Competitive spirit, pride and unprecedented athletic ability permeated the

walls of the Student Aquatic Center as the men’s swimming and diving teams

challenged No. 3-ranked Texas in a dual meet on Saturday night. Despite the

valiant effort of the sixth ranked Vols, they were unable to swim away with

the win; Texas squeaked past the Tennessee, 124-119.

The Vols set the pace early with first place finishes in the initial three

events. In the 400 medley relay, the ensemble of Michael Gilliam, Jeremy

Linn, Adam Engle and Chris Olafson emerged victorious, giving the Vols a

13-4 lead from the start. Their energy was contagious as Matt Hall swam a

career best for a win in the 1,000 freestyle and Zane DeWitz followed with

a season best time in the 200 freestyle.

At this point in the meet, the Vols were in a good position with a 38-17

lead over Texas. The night, however, was full of edge-of-your-seat

excitement as the lead went on to change four times. After the one-meter

diving event, the Longhorns had closed the margin to 57-55. Barely hanging

on to the lead, Tennessee continued to perform well, posting more

season-best swims and NCAA provisionally qualifying times.

Sean Stringer swam a season best to win the 200 backstroke, putting the

Vols ahead by one point, while Linn added a season-best swim in the 200

breastroke, tying the score at 113 before the final event. Also giving

strong performances were senior Craig Gilliam, who finished second in the

50 freestyle and freshman Joel Shapiro who swam a season-best time to place

second in the 200 butterfly.

Hall increased his winning record as he swam another impressive race,

winning the 500 freestyle and posting a season-best time. The Lexington,

N.C. native lead the way for the Vols, pulling out all the stops for an

impressive night of personal bests.

“Matt Hall passed for 530 yards today. What he did was equal to Peyton

Manning’s performance against Kentucky,” said head coach John Trembley.

Though Hall and his teammates had outstanding performances, they were

unable to defeat the Longhorns. A come-from-behind victory in the final leg

of the final event of the night gave Texas the win. The Longhorns’ Neil

Walker charged the wall in the 400 freestyle relay to finish just a spilt

second ahead of Tennessee, securing their victory.

“They saved their two best free stylers for the 400 free relay and that was

the difference,” Trembley said.

Saturday’s loss ended a streak of 41 consecutive dual-meet victories at the

Aquatic Center: their first defeat since 1988. The night was an

electrifying bout of two top 10 programs; unfortunately someone had to

lose. Though unable to preserve a record, the Vols displayed the honor and

respect that Tennessee swimming and diving has come to represent. The Big

Orange tradition was upheld as the Vols swam with heart and pride, coming

up only five points short.

“We had some good swims,” Trembley said. “It was a great competition

between two great teams.”

Also in action this weekend were the Lady Vols swimmers and divers who

traveled to Clemson on Friday to defeat the Lady Tigers by 10 points. The

dual meet featured a tri -win by senior Fabiola Molina who lead Tennessee

with 27 points. The Lady Vols are currently ranked No. 12 with a 4-0

record.