Courtesy: SMU Athletics
The SMU men’s swimming and diving team welcomes Texas A&M to the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium Friday at 2 p.m. The event will stream live on ESPN+ with results available on the Meet Mobile App and Dive Meets. The meet is closed to the public.
The Mustangs will honor three seniors prior to the meet – Stephen Cheng, Daniel Forndal and Caleb Rhodenbaugh. Fans can watch the senior ceremony on the ESPN+ live stream starting at 2 p.m.
Last Time Out
Connor Dalbo (100 breast, 200 breast, 200 IM) led the Mustangs with three wins, as SMU came home with victories in 12 of 16 events to defeat UIW, 196-104. Petar Bozhilov (500 free, 1,000 free) and Daniel Forndal (100 free, 200 free) each added a pair of wins.
Bozhilov won the 1,000-yard freestyle and became the eighth fastest performer all-time at SMU with his time of 9:12.77.
Lance Butler (50 free), Parker Hardigree (1 meter) and Dominic Hoefer (3 meter) also had wins for the Mustangs.
The Mustangs also swept relays, winning the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay.
In The Rankings
SMU is currently ranked No. 25 in the CSCAA Division I Top 25 Poll. The rankings are voted on by CSCAA-member coaches and select media, and consider all forms of competition (virtual, intrasquad and in-person) since the November poll on Nov. 17.
The Mustangs were also ranked as high as No. 10 in the CollegeSwimming Division I Championship Rankings and are currently 17th in that index.
Scouting The Aggies
Texas A&M is currently ranked No. 4 in the latest Top 25 Poll, up from No. 6 in the previous edition. The Aggies are 1-1 in dual action with a win over TCU and a loss to No. 1 Texas. A&M also won their mid-season invite in November.
This will be the second time the Mustangs and Aggies meet this season, having matched up at in October.
Making The Cut
Seven Mustangs have posted a total of 12 NCAA B cuts this season.
Jack Callan | 1650 free
Connor Dalbo | 100 breast, 200 breast
Jack Easton | 200 back
Colin Feehery | 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 IM, 400 IM
Daniel Forndal | 100 free
Caleb Rhodenbaugh | 100 breast, 200 breast
Brayden Rudd | 200 breast
Four divers have achieved at least one NCAA Zone score.
Tyler Coffey | 3m
Parker Hardigree | 1m, 3m
Dominic Hoefer | 1m, 3m
Peter Smithson | 1m, 3m
NCAA Times
The Mustangs currently have four times ranked in the top-25 nationally.
| 200 breast 9. Rhodenbaugh | 1:54.72 22. Dalbo | 1:55.75 |
200 IM 21. Feehery | 1:45.49 |
400 IM 17. Feehery | 3:45.94 |
Additionally, nine more times rank in the top 50.
| 100 free 28. Forndal | 43.26 |
1000 free 27. Bozhilov | 9:12.77 50. Callan | 9:22.25 |
1650 free 39. Callan | 15:24.25 |
200 Back 48. Easton | 1:44.67 |
| 100 breast 33. Rhodenbaugh | 53.51 45. Dalbo | 53.80 |
200 breast 44. Feehery | 1:57.49 48. Rudd | 1:57.79 |
All-Time Mustangs
The current roster accounts for 14 spots on SMU all-time top-10 performer lists, including four spots in the 200 breast alone.
| 100 free 3. Forndal | 43.26 |
200 free 6. Forndal | 1:35.56 |
1,000 free 8. Bozhilov | 9:12.77 |
100 back 7. Hill | 47.54 |
200 back 7. Easton | 1:44.67 |
|
100 breast 4. Rhodenbaugh | 53.11 6. Dalbo | 53.80 7. Feehery | 53.88 |
200 breast 2. Rhodenbaugh | 1:54.63 4. Dalbo | 1:55.75 6. Feehery | 1:56.25 7. Rudd | 1:56.53 |
200 IM 2. Feehery | 1:45.49 |
400 IM 2. Feehery | 3:45.94 |
All-American Returners
The current roster returns CSCAA All-American Peter Smithson, who earned honors on 3 meter and platform in 2020, as well as six CSCAA Scholar All-Americans.
Smithson led the Mustangs as a first-team Scholar All-America selection, while Connor Dalbo, Daniel Forndal, Dominic Hoefer, Caleb Rhodenbaugh and Brayden Rudd earned Honorable Mention accolades.
In The Pool And In the Classroom
Following the 2019-20 season, the Mustangs became the only program from any institution to have won the American Athletic Conference Team Academic Award each season since the conference’s inception in 2013-14.
The award is given annually to the male and female teams in each conference-sponsored sport with the highest cumulative grade-point-average.
The Mustangs earned back-to-back CSCAA Scholar All-America honors last season, posting a 3.73 GPA in the spring, above the fall’s 3.28 mark, and 34 student-athletes were named to the conference all-academic team.
Looking Ahead
The Mustangs host Missouri State on Jan. 30 at 11 a.m. at the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center.
I don’t believe the meet is “required” to be closed per State of Texas coronavirus regulations. If this meet were being held in College Station, I know that each swimmer would be allotted a “set” amount of guests to enter the natatorium to watch the meet. Social distancing is in place & face masks are required. Trying to figure out why SMU isn’t doing the same (particularly since it is Senior Day)? Has/can the Dallas County judge set more stringent requirements than the Brazos County judge or is this an “SMU” thing? Even though this meet is being streamed on ESPN +, not everybody has ESPN + ! Shame that the families of those 3 seniors can’t be present/on site… Read more »