A&M gets one swimmer to NCAAs - Cory Bolleter in 50 free. I believe Tyler Henschel will go for diving.

No relays go because none earned an A cut and since we didn't send 4 swimmers no relay that would otherwise have been invited gets to go.

This is a new low for us. We have a lot of work to do to get back to top 20 finishes.

Sorry if this falls on deaf ears but its time we get a coach that can recruit and deliver a top tier men's program.

Embarrassing to say the least, especially with the talent in Texas, our facility, and our conference.

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Sorry if this falls on deaf ears but its time we get a coach that can recruit and deliver a top tier men's program.

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Why shouldn't we out-recruit everyone except Texas, Cal, Stanford, USC, Florida and maybe Gergia? How about just out-recruiting Missouri and Alabama?

Why shouldn't we finish in the top half of the SEC?

It is definitely tough to watch schools like Alabama and NC State emerge as teams on the cusp of being elite. I really like our freshman class and their potential over the next few years. I have also heard good things about the incoming class. I will defer an opinion until after the next few years progress.

There is definitely some talent in the current freshmen class. We need more classes like that - guys that can be top 16 in the SEC right away.

Lets look though at where we need to be on a year in an year out basis to be competitive in the SEC:

4 guys that are 42+ or 43low in 100 free
4 guys that are 19 low in 50 free
4 guys that are 1:34 in 200 free

52+ 100 breast
46 low 100 fly
46 low 100 back
1:44 200 IM

I'll concede distance free if we can get those kinds of times.

Bolleter makes the B final with a nice 19.39 50 free. He was one of three guys at 19.39; he won a three way swim off against Ellis (Texas) and a guy from UNLV. Texas cannot bet anything important on Ellis. He will not come through.

Some of the Texas guys must not want to swim the 50 tonight - no Texas guys final'd in 50 free.

Bolleter moved up to finish in a tie for 12th. Scored points.

If you aren't watching this meet or paying attention - you are missing some amazing swimming. Eddie Reese could have his best team overall since the Hansen/Peirsol/Crocker/Walker days. Not sure why they swam so badly in 50 free, but they won three races Thursday and set an NCAA record in the 400 medley relay. They were more than two body lengths behind Cal after breaststroke - almost all of that advantaged erased by Joe Schooling and his 43.9 fly split. Then Conger split 40.9 to take the win. Conger's first 50 was 18.94.

David Nolan (Stanford) crushed his own 200 IM record with a 1:39.38. Ryan Murphy (Cal) swam a 44.17 back split in their medley relay - another NCAA record.

Texas might score more points in fly for the meet than all but ten teams.

Texas with 6 of 8 in A final of 100 fly. Unbelievable. I understand that we can't get conger and schooling type swimmers now, but how about swimmers 5,6 or 7? I really don't know. Are good swimmers taking 10% ships from texas instead of 75%+ from schools like us and lsu?

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Texas with 6 of 8 in A final of 100 fly. Unbelievable. I understand that we can't get conger and schooling type swimmers now, but how about swimmers 5,6 or 7? I really don't know. Are good swimmers taking 10% ships from texas instead of 75%+ from schools like us and lsu?

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I should have said Texas will score more points in 100 fly.....

The answer to your question is absolutely YES. They want to swim for Eddie Reese, even if they are 5th fastest in an event on his team.

John Murray is a San Antonio Churchill kid - So is Cory Bolleter. We get some kids from Texas like that. Maybe Bolleter has 25% or 50% from A&M, and was only offered 10% from Texas (just speculating, don't know anything). But in general a kid with Olympic Trials times will not seriously look at us.

Matt Ellis is from Austin Westlake and initially went to Georgia for almost a full ride. But he claimed to not like the sprint group there, and transferred to Texas. I bet Eddie didn't give him much more than 25%.

