The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Big 12 Championships
No. 8 Men's Swimming and Diving sweeps opening night at Big 12 Championships
02.26.2014 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Longhorns win the 200-yard medley relay, one-meter diving and the 800 freestyle relay.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 8 Texas swept the opening night of competition Wednesday at the Big 12 Championships at UT's Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
Texas opened the competition with a win in the 200-yard medley relay. Junior Kip Darmody teamed with sophomore Imri Ganiel, freshman Jack Conger and sophomore John Murray to take the win in 1 minute, 24.86 seconds, good for a NCAA automatic-qualifying cut.
Texas took the top six slots in the men's one-meter diving finals as freshman Michael Hixon claimed his first Big 12 crown with 429.00 points. Junior Will Chandler took second at 404.20, and sophomore Sean O'Brien placed third with 390.70 points.
Texas wrapped the evening by winning the 800 freestyle relay in 6:17.24, good for the third-fastest time in the country and the eighth-fastest time in school history. The relay featured Conger, Sam Lewis, Darmody and Clay Youngquist.
Day two of the Big 12 Championships begins with the preliminary round Thursday at 10 a.m. Central.
POST-MEET COMMENTS
Texas head coach Eddie Reese
This was one of our better first days (of a Big 12 Championship). Our times were good. I like where we are. It's evident now who the guys are who need to rest more. We'll get better each day.
Texas diving coach Matt Scoggin
On freshman Michael Hixon's performance
Mike's always been a strong one-meter diver. He has been focusing more on three-meter since it's an Olympic event. His work in the weight room is really paying off. As a matter of fact, the whole team's work in the weight roomis paying off. They all look very strong, and they're only going to get stronger as we get closer to the zone meet, and then even stronger as they rest more toward NCAA's. Mike's performance tonight was really good, but he can do even better.
On placing first through sixth in the one-meter finals
We were able to put this group together because they wanted to dive with each other and push each other. The prelim and final they were in today was what they go through every day in practice. They're pushing each other in the weight room, on the boards….even if they're playing darts. They are very competitive. On any given day, they know that any of their teammates can surpass them.
