longtimeswimagfan - you're right. I was surprised and impressed with the 200 medley. I was VERY surprised that Fonua, a breaststroker, outsplit Cole Cragin.

I stand by the statement, in general, about our backstrokers. tu was 1-2-4 in the 100 back and 1-2-3 in the 200 back. So they killed us in the backstroke races. But Fonua can obviously blast through a 50 back and I am impressed.


[This message has been edited by Aggie-matic (edited 2/7/2011 12:32p).]

never been so excited about a "defeat". the guys sure put a scare in those sips, always nice to see. pretty much eveyrone across the board stepped up in a big way. what a HUGE meet to finish off the year with. the guys have been riding momentum all year, and it couldve come crashing to a halt with the final dual meet, but instead they get to carry it over to BigXIIs.

sure wish I could make the trip up to Austin to see it. hopefully we can qualify our relays (and some individuals this year?) on the first chance, and not have to mess around with all those last chance meets like usual.

I hope to watch at least a bit of the Big12s in Austin. The guys should be pretty satisfied with some of their swims - unrested as they were. You think Feigen is nervous about Dax beating him in the 100?

BTW - How does a breaststroke guy like Fonua swim backstroke that fast? In all my years of being around swimmers, the back/breast combination is probably the rarest.

I hope too that the girls can show the horns how it is done when championship time rolls around.

dp

[This message has been edited by SpicewoodAg (edited 2/7/2011 4:30p).]

While the bit about Texas changing their suits midmeet is awesome and exciting (not to mention hilarious), I will point out that it appeared as though they only changed into suits that were the same as what the A&M Men were wearing (LZR Elites). Still pretty awesome that we put them on their heels like that.

[This message has been edited by AGBlastoff (edited 2/7/2011 2:56p).]

Aren't the A&M men TYR?

I think you're right, they are. But whatever they were wearing looked like the equivalent. Tracer maybe?

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Aren't the A&M men TYR?

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they are indeed

The Ags are going to be very sharp at Big XII's.

Instead of putting pressure on one guy, lets not forget it takes four to put up a relay!

I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that Ariens will go to NCAA's for the 400medley relay. It seems more likely that relay will get picked up over the 200medley relay. With him, Fonua, Lindau, and Makany (from the weekend's times) they should make it with a shave and taper.

Why no Feigen in the 200free relay?

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I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that Ariens will go to NCAA's for the 400medley relay. It seems more likely that relay will get picked up over the 200medley relay. With him, Fonua, Lindau, and Makany (from the weekend's times) they should make it with a shave and taper.

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look for the coaches to split up the relays to get as many different guys to the meet as they can. just like last year, i would expect to see a different backstroker/breastroker/freestyler on each of the medley relays. and even tho the 200medley might be one of the weakest of our relays, the coaches are still planning on having that relay MAKE the meet, not just swim it at the meet with whoever we get there.

going out on a limb here, id look for fonua/lavery/lindau/troskot for the 200, and ariens/snowden/lindau/makany for the 400. this way, if both of those relays make the meet, you have all 3 of your breastrokers there to swim their individuals also. eliminates the problem they had last year, where they put lavery/fonua on the medleys, and left snowden to make it on his own in the 200br (which he didnt). it also gives you much more flexibility, in case you get to the meet and someone is sick or just swimming "off", you can switch guys in and out.

the primary goal of the coaches for qualifying for NCs is to get as many different "BODIES" to the meet as possible. a lot of people disagree with it, but thats just how they do it. im not too familiar with most of the new guys, but id say the guys can get at the very least 10 guys to the meet, if not more. (fonua/lavery/snowden/ariens/makany/troskot/lindau/dalton/wagner/enriquez). guys, correct me if i left someone out of that mix, my apologies if i did. looking at some results maybe you could argue another one of the foreign freshman could grab a spot, or austin wilson on the 200frR?

man im excited already!

I think they'll put their fastest guys up on those relays to try to make the meet period. While it would be ideal to get as many guys there as possible, we've got to GET there first. I'm sure the coaches are more than tired of jetting to last chance meets because we were a few tenths short of where we would have liked to have been at Big 12's. While the Texas dual meet results were incredibly encouraging, we still need to get it done at Big 12's first then worry about grabbing as many spots as possible second.

The way Fonua is swimming, I'd want him on every relay I can get him on right now. Just my opinion. I've even heard his 50 free has been rocking lately too. Wouldn't surprise me to see him on the 200 free relay.

It will be interesting to see who grabs that breaststroke spot on the 400 medley relay. There are legitimately three guys that are worthy of that spot and they'll all get to swim it in prelims on Friday at Big 12's before the coaches pick who to put on it at night (I'm pretty sure the 400 medley is Friday).