Swimswam said:

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Texas is now in a position to outscore all but the top 9 or 10 team's final scores for the entire meet in the 100 butterfly alone. On paper, Texas is expected to score 91 points from the 100 butterfly. Without any disqualifications, the best they could do is pick up 95 points and the worst the could do is score 81 points.
The A final of the 100 Butterfly:

Joseph Schooling TX 45.04

Jack Conger TX 45.17

Tripp Cooper TX 45.33

Will Glass TX 45.50

Sam Lewis UNC 45.82

Matt McHugh OSU 45.82

John Murray TX 45.89

Matt Ellis TX 45.92

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Texas dominates to win the title.

Eddie Reese now has 11 national championships. I think he is by far the best coach in any sport at Texas. He is the Texas equivalence of Pat Henry at A&M - except Reese has been there 30+ years.

Texas hired Reese one year after they opened their new pool. That began their run of national excellence in mens swimming.

With regards to scholarships and recruits, we need to look at the entire landscape. This isn't entirely a Texas / Texas A & M situation.

1) We aren't trying to outdo Texas. We haven't been trying to out recruit Texas for along time. We're trying to out recruit Eddie Reese. Until that changes, it's gonna be tough. Also, in swimming (as Spicewood said) Kids will DEFINITELY go ride the bench for 4 years at faster teams. I don't know why that is, it just is. Plus they'll do it for less money, Again, I don't know why but I do see it happen a whole lot.

2) Building from #1, under the SEC there are roster limits for teams. Personally, I'm a huge proponent of that. So places like B1G teams can stop carrying 40 odd people and playing a numbers game when it comes to finding that break out star.

3) Building on scholarships - A & M can't stack academic and athletic aid - SMU and TCU can. So, you have a good kid who you offer 50%, but he qualifies for 90% in aid from TCU? Well, with how much colleges are starting to cost if the swimmer needs help and the TCU coach only offers him 10%, he's now a full ride. That's hard to overcome with the middle-to-good guys.

4) So, you go out-of-state. Well, now it depends on the state, U of Georgia for instance has an athletic dept. deal that they'll take very good athletes from FL, SC, AL and NC for in-state tuition - which means you can offer them less and the dollar amount remains the same to the person actually paying. So you as a program have more money to spread around. A & M doesn't offer that deal, so you will struggle to go toe-to-toe for the LA or OK state kids cos they can a) afford in-state more and b) still get aid from a private college like TCU or SMU.

So, keeping all this in mind - where is our best recruit for next year coming from? New Mexico.
Where have we always gotten decent swimmers to fill out our relays? Overseas, or out-of-state

I'm not saying we can't get up there. I'm just saying there are a lot of things at play here that most of us very often overlook, don't know about or forget about. on 9.9 schols it's not as easy as it looks.

In my (very humble) opinion, we can do it. And that's an awesome thing to know!
But we need some lucky breaks in recruiting WHILE managing to keep money on the table for the next year (Something like Bultman's recruiting class in 05/06, if I remember correctly) and then using those breaks as a platform to continually move forward. Having Eddie retire or leave (also like when Bultman was starting to transition the women to a national power) at just the right time wouldn't hurt
either if we were picking up some steam.

With regards to that last paragraph, please know it's not a dig at Steve at all. I highly respect Steve and even with those breaks it takes a VERY good coach to play those cards just right. But I've spoken with him and even he will say that those things "didn't hurt" as he put it. Like anything in life, even if you have all the answers and work hard, sometimes you need a few lucky breaks along the way.

So, after all that.....
The question is - Can it be done? (I think it can) and ;
Are Jay & Ryan the right guys to do it? (I don't know, but they seem to be getting a bit better after some 'lost' years, maybe the Mallam transition just took some time. Time will tell)

Aquabullet - my comments aren't really about A&M vs. Texas. I also agree we aren't trying to outrecruit Reese. That ain't gonna happen. Texas is an obvious comparison though - because they are down the road, are the same size as us, academically comparable, and we were in the same conference for decades. Under the same rules as Texas, we never deserved a comparison to them though. Yet in every other sport there were times when were were as good, or better. Before Reese joined Texas, SMU was the SWC swimming power. It has never been the same since.

