The state of Texas is often a late-signing state in the college swimming game, and the Aggie men are a hallmark of that. While the women basically sealed up a great class in the fall, the men were left with a lot of work to do this week, and that started by signing Texas 100 backstroke State Champion Jacob Wallace to a letter of intent.
Wallace, the only swimmer to beat TCU commit Harrison Bui who we saw sign yesterday, will fill a big need for the Aggies. They graduated senior John Ariens, which leaves them truly without a backstroker on the roster. And that’s not an exaggeration – their fastest returning swimmer in the 100 is Paul-Marc Schweitzer, who is good in the 200 but had a season-best of only 50.1 in the 100.
Wallace has a best of 49.45 to win that 100 back state championship at the 5A level for Houston’s Cy-Creek High School. Competing for the nationally-recognized FLEET Swim Club, he also has a solid 1:49.3 in the 200, which he should be able to improve upon as a freshman.
And for relay purposes, which is always A&M’s big focus, he’s actually got a better 50 backstroke time (22.88) than freestyle (22.97).
He doesn’t have much in the way of a third race yet (50.30 at the State meet in the 100 fly, only a 48.8 in the 100 free) but given his speed in the backstroke races, his sprints should improve.
The Aggies still should have a lot of money to hand out, and may have had other signings yesterday that just haven’t come up. They are badly in need of a breaststroker, as well as a sprinter or two to prepare towards the future. After that, headed into the SEC next season, they’ll be looking for depth anywhere they can find it.
Jacob GOPO in all area codes.