SMU Classic

It was a fast weekend at the annual SMU Classic, as schools headed down to Dallas to take on this uniquely formatted early season meet.

At the SMU Classic, six men’s and six women’s teams bring eight swimmers and one diver, with each program getting one relay and two individual entries per event over the two-day affair. Individual races are swum as an ‘A’ flight and a ‘B’ flight—each heat scores, though there are more points on offer in the ‘A’ final.

Men’s Recap

Results:

1. Indiana – 326
2. Louisville – 308
3. Virginia Tech – 303
4. Auburn – 261
5. Texas A&M – 233
6. SMU – 231

This meet often produces some fast early-season swims and this year was no exception. Virginia Tech grad student Carles Coll Marti threw down a 1:50.77 in the 200 breaststroke, smashing the pool and meet records. It’s his first 200 breast of the season and he’s nearly seven seconds faster than he was this time last season. It’s a time that would’ve easily made the 2024 NCAA ‘A’ final and finished 7th there (Coll Marti was third in 1:49.99—his second sub-1:50 outing).

Coll Marti also popped a lifetime-best 19.41 to win the ‘B’ flight of the 50 freestyle, which also would’ve won the ‘A’ flight by .05 seconds ahead of Auburn’s Kalle Makinen. The Hokie dropped a 50.72 100 breast split on the 400 medley relay, and 23.06 on the meet record-setting 200 medley relay (1:23.60). In the rest of his individual events, he posted a 51.61 100 breast and 1:42.60 200 IM.

In a preview of the coming 100 breast NCAA ‘A’ final, Coll Marti faced off against Louisville’s Denis Petrashov and Indiana’s Brian Benzing. After Coll Marti led the way at the 50 (24.13), Petrashov pulled ahead on the back half and took the win in 51.50, breaking the meet record (51.95) and Nic Fink’s pool record (51.59). Coll Marti took second in 51.61 while Benzing was 51.92 for third, also under the former meet record.

Coll Marti ran into Owen McDonald in the 200 IM. The junior and Arizona State transfer was sensational at this meet, sweeping his four individual events and scoring a meet-leading 64 points. He opened by swimming a lifetime-best 3:41.69 in the 400 IM, dropping from the 3:44.27 he swam at the 2022 NC State Invite. Then, McDonald popped a 45.35 100 backstroke, breaking the meet record. He swam a lifetime best 4:18.10 in the 500 freestyle before swimming a pool and meet record 1:42.09 in the 200 IM to wrap up his meet.

Other first-year Hoosiers at the Classic included Miroslav Knedla and diver Joshua Sollenberger. Given the star-studded nature of Indiana’s transfer class, Knedla’s flown a bit under the radar, but he made an impression in his collegiate and yards debut. The Czech Olympian swam 1:39.88 to win the 200 backstroke, missing Aaron Piersol’s meet record, which has stood since 2008, by a tenth. Knedla also led off Indiana’s winning 400 medley relay in 45.27, faster than McDonald’s 45.35 to win the individual event. Knedla clocked 45.37 to win the ‘B’ flight of the individual 100 backstroke, two-hundredths behind McDonald’s time in the ‘A’ flight to solidify the two will be a dangerous backstroke duo this season.

The Hoosiers won the meet with 326 points. Freshman Gregg Enoch scored 44 points and won the 200 fly (1:43.14) to help Louisville edge out ACC rivals Virginia Tech for second place by five points—308 to 303.

The Auburn Tigers took fourth with 261 points, well ahead of the battle between Texas A&M and SMU for fifth. The Aggies scored 233 points, beating SMU—led by graduate student Jack Hoagland in his final year of eligibility—by two.

Women’s Recap

Results:

1. Louisville – 329
2. Auburn – 294
3. Texas A&M – 293
4. Miami (FL) – 278
5. Virginia Tech – 253
6. SMU – 227

The Louisville women claimed the overall victory by a comfortable margin, beating Auburn by 35 points. They leaped out to the lead by the end of the first day of competition. The Cardinals were strong across the board, logging plenty of top two and top three finishes, but their event wins came not from the sprint events—where we’re used to seeing them shine—but in the 200s and 400 IM.

Senior Kim Herkle earned the first win of the meet for the Cardinals in the 400 IM, clocking 4:09.67, less than a second from her lifetime best of 4:08.94 from 2024 NCAAs. Herkle also won the 200 breast (2:09.88) and was the Cardinals’ top scorer of the meet. Louisville’s other event win came in the 800 free relay, where Summer Cardwell (1:46.15), Fernanda Gomes Celidonio (1:46.20), Tristen Ulett (1:46.83), and Paige Hetrick (1:48.28) won in 7:07.46, over two seconds ahead of the Aggies.

This isn’t to say that Louisville’s sprint events weren’t strong. Freshman Caroline Larsen had arguably their best swim of the meet, winning the ‘B’ flight of the 50 freestyle in 22.16, which she matched anchoring the 200 medley relay. Gabi Albiero posted a 22.40 for third in the event, then swam  52.49 for second in the 100 fly and split 22.11 on the 200 free relay.

Miami got a boost in the standings from Mia Vallee returning from an Olympic redshirt year and they were also impressive in the pool. The Hurricanes have a stacked freshman class and at this meet, it was Ashlyn Massey’s time to shine as she took down the 200 butterfly school record and won the event in 1:56.55, beating Olivia Theall by .09 seconds.

Their 2024 NCAA qualifier Giulia Carvalho also looked strong, posting season bests of 22.06 and 51.87 to win the 50 free and 100 butterfly, then swimming a personal best of 48.56 to win the 100 freestyle.

Virginia Tech’s Carmen Weiler Sastre was on fire over the two-day meet. She scored the most points of any woman at the meet (55 points) as she matched Carvalho with two individual event wins. Weiler Sastre swept the backstrokes with new personal bests; first, she swam 52.17 in the 100 backstroke, dropping .61 seconds from 2024 ACCs.

She swam 1:52.55 in the 200 backstroke, setting a pool record in addition to her win and personal best. It’s her first PB in the event since 2022, when she swam 1:52.97 at the Ohio State Invite. She swam PBs in the 50/100/200 backstroke at the meet, completing the trifecta with a 24.49 lead-off in the 200 medley relay.

Graduate student Chloe Stepanek gave the Aggies their first event win in the Blaire Anderson-era. She won the 200 freestyle on Day 1, swimming 1:44.22 to win the event by nearly two seconds. Hayden Miller added another event win in the 500 free, swimming 4:43.39.

The Auburn women finished second overall, powered by their relays. They opened the meet by winning the 400 medley relay as Polina Nevmovenko held off Stepanek on the freestyle leg to win in 3:33.41. They also won the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay, swimming 1:37.25 in the former and 1:29.50 in the latter. By winning the 200 freestyle relay—the last event of the meet—the Tigers jumped ahead of the Aggies and beat them by one point for second place.