Are you sure an A&M athlete can't have an academic scholarship? I find it hard to believe that an athlete swimming for books cannot accept any academic money at all.

I don't think this is about scholarships though. It is about recruiting. They are related, but are not the same thing. Very good male swimmers, by and large, don't want to come to A&M. They will choose another school, unless they have Aggie blood. Swimmers generally come from upper middle class families, not especially constrained for money. I can imagine the conversation at home between swimmer and parent - "Wisconsin is offering 40%, Texas only 10%. But you'd swim for Eddie Reese."

I used to care where our athletes came from - I don't anymore. I accept that most schools have a significant number of foreign swimmers. We should get the best athletes that academically qualify.

As for roster limits - what are they? We have 29 men on our roster. Alabama has 35, almost as many as Texas.

I think there is no good reason for A&M not to be in the top half of the SEC. Right now mens swimming is our worst mens sport in the SEC - 8th. We finished 38th at NCAAs - thanks to Bolleter's good swims. It took 49 points to finish 20th.

A scholorship athlete can't get academic money?

I believe you can get academic money and accept athletic aid, but it has to be well documented that the money was awarded purely for academic purposes. I will also add that it is ALOT harder to get a meaningful academic scholarship at a place like A&M than a private school. I think a typical academic scholarship at A&M is like $500-1000 unless you have a massive honors scholarship. Additionally, at least when I was there, if you earned an academic scholarship you could qualify for in-state tuition. Not exactly sure what the rules are.

As Aquabullet said, it is a complex system with lots of variables and A&M is constrained by the academic aid available. 9.9 athletic scholarships just isn't enough unless you can start getting great kids to come for anything from books to 20% with the superstars on 80-100%

I would be interested to see how USC manages their scholarships. I would imagine there must be some academic money helping sustain their roster.

Wow! From the posts above it looks like an uphill battle to even get that program competitive. Maybe the ad should drop the program and put the money into women's swimming and start up a womens gymnastics program. Gymnastics seems to be a big item in the SEC. It gets much more coverage on the SEC network. I don't see how the athletic dept can keep throwing good money after bad to get those pitiful results. Seriously one swimmer and 4.5 points in the ncaa's somebody should be fired anyway!

It is true that academic money is hard to come by at A&M. I know that - because one of my kids just graduated from A&M. Academic money is much easier to get at a school like SMU or TCU. But academic money is just as hard to get at Texas.

A&M is not hamstrung by some super hard to live with rules that other schools don't have. Otherwise our other sports teams that give fractional scholarships (such as track) would also suffer.

There has been too many years of excuses why our mens team isn't a top 20 team every year.

Some comments.

I'd be surprised if SMU is ever competitive in swimming again. Their Natatorium was closed, and their meets are now held in Rockwall. I believe they still have an outdoor pool. I also don't know that they have investment to rebuild the Natatorium.

Swim Camps. Two points here. First, I think that is one way to build the team. The Age Group swimmers on our team mostly go to SMU (because it is local in Dallas) and tu. They actually will stay up and register in the middle of the night for the tu camp, to get the week that fits with the summer meet schedule. I've asked other parents why they prefer tu over A&M and the generally consensus is that the coaching at A&M conflicts with what they are getting on the swim club. The reputation of A&M is that it isn't helpful and actually hurts their swimming. Whereas, the reputation at tu is that they come out of tu, and try to have coordinated so they have a great meet following the camp.

Second, A&M didn't have camps last year because of the new pool being added. I've looked at the camp, but wonder if the lack of a camp last year hinders recruitment.

Does having TAGS in Austin (LCM) and The Woodlands (SCY) give an advantage to Texas? Personally, I think the Woodlands facility is too small to host the event. Parents (from many clubs) were hostile and angry that they couldn't watch their kid swim. I know our Parents talk about looking at the banners and names at the t-sip facility.

