The SMU Men’s Swimming and Diving Team won 10 gold medals at the American Athletic Conference Championship, plus seven silvers and four bronzes. The Mustangs finished in a close second place, 34.5 points behind champion East Carolina. SMU led the meet after two days, but fell into second place on day three despite four wins.
Freshman Christian Scherubl set a school and meet record in the 500-yard freestyle with a 4:18.23, six seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. He also set a school record in the 200-yard freestyle by swimming a 1:34.89. His three individual gold medals helped him earn the AAC’s Most Outstanding Swimmer award, while head diving coach Jim Stillson was named the conference’s Diving Coach of the Year.
SMU won gold in the following events: 500-yard freestyle (Scherubl); 200-yard free (Scherubl); 100-yard freestyle (Scherubl); 100-yard butterfly (Sam Straughan); 100-yard backstroke (Straughan); 200-yard backstroke (Straughan); 200-yard butterfly (Tyler Rauth); three-meter dive (Devin Burnett); one-meter dive (Burnett); platform dive (Burnett).
Next up for the Mustangs is the American Short Course Championship in Austin, Texas. The three-day meet begins on March 5.