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A spirit that is not afraid

Auburn swim and dive receives three SEC weekly honors

<p>Auburn mens swimmers get ready to hit the pool in the NCAA Championships, in Atlanta, on March 26.&nbsp;</p>

Auburn mens swimmers get ready to hit the pool in the NCAA Championships, in Atlanta, on March 26. 

Three swimmers from the Auburn swim and dive team were awarded SEC honors this week. Junior Reid Mikuta was the Men's Swimmer of the Week and both Kalle Makinen and Casey Cullen earned Freshman of the Week for the male and female teams, respectively. 

The Tigers traveled to the University of Southern California for their invite meet this weekend where the women's team beat two of the three teams they faced, and the men's team beat all three. 

Mikuta is the breaststroke specialist on the team and it showed. He was a part of two winning relays, one of which was the 200 medley relay. This relay ranks the fastest in the nation. 

He saved his best swim for his individual race, the 100 meter breaststroke. He finished with a 51.41 which not only gave him the first-place finish but also was only .01 off from the NCAA cut, which makes him the fastest in the nation. 

This meet marked sprinter Makinen’s Auburn debut. The Finland native anchored both the 200 and 400 medley relays. His only second-place finish came when he finished .01 behind the winner in the 50 meter freestyle. He also posted a great time in the 100, free touching the wall at 43.48. 

Fellow freshman Cullen also put on a show. Her best show came when she finished second with a sub two-minute time, 1:58.89, in the 200 fly. She also had two additional great swims in the 500 free and 400 IM. 

These three awards came as the first for Auburn this season along with first for all three athletes. 

The teams head to Baton Rouge next week to compete in a dual meet against LSU on Oct. 27.


Lily Stewart | Operations Editor

Lily has been with The Plainsman for three years and started out as a Sports Writer before becoming the Operations Editor. She graduates in May of 2024 and is from Washington, D.C. 


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