The Alabama swimming and diving team lost its first meet of the new year to Missouri on Saturday. Though the Crimson Tide came close to out-swimming the Tigers, they fell short, with the men losing 168-132 and the women losing 162-138.
“I was real pleased,” head coach Dennis Pursley said. “I think this was by far our strongest meet. We stepped up in training, and we have yet to do that in competition, and I think that they did well. They still came out a little bit on the short end on the score board, but they were a lot more competitive and a lot more spirited.”
Alabama women put up a good fight from the beginning, winning in the 200 yard Medley Relay, 1650 yard Freestyle and 200 yard Freestyle. Senior Jenna Gallo stood out, winning the 1650 yard Freestyle with a time of 17:09.62, about 20 seconds ahead of the rest of her competition.
Freshman Emma Saunders won two events, the 100 and 200 yard freestyle. Her wins helped the Tide get off to a good start but it wasn’t enough for the women to come out with a win.
The men had high points as well, with freshman Brian Westlake and senior BJ Hornikel winning two events. Westlake out-swam Missouri in the 500 and 1650 yard freestyle. Hornikel won in the 100 and 200 yard freestyle events.
Other winners for the Tide were Anestis Arampatzis, Vlad Caciuc, Kaylin Burchell and Lisa Bogosian.
Though Alabama finished with a loss, Pursley said he knows there’s a long way to go but is confident the Tide can come out on top in the end.
“We’re still making a lot of progress, which cost the board, but we’re not where we want to be,” Pursley said. “We still have to work on the technical side of the races. I think the fitness level has gotten close to where we want it to be. This is the most spirited team effort we’ve had so far.”
The Tide is now preparing for a meet against South Carolina and Georgia. Prep work for this meet is already a focus in Pursley’s mind.
“We’re looking at our performances relative to where we are and what our potential and capability is and just keep getting better,” Pursley said. “It’s going to be some time before we can get [to be] a team like Georgia and meet on the scoreboard, but we really want to move in that direction.”