Outreach. Our coaches go to coaching camps. Many are locally grown, who swam for the club, went to swim in college and came back to coach. If the reputation about coaching conflicting is perpetuated, even a subtle reference from coaches to parents and swimmers hinders in-state recruiting.

Other stuff... keep in mind, an Academic scholarship to Baylor, SMU or TCU mostly puts the school on level cost. I've known many people who were offered a significant scholarship to Baylor. At the end of the day, the cost ended up being comparable to A&M, however, if for some reason they failed to get the Academic requirements met, they'd lose the scholarship.

I would think if we were to rebuild the A&M Men's swim team, based on what has been said, it should be pretty easy, but wonder if it would require a coaching change to change the perception.

If we struggle to recruit out-of-state swimmers because of tuition, we either need to fix it, or we need to put more focus on the State of Texas. If we are to focus on the State of Texas, I would think there would be PLENTY of swimmers to build a program. In order to stay in Texas, we need to maintain the interest of the LSCs. If the Coaches, Parents and Swimmers see A&M as heading in a different direction than what they have grown up with, then I don't believe it would be possible to have a successful swim team.

I would think there are plenty of A&M parents with kids that swim who would encourage their swimmer to go to A&M with no financial aid, as opposed to going out-of-state or to tu, if they felt they had a chance to succeed.

If 29 swimmers is a legacy from Byrne's, I'd like to see A&M reconsider it's position. This goes back to one of my questions earlier about having "walk-on" swimmers. I can't imagine A&M has a lack of ability to add as many swimmers as financially viable for the AD.

I'll stop there.

My sons were multi-time attendees to A&M's swim camp. The camps are very well run - and I have a hard time imagining what they coach that is at odds with a club coach. The tu camp (which I have watched) is less personal, and not coached by anyone important.

A&M often hosts Sectionals - which is more significant for top swimmers than TAGS - which tops at 13-14 age groups. A&M also hosts an annual high school invitational - attended by schools all over Texas.

I don't see why A&M shouldn't be able to recruit out of state. We recruit out of country. And the womens team has many from all over. Sarah Henry is from North Carolina. Beeja Larson was from Arizona. We have a long history of girls from Washington state.

We have just as much scholarship money as every other D1 school in the country. We are just not good at selling the mens program. That can be fixed.

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I would think there are plenty of A&M parents with kids that swim who would encourage their swimmer to go to A&M with no financial aid, as opposed to going out-of-state or to tu, if they felt they had a chance to succeed.

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I think our staff keeps hoping this is true. And it might be for tier 2 athletes (for example B final at state). But that isn't what A&M needs to move up. They need kids that swim 44 secs in 100 free in high school. 1:50 200 IM. The number of Aggie parents with elite swimmer children is probably very few. Just like it is with tu parents.

I've been lurking on this board a while and enjoy everyone's commentary. I've never been a swimmer,but my son is. One of his friends strongly considered swimming for A&M, but in the end, decided to go elsewhere. He has personal ties to A&M, but felt like the school he chose was more interested in helping him meet his swimming goals than A&M was. His perception was that A&M was touting its facilities, which admittedly are excellent, rather than what they would do to help the swimmers reach their goals. Obviously this is only one anecdote, but I thought it worth sharing since it illustrates DallasAg's comment about parents encouraging their swimmers to go to A&M if they thought they had a chance to succeed there.

Really good to see there are others interested in Aggie men's swimming.

I was really encouraged when Mallam joined the program and still believe, even after this year's results, he's been a positive addition to the coaching staff. I'm not sure how much involvement he has in recruitment, but the last two classes have been stronger. Does anyone have any info on Mallam's involvement?

In my opinion, any coach wanting to develop a program by attracting top talent among the 17-18 year old crowd, must be able to convince recruits they can reach their individual goals. I agree with SpicewoodAg's assessment in regards to the type swimmers and times we need to be attracting. The swimmers we need should have olympic-type aspirations and will not be inspired by a team only approach. Reese does a good job of selling both at Texas.

