Men's Swimming and Diving
On top of their seven national titles, the Auburn men have won several SEC championships. Since their first SEC Championship in 1994, Auburn has won 14 out of the last 15 SEC titles, including 13 straight since 1996. Only Tennessee has broken Auburn's SEC championship streak. Between January 11, 2001 and January 11, 2007 Auburn did not lose a single dual meet (meets in between 2 or 3 teams only). The only team to beat Auburn during that time period was arch swimming rival Texas, when they snapped the Tigers 44 consecutive dual meet winning streak by a score of 130-113.
The 2006 Men's Swimming and Diving senior class, consisting of Kurt Cady, George Bovell, Eric Shanteau, and Doug Van Wie finished as the only senior class in AU History for any sport to go undefeated their entire college career. They never lost a Dual, SEC, or NCAA meet.
The 2007 Men's SEC Championship team dominated the conference competition, winning by 114.5 points over the second place Florida. The men's team won 11 individual conference titles, including sweeping all diving and relay events.
Like the conference, Auburn's men dominated the 2007 NCAA championship meet. The Tigers scored 566 points in the meet, easily outdistancing second place Stanford who scored 397 points, a difference of 169. On the very first swim of the meet, the 200-yard (180 m) freestyle relay, the Tigers set a new NCAA record in the prelims which they then broke in the championship final (1:14.71). Auburn would go on to set NCAA records in four more events, the 50 Free (César Cielo, 18.69), 100 Free (César Cielo, 41.17), the 400 Free relay (2:46.56), and the 200 Medley Relay (1:23.37). César Cielo became the first Auburn swimmer since Rowdy Gaines to win the 100 Free national title, and the first Auburn swimmer to win the 100 and 50 free in the same NCAA meet. Auburn diver Steven Segerlin repeated his 2006 Platform diving championship and won the 3M Springboard title to go with his third place in the 1M Springboard. Auburn was awarded for its dominance by sweeping the post meet awards, David Marsh was named NCAA Division I Men's Swimming Coach of the Year, head diving coach Jeff Shafer was named NCAA Division I Men's Diving Coach of the Year, César Cielo was named NCAA Division I Men's Swimmer of the Year and Steven Segerlin was named NCAA Division I Men's Diver of the Year.
In the 2009 SEC Championship meet, Auburn's men won first place for the 13th consecutive time, tying a conference record. Auburn was led by Matt Targett, who won seven individual SEC championships, winning every event he entered. He was named SEC Male Swimmer of the year for his efforts. In the 2009 National Championships held in College Station, Texas Auburn trailed rival Texas for the first two days of the competition. In the final day of competition Auburn took the lead during the first two events and held on to win the eighth national title for the men's team. This past year the mens swimming won the SEC title for their 15th strait SEC title.
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Famous quotes containing the words men, swimming and/or diving:
“Young, and so thin, and so straight.
So straight! as if nothing could ever bend her.
But poor men would bend her, and doing things with poor men,
Being much in bed, and babies would bend her over,
And the rest of things in life that were for poor women,
Coming to them grinning and pretty with intent to bend and to kill.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
“The swimming hole is still in use. It has the same mudbank. It is still impossible to dress without carrying mud home in one’s inner garments. As an engineer I could devise improvements for that swimming hole. But I doubt if the decrease in mother’s grief at the homecoming of muddy boys would compensate the inherent joys of getting muddy.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)
“all the fine
Points of diving feet together toes pointed hands shaped right
To insert her into water like a needle”
—James Dickey (b. 1923)