The point is well taken that Texas (university)has such a long legacy of swimming, many really good high school seniors would (and have) chosen to go to Texas, ride "the bench" for 3 or 4 (redshirt) years for a chance just to be on the conference team their last year. I know swimmers who have passed up significant scholarship offers from A&M just for the chance to walk on at texas. I know that holmes has been out and about talking to swim clubs hard, especially in the summer. Strange was a big grab for several reasons, not just because he is a good swimmer but now the good seniors this year will know he was state champ last year and went to A&M. Once you get the ball rolling, you keep moving with it. The hill to climb to get to beating t.u. on the mens side is HUGE, but if we put ourselves in a good place, we could strike hard and fast when eddie reese retires. When will that be? no one knows....

I don't actually think we can beat Texas on the men's side as long as Eddie Reese is there. He is a giant in the sport with 25 years of credibility. He will be a two-time Olympic coach.

I think we CAN become a top 10 team.

i guess i understand that the girls team is a bit more accomplished this year - but the most valuable athlete on either one of these teams is eric sehn.

i would venture to guess he's diving today at sectionals, but you would never know it looking at aggieathletics.

if anyone has any news from the divers - let us know!

sprintermike- i agree with you completely. picking up Strange was HUGE for A&Ms history in recruiting in the state of Texas. The younger guys will see how this state champ chose to come here, and make an immediate impact on the squad, whereas a state runner-up in '05, Scott Trompeter, chose to go to Texas and like you said "ride the bench". even though he has done nothing but improve, and still swim very fast, it is not quite enough to earn a spot on the scoring team after his first two years. Holmes point to stress, is asking if guys want to just "hop on for the ride" so to speak, in Austin, or do they wanna "drive the bus" into the top 10 here in Aggieland. I personally think its a great point, I just dont think alot of kids see it the same way

I also agree about Casey Strange.

I met his parents at Sectionals. They watched the men time trial the 200 free relay. (BTW - Strange split ~19.7). They were thrilled with A&M and said Casey was too. They said he was a late bloomer and swam for a small club team. Casey had an outstanding senior year of course - winning 50 free at state. They said Casey had contact from 35 coaches. He turned down more money (including full rides) at other schools to come to A&M. He was sold on A&M during his recruiting visit.

So whatever we did that weekend - we need to repeat with other promising talent that have an open mind about colleges.

well, thankfully someone is paying attention...

http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/14048.asp

quote:

---

After the first day of diving at the Zone D meet, Texas A&M's Eric Sehn, Missouri's Greg DeStephen and Texas' Mike Wong qualified for NCAAs. Sehn won the one-meter with 635.20 points, while DeStephen took second with 615.85 points. Wong claimed the seventh priority slot with a third-place 565.25.

---

the article goes on to say that the seven divers who bothered to attend zones will qualify since our zone gets 7 spots this year.

Spice- not to be a nag for details, but he was 19.6 and I had heard the same thing about him. very heavily recruited, but sold on A&M for the school as well as being a big impact guy on an up and coming program. Whoever was his host on his trip must have done a great job. The more guys like Casey Strange that A&M gets, the better we will continue to get.

And thank goodness we have Eric Sehn as well!

while I do tend to agree with texagg09 on someone hosting casey and doing a very good job of it....i do believe i heard that it was kyle holland, the team's resident yell leader, I must disagree with the impact that having a state champion on the team will make. the team has recruited and gotten other state champions in the past, infact both Casey Strange and Brad Raiford were state champions in the 50 free and Raiford again in the 100 free his senior year. The problem with having a school like t.u. in the state is that people will wonder why the state champion didnt go to one of the so called "power house" schools and may see their participation at a seemingly "lesser" school as a waste of talent. Luckily though, Strange did a wonderful job of coming into the program and just getting better. That, in my opinion, is what will bring the upper level swimmers--the progress of a state champion.

All I can say is that I chatted with Casey's very nice parents and they said Casey's trip to A&M is what sold him. They didn't say specifically what did it - but I think he simply liked the team "feel" and chemistry.

A know another A&M swimmer and he really likes the team. I met a girls team swimmer a year ago and she went on about the team spirit. Sounds like we just have two teams that "work."

quote:

---

Texas A&M's Eric Sehn won another title with 723.10 points, while Texas' Mike Wong placed second with 665.70 points and Missouri's Greg DeStephen took third with 659.25 points.