I believe A&M has the facilities and academics to potentially attract great swimmers. Piece by piece, year by year - that's the only way to get it done. One or two gems per year would make it happen . We're in a tough spot, but I think the recruiting has already turned the corner. I don't envy them, but I think Jay and Ryan can get it done.

Gig 'em.

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The swimmers we need should have olympic-type aspirations and will not be inspired by a team only approach. Reese does a good job of selling both at Texas.

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Many great swimmers are not obviously team centric. They might even be more than a bit selfish. I think our staff is afraid of swimmers like this.

From good sources, I understand Jack Conger is at Texas for one thing - make it to the Olympics. Is that bad for Texas? No. Would a swimmer like that be bad for A&M? No. When it comes to NCAAs or conference, he is a bad ass and every point he scores is for the team.

women top 4 last three years..... men use to be top 10 to 15 8 years ago...not going in right direction

When was the last time A&M had only 1 swimmer at NCAAs?

Alabama has turned it around in 2 seasons?

Sorry. Couple of corrections on my original posting :

1) Academic aid can be gotten at A & M but is virtually non-existent, as Spicewood said. What I was saying is this gets hazy with the private schools. Where other state schools get the jump on A&M is the exemptions to neighbouring state kids to allow them in-state tuition. I dunno if t.u can do that, but it's kind of a moot point when your HC is Eddie Reese. He's gonna get whoever he calls.

2) DallasAg 94 - SMU is building a new pool. They pulled down the old one to build the new one. Will be finished by August. Cost $27million. Completely alumni funded. 50m, includes platform diving.

3) The roster limit is institutional not conference. That was my mistake. I do know the men have a limit. I do know it's below 30, but I don't know exactly what it is. I know Jay gets away with going over it by one or 2 every now and then because he is often under it in other years. Again, I don't know what that number is though.

4) Here's a big question - anyone know how many scholarships Diving takes out of the 9.9? Any diver with full ride should be scoring at SEC's and NCAA's. I don't know any specifics with regards to that.

5) Again, my opinion is they took a big swing on a class somewhere, spent money on them, and they didn't develop or improve. That's a tough situation with only 9.9 (minus diving). I think that money only freed up the last 2 years. So, this years freshman (I believe) are talented and a nicely high-end complimenting class is coming in.
If a lack of development happens again then the trigger on cleaning out the staff will happen, but I don't think so just yet. Give it time, let Mallam get sprinters he likes into that group and lets see how this rolls out.

In the meantime! Be good Ags and support no matter what. Be positive. We aren't helping what we all see as recruiting issues by ONLY saying negative things. There are more than a few bright spots, remember to say those things as well, and Gig 'Em!

'4) Here's a big question - anyone know how many scholarships Diving takes out of the 9.9? Any diver with full ride should be scoring at SEC's and NCAA's. I don't know any specifics with regards to that.'

That's up to the head coach and the diving coach. I completely agree with you on anyone with a full ride -- in swimming OR diving -- damn well better be scoring at NCAA's.

Before Jay Lerew was hired I was told that diving got 2.0 scholarships most years. I doubt if it changed much with Lerew. I know that Reese and Scoggins give and take a bit each year depending on what they are trying to do recruiting wise. Reese adjusts his allocations yearly for his roster. Some kids with 1/2 will lose some in a year and get it back the next. A near-walkon that steps up will earn money. It is probably about the same at Texas as at A&M. Scoggins gives and takes each year too. When Hixson was a freshman several guys lost some money.

Anyone with over 1/2 should be a conference A finalist and get to the NCAAs.

As for being positive - I will be positive about the athletes. I know how hard they work and I appreciate everything they do. But I have more difficulty with other aspects of the program. I still don't think they are effective recruiters. I'll shut up if we get to the top half of the SEC in 2-3 years.