Huge Relay Performances and Stoffle Brothers Lead Auburn Men to Victory Over Texas A&M

By Spencer Penland on SwimSwam

AUBURN vs TEXAS A&M (MEN’S DUAL)

• Wednesday, January 4, 2023
• James E. Martin Aquatic Center, Auburn, AL
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

Click here for women’s recap

TEAM SCORES

1. Auburn – 167.5
2. Texas A&M – 132.5

Auburn hosted Texas A&M on Wednesday, January 4 for the first SEC dual meet of 2023. The Tiger men overcame the Aggies in the men’s meet, marking a huge program win against a tough opponent. SwimSwam currently has Texas A&M ranked 11th in our Power Rankings, while Auburn is ranked 15th.

If we were just looking at the rosters and what these teams had done up to this point in the season, we would have given a slight edge to Texas A&M in this meet. That being said, Auburn swam exceptionally well, using depth to get the job done, even overcoming a diving deficit.

To quickly go over the diving results, the Aggies outscored the Tigers 21-17. In 1-meter, Texas A&M went 1-2, with Allen Bottego winning with a score of 373.28, just ahead of teammate Victor Povzner (369.15). Auburn took 3-meter, with Conner Pruitt racking up 408.83 points to win the event decisively.

In the pool, the Tigers got off to an electric start, winning the 200 medley relay by well over a second. Aidan Stoffle led off in a speedy 21.97 and was followed by Reid Mikuta in 24.31 for a 46.28 on the first 100, which was a second faster than Texas A&M. Nate Stoffle then posted a 20.73 on fly for Auburn and Kalle Makinen anchored in 19.76, getting the Tigers into the wall in a final time of 1:26.77. Incredibly, the Stoffle brothers and Mikuta each posted the fastest split in the field in their respective strokes. Makinen’s 19.76 anchor split was the second-fastest in the field, but it wasn’t Texas A&M’s anchor who was faster, it was Auburn ‘B’ relay anchor Mihalis Deliyiannis anchoring his relay in 19.69 to lead the freestylers in the event.

Auburn also blew Texas A&M away in the 400 free relay to close out the meet and seal the victory. In that relay, Aidan Stoffle (44.36), Makinen (43.97), Ryan Husband (44.05), and Christian Sztolcman (44.24) combined for a 2:56.62, beating the Aggies’ ‘A’ team by nearly three seconds (2:59.59). As they did in the 200 medley relay, Auburn’s ‘B’ team finished third. Due to that, the Tigers outscored the Aggies 26-8 on the relays, which was a massive reason they were able to come out on top in the overall scoring.

Brother duo Aidan Stoffle and Nate Stoffle went 1-2 in the 100 back, with Aidan, the older sibling, winning the race in 46.98 and Nate taking second in 47.51. Aidan won the race on the front half, splitting 22.96 on the opening 50, well ahead of Nate’s 23.69.

The Stoffle brothers did it again in the 100 fly, where Aidan once again won, swimming a 47.87. Nate took second once again, clocking a 48.05. This time, it was Nate who got out to the early lead, splitting 22.28 on the first 50 compared to Aidan’s 22.63.

Reid Mikuta was another Auburn swimmer who won individually, taking the 100 breast in 53.96. He led the field on both 50s, splitting 25.45 going out and coming home in 28.51.

The Tigers also had a great showing in the 50 free, where Mihalis Deliyiannis touched first in 20.16, just ahead of Auburn teammate Kalle Makinen (20.26). Auburn made it a sweep of the sprint free events, as Christian Sztolcman won the 100 free in 44.16. Sztolcman was impressive on the back half of the race, coming home in 44.16.

Pivoting to the Aggies, Baylor Nelson was absolutely on fire, winning three individual events. Nelson kicked off his day by winning the 200 free in 1:36.91. He swam a fantastic race, splitting 48.00 on the first 100 then coming home in 48.91.

Nelson then won the 200 back, clocking a 1:45.01. This time, he negative split the race, going out in 52.72 on the first 100 and coming home in 52.29. His splitting was incredible, as he went 25.64 on the first 50, then split 27.08, 26.65, and 25.64 respectively on the remaining 50s.

Nelson capped off his individual racing with a win in the 200 IM, swimming a 1:48.66.

Texas A&M freshman Batuhan Filiz was great as well, sweeping the men’s distance events. He started out with a 9:10.00 to win the 1000 free, taking the race over on the back half. He negative split his race, swimming a 4:36.33 on the first 500, then came home in 4:33.67.

Filiz then won the 500 free in 4:24.62, establishing a lead around the 200-yard mark and holding it through the finish.

A&M also got a win in the 200 breast, where Andres Puente Bustamante was dominant, swimming a 1:58.77 to finish first by well over two seconds.

SwimSwam: Huge Relay Performances and Stoffle Brothers Lead Auburn Men to Victory Over Texas A&M