on the 1-meter (271.73). Pete Turnham also had a third-place finish on the 3-meter (360.75).
“We did some good stuff and we did some things we need to fix between now and conference,” diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. “To a tee each individual is able to step up and at one time hit a particular dive, but where we are falling short in competitions is we’re not doing our best every time. The guys did five really solid dives and both missed one in the 3-meter contest.”
Auburn completes its dual meet schedule on Saturday, Jan. 21, when Florida comes to the James E. Martin Aquatics Center. The action can be seen on SECN+, and will begin at 10 a.m. CST.
“We’re looking forward to hosting Florida,” Hawke said. “I think there are adjustments that still need to be made, some kids are pretty tired, but overall I’m happy coming off Christmas training to see them race this way.”
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