Men’s Swimming & Diving Win AAC over Cincinnati

[Water Pony]

DALLAS – SMU men's swimming and diving won its second consecutive American Athletic Conference Championship today, defeating Cincinnati 1298-1113. Caleb Rhodenbaugh was named co-Most Outstanding Swimmer, Greg Rhodenbaugh was awarded Coach of the Year, Cotton Fields was named Freshman of the Year, Peter Smithson Most Outstanding Diver, and Darian Schmidt was awarded Diving Coach of the Year.

This was the Mustangs second overall AAC title and 43rd conference championship in program history. They have won 18 titles since 1997.

Getting the night started in his first collegiate 1650 freestyle race, Russell Exum took gold for SMU with a B-cut time of 15:21.22. Exum's victory ended a seven-year race winning streak for the Bearcats.

Jack Easton hit a B-cut and finished with the bronze in the 200 backstroke with a 1:44.00.

SMU made a big push in the 100 freestyle, sweeping the podium and taking the top five spots in the race. Tyler Mansheim won gold (43.69 – B Standard), Justin Baker silver (43.81), and Cole Bruns bronze with a career best time (43.83).

Rhodenbaugh impressed for the second night in a row in the 200 breaststroke. The fifth-year senior set a meet record, pool record, and beat his previous school record, taking gold with a time of 1:53.13. This was his third time winning the title. Colin Feehery took second place with a career best of 1:55.34.

For the second time this weekend, freshman Fields dazzled the crowd with a gold medal race in the 200 butterfly. Fields dethroned Cincinnati's Michael Balcerak and finished with the second fastest time in school history at 1:43.34.

Smithson won gold in platform diving for his second title in as many days. The junior set a school, meet, and pool record with his career best of 419.50. Tyler Coffey also set a career mark of 300.00 to take home the bronze.

The Mustangs closed out the weekend with a bang, winning another title in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 2:53.46. Feehery, Cole Bruns, Baker, and Mansheim raced for SMU.

Final Score
SMU – 1298
Cincinnati – 1113

Championship Numbers
SMU now totals 64 individual championships through nine seasons in The American. Twenty-two of those championships come from diving. They have also won 16 relay championships, six of which have been medleys (200 3x, 400 3x).

2022 Individual/Relay Titles
Parker Hardigree: 1 Meter Diving
Peter Smithson: 3 Meter Diving
Peter Smithson: Platform
Justin Baker: 50 Freestyle
Tyler Mansheim: 100 Freestyle
Russell Exum: 1650 Freestyle
Jack Easton: 100 Butterfly
Cotton Fields: 200 Butterfly
Caleb Rhodenbaugh: 100 Breaststroke
Caleb Rhodenbaugh: 200 Breaststroke
Riley Hill: 100 Backstroke
Cotton Fields: 200 IM
Colin Feehery: 400 IM
200 Medley Relay
200 Freestyle Relay
400 Freestyle Relay
800 Freestyle Relay

Back in Action
Qualified swimmers will compete at the American SC Championships March 3-5 in Austin, Texas, before awaiting NCAA Championships selections. Qualified Mustang divers will compete at the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships March 7-9 in Madison, Wisconsin.