The University of Missouri’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were defeated by the University of Alabama in their first Southeastern Conference meet of the 2023-24 season. The competition took place at the Don Gambril Olympic Pool in the Alabama Aquatic Center on Friday.
Alabama’s women’s team won against Missouri with a score of 212-88, while the men’s team secured a victory with a score of 180-118.
Missouri sent 46 athletes to Tuscaloosa, including 30 returning swimmers and divers and 16 newcomers. The Tigers achieved seven event wins during the meet—three by the women’s team and four by the men’s team—and earned a total of 36 podium finishes.
Taylor Williams continued her strong performance this season, winning two events: she took first place in the 200-yard butterfly for the second time this season with a time of 2:01.08, and later won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 54.07, narrowly beating Alabama’s Gaby Van Brunt by one-tenth of a second.
Kayla Wilson led Missouri’s women on the three-meter diving board, winning with a score of 331.73. Kamryn Wong, making her season debut, finished second with a score of 319.50. In this event, Missouri outscored Alabama by seven points.
On the men’s side, Grant Bochenski won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 48.47 seconds, more than a second ahead of his closest competitor. This was one of four podium finishes for Bochenski at this meet.
Jan Zubik placed first in the men’s 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:47.72 during his first race that morning.
Collier Dyer swept both men’s diving events, scoring 337.80 in the one-meter and 320.40 in the three-meter competitions, contributing significantly to Missouri’s point total.
Freshman Leo Kurucz had his debut for Missouri as their fastest swimmer in the men’s 1000-yard freestyle, finishing second overall with a time of 9:34.23.
Among other notable results, only one diver from Alabama finished ahead of either Wong or Wilson throughout all diving events that day; before their sweep on three-meter dive, they also took second and third place respectively on one-meter dive. Wilson’s score on three-meter is now ranked as tenth highest in program history.
Missouri will host Auburn and Indiana for its first home meet of the season at Mizzou Aquatic Center on Wednesday, October 25 starting at 10 a.m., where live results will be available via Meet Mobile App.