400 Medley is Friday. Meet schedule.

http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&KEY=&ATCLID=204989587

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I think they'll put their fastest guys up on those relays to try to make the meet period. While it would be ideal to get as many guys there as possible, we've got to GET there first

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i dont like correcting you LOB, since you know way more than me about most everything haha, but this has never been the case. look back to last year, when they left Omar off the 800FrR, even tho he was clearly one of the 4 fastest, banking on him making the meet individually. they did the same thing with snowden by leaving him off the medleys, even tho he was arguably the fastest 100br, banking on him making the 200br individually. it came back to bite us when omar/snowden barely missed individually, but the thinking was to get an extra 2 guys to the meet using those relay spots. thats the mindset the coaches have used as long as ive known. its a little unorthodox, i will admit

Got tons of rookies in here acting like they know alot.. inside info?

i know you were talking about swimmers, but the golden goose this year (big shocker coming) is the diving.

nel has only lost once this entire season and it was to his teammate this past weekend. mclean missed the school record in the 1m event by about 3 points. would have been pretty darn impressive to have broken two of sehn's records during the regular season.

also, looking at top times and without knowing preparation, wouldn't schweitzer take a spot on the 800 fr?

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wouldn't schweitzer take a spot on the 800 fr?

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ya hes one of the foreign freshman i dont know much about. figured him and frank would have a shot to get to the meet in some form or fashion.

and very good point about diving, its going to be huge (as it is every year for the Ags), esp with a healthy Cam now. Grant keeps stepping up more and more each time he dives, so those 2 will bring in some big time points at the big show

I'm just pontificating my opinion 09...if it was me, I'd be tired of rolling the dice and chasing times at last chance meets in hopes of getting the max number there...I say put up my best four and not worry...that's just me

Who will be the 800 freestyle relay this year? And is that one of our top 2 relays now?

ah gotcha LOB...and honestly, i dont entirely disagree with you

But let's look at the wider picture here, if you can get more freshman and sophomores to the meet, thats a great experience for the future. Loncaric is a senior (or is he redshirting?) so he only has this year left.

Fonua is a Junior and like LOB said, he could be on three relays. It would make sense to have the fastest people possible on the relays but he only has one season left in him. It seems Coach Holmes and Boyd are looking to get some Sophomores and Freshman in there for the experience so next year when they make the meet (individually or for a relay) they know what to expect.

800free relay is tough. My bet is on a Makany, Dalton, Enriquez, Wagner, and Schweitzer
- in that order from experienced to least. I think they'll throw Schweitzer in there maybe as an alternate. It'll be interesting on the combination

The getting freshmen and sophomores to NCAA's for experience thing makes sense, but at some point that means you have to break the trend. It's not a whole lot of good getting them the experience if, by the time they're juniors and seniors, they're getting booted off of relays for the next group of young swimmers. Though with the accolades that this freshman class has coming in, maybe they're the ones who break that cycle. The theory also seems to run counter to when they have lots of individual scratches: sacrifice best relays to qualify many swimmers, but then don't let them swim their individuals?

But I do totally agree with the fact that it's great that we have such versatility and parity in our other strokes (especially our breaststrokers) to get them all there on a relay in some form or fashion. If we can get as many people to NCAA's without sacrificing much, or anything, on relay times, then it sounds like a great plan to me! I do think that they need to stack the 800 with Omar et al though.

As of yet, Schweitzer doesn't have any B cuts, though he's very close in the 200 free, so forcing him onto a relay doesn't help much.

Either way this relay shakedown happens, I think we're all REALLY happy with the Ags right now and it's been awhile since EVERYONE on this board has been so optimistic!!

With regards to the relay situation, I'll say this, every year we've speculated who would be on what relay and every year we're wrong.

That has to do with the coaches trying to get certain guys to NC's and also just that some guys just tend to step up at conference or relays. We've had a few swimmers (and still do) who throw up GREAT times on relays but struggle to duplicate that in their individuals.

It'll be interesting to see how this all comes out, I for one can't wait!!

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Either way this relay shakedown happens, I think we're all REALLY happy with the Ags right now and it's been awhile since EVERYONE on this board has been so optimistic!!

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WOOHOO!! YAY!! OMG AWESOME!! SO EXCITING!!

Seriously though...I'm excited

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With regards to the relay situation, I'll say this, every year we've speculated who would be on what relay and every year we're wrong

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I'm never wrong...then again, I rarely ever predict stuff on here, so I guess my brilliance is to be expected since I mostly keep it to myself...

good call Bullet about everyone here being mostly on the same page. not very often we see that happen!

looks like i might make it up to Austin for Saturday's session(s) after all! now im really stoked!

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I'm never wrong...then again, I rarely ever predict stuff on here, so I guess my brilliance is to be expected since I mostly keep it to myself...

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wow haha

^
^
Big Papa B

frightening thing is this is exactly what i expect BPB to look like!! --only thing missing a glass of rye in his hand....and pipe??

As long as we get all five relays to the meet and have them be threats to score enough points to help get us into the top 10 I'll be happy

feels like the team is starting to ride a good wave


not to be negative but when was the last time A&M beat the sips in a dual meet?

They are riding a good wave! This will be a good year.
The last time the Aggies beat the sips in a dual meet gas was 28cents a Gallon, WalMart was just opening, the first silicone breast implants were happening, our President was JFK.

1961-1962 season as far as I can tell