---

still undefeated on the year - keep it up!

outside smoke- i definitely do see your point. you are right, it is the progress of the state champion that is impressive. it helps when people look at A&M and see how guys have improved from when they were in high school. Even Raiford, after taking 2 years off COMPLETELY, was able to come back and go lifetime bests by a considerable amount in the 50 & 100. surely people have to see that as a positive for the program, just like Strange improving the way he has.

and once again...Eric Sehn is amazing. Hopefully he will make an impact on the diving program, both helping the freshman divers improve, as well as in recruiting

Congrats to all our swimmers

Did the A.D. hold the program back by not fully supporting Holmes?

If true then that sucks but nothing can be done about that now but move forward.

It has taken Bultman 7 years? A LOT of hard work from the coaching staff and selling that to the team has paid off. The benefits seem to get bigger each year.

That has to be captured by the men's program. It may take longer but it can be done regardless who is the coach in Austin. Can't control what they do but the program sure can control the direction it takes.

Bogus - Byrne didn't intentionally hold the men's team back (at least I don't think so). I think he just made a really stupid decision to give Holmes a 1 year contract and to publicize it. I remember Holmes had to say something like "I hope to prove myself and appreciate the chance to be the head coach."

Scared recruits away.....

I should never say never (about Reese in Austin). But I do not think we can even things out with Texas with Reese still there. He is a superb coach and respected around the world. He is so good that his top graduates choose to stay in Austin and train with him instead of moving back to their home teams. Peirsol, Crocker, and Hansen are not Texans. Each of them came from top programs elsewhere.

Texas women began a slow decline during Jill Sterkel's time as HC. Jill was a star at Texas, and everyone says she is a great individual. But something wasn't right inside the team. It could have been her relationship with her assistant coach (Mike Walker - who also had problems at Cal). Slowly but surely the talent dropped off. At the same time Bultman was doing his thing building us up.

Unless something similar happens with the men's program we have a huge hill to climb. We're climbing it right now and things are promising.

In general athletics at A&M are looking up just about everywhere. So the publicity around Gillespie, a better FB team, etc. will help us.

quote:

---

The problem with having a school like t.u. in the state is that people will wonder why the state champion didnt go to one of the so called "power house" schools and may see their participation at a seemingly "lesser" school as a waste of talent. Luckily though, Strange did a wonderful job of coming into the program and just getting better. That, in my opinion, is what will bring the upper level swimmers--the progress of a state champion.

---

maybe wishful thinking on my part and I do get accused of being too positive and optimistic but I think that when a swimmer like Ariana Kukors signs on with a "lesser" school like University of Washington it is a clear indication that anything can happen in recruiting

The A&M men and women should be able to compete with any program in the future.

Hey I've been too optimistic about our football team for 20 years!

Bogus - in general I agree with you. All we have to do is look at the nearly across the board improvement in our athletics since Byrne got here.

Byrne needs to help the men's team with publicity when something big happens.

ariana only signed up there to stay with her club coach - that's not unheard of for a swimmer at her level

regardless, signing just one swimmer of her talent will do wonders for the program.

i don't think it will be too long before coach holmes nails down a junior team kid.

no matter what anyone says, or what happened at NC's this year, the Men are on the way UP, not down

they definitely took a step in the right direction this year...will be interesting to see how much the freshman class improves next year...if they can add one or two studs they will be right back where they were as far as contending for a top 10 slot

How about Wilkinson finaling at the the world championships? She's been swimming lights out all season...

She swam really well at her first World's. very impressive season for her all around. 3rd youngest swimmer in the final 8? or something like that.

Anyone catch Picasso's split on the Uruguayan 400FrR? 50.2!!! AMAZING swim for him, especially considering hes been resting for almost 2 months straight.

I agree the men's team is improving and things are looking up.

Some of the swims at the World Championships are incredible. Phelps is on fire. He will surely dominate the IMs, probably set WRs in both. Only the 100 fly might be a race. But I would bet on Phelps now and do not think Crocker will beat him.

ya hes swimming lights out. WR in 200fr, beating the "Thorpedo" record, amazing

Phelps is up to 3 WRs. Easily the most versatile swimmer in the world. Ian Crocker has to be nervous about the 100 fly.

US Womens 800 relay was incredible.

I thought Wilkinson did great ...she looked very happy to be there.

Anyone know exactly when the Mexican Nationals start? Jacobo and Duran will be there competing again. any links to results would be great