Senior Candace Blackman catches her breath after taking first in the 200 yard freestyle in October in Joe Perkins Natatorium at the SMU Women’s Swimming and Diving Classic. Blackman finished with a time of 1 (Casey Lee)
The SMU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are back in action Thursday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin.
Not all the swimmers will be present at the Texas Invitational because the Mustangs also have participants in the U.S. Short Course Nationals taking place at Georgia Tech.
The Mustangs are coming off a strong fourth-place finish in the Art Adamson Invitational the weekend before Thanksgiving Break.
For the women, two seniors swam NCAA provisional qualifying times.
Candace Blackman placed fourth in the 100 and 200-yard freestyle events over the weekend, posting two NCAA qualifying times with a 48.86 in the 100 and a 1:46.80 in the 200.
Petra Klosova was another notable women’s swimmer, finishing the 100 back in 54.74 for third, and the 200 back in 1:56.47 for second. Both these times qualified her as well.
Another standout finisher at the invitational was junior Devon Callaghan, who had a fifth-place finish in the 100 breast and a fourth-place finish in the 200 breast. Right behind her followed senior, Jennifer Basel, who tied with Callaghan for fifth in the 100 breast and finished fifth in the 200 breast.
For the men, junior Pontus Renholm had two provisional qualifying times, swimming the 100 back in 47.60 and the 200 back in 1:44.58. The men have also been finishing strong in relays, finishing third in the 200 medley and fifth in the 400 free.
In the relays, the women have been outstanding as well. Last meet, the women’s relay finished third in both the 400 and 800 free and got a fifth place finish in the 200 medley relay.
The women divers have been stepping it up. Sophomore Audra Egenolf competed in her first platform event of the year, landing her in first place with a score of 262.85.
After this weekend, the Mustangs rest before competing at the Tennessee Diving Invitational on Jan. 1-5 in Knoxville, Tenn.
