SOUTH METHOD VS. TEXAS

• Friday, February 4, 2022
• Robson & Lindley Aquatic Center, Dallas, TX
• Double match format
• SCY
• Live results
• Also on Meet Mobile as “2022 SMU v Texas”
• Sheet music
  • Men: Texas 164, Southern Methodist 127
  • Women: Unmarked

The Texas men beat Southern Methodist, 164-127, in a doubles encounter that was supposed to feature the Texas women as well. Instead, the women from Texas didn’t make the trip, but the women from Mustang still managed to swim. We will note here that Texas exposed the latest events, giving those points to SMU.

We fired up a quick article on the first event of today’s dual meet between the Texas men and the Southern Methodist men, but the Longhorn men haven’t really slowed down from there.

A few minutes later, freshman Luke Hobson and David Johnstone duel at a pair of 8:43s in the 1,000 freestyle. It was an incredibly tight contest; Hobson led Johnston by 0.02 seconds at the halfway mark, 4:20.68 to 4:20.70. In the end, Hobson held on to win, 8:43.66 to 8:43.96.

They are the two fastest times in the NCAA this season, bettering the pair of 8:48s ​​the duo swam two weeks against TCU. Jake Foster, who is mostly an IM/breaststroke type, took 3rd place in 8:49.85, effectively ranking him 3rd in the NCAA this season. Unlike most who swim the 1,000 freestyle mid-season, he likely won’t swim his championship season counterpart, the 1,650 freestyle, as he will swim the 200 breaststroke instead.

Hobson and Johnston now rank No. 8 and No. 9 all-time in this event, according to the USA Swimming database. The fastest time in history belongs to former Longhorn Clark Smith, who clocked 8:33.93 in 2015.

Based on the results, not all of the Texas men looked ready for the big swims today (and we don’t know who was or was not wearing technical suits), but there were still several other notable performances.

Carson Foster won the 200 backstroke with a fast time of 1:39.25. It’s now the 2nd fastest time in the nation this season, behind just 1:39.24 that Cal’s Destin Lasco swam at the Minnesota Invite.

Drew Kiblerwho was the 200 freestyle finalist at the NCAA championships last year, swam a season best time of 1:32.74, breaking his own pool record and moving to No. 5 in Division I this season .

Caspar Raven swept the breaststroke events with times of 52.35 and 1:53.87. Raven’s season best times of 50.79 and 1:50.81 each rank second in the country this season. In a fun twist, Caspar swam against his younger brother, Raven Angus, in both events. Angus, a freshman at SMU, went 55.11 in the 100 and 1:59.12 in the 200.

When it wasn’t a win, freshman Anthony Grimm notched the best of his life in the 50 free, finishing 2nd with a time of 19.60. His previous record of 19.67 came nearly three years ago as a high school sophomore at the Virginia Class 6 State Championships. Likewise, earlier tonight he bettered his best three-year record in the 50 backstroke while leading the Longhorns 200 medley relay.

Likewise, his freshman classmate Tim Connery did not win any events, but he set a new lifetime record with his time of 46.53 in the 100m butterfly.

Teammate Alvin Jiang won the 100 butterfly, stopping the clock in a time of 45.82 which was nearly identical to his 100 backstroke victory time of 45.83. The fifth-year Longhorn was an NCAA A finalist in both events last year.

Coby Carrozza also picked up a pair of wins, clocking 1:42.96 in the 200m butterfly and 43.80 in the 100m freestyle. Alex Zettle won the 500 free with a 4:21.74, while Jake Foster touched first in the 200 Im with a 1:43.78, although that event was exposed.

Texas finished the day with a run of 1:17.18 in the 200 freestyle relay. Grimm started in 19.71, followed by Raven (19.32), Kibler (19.16) and Daniel Krueger (18.99).

While the Texas swims grabbed the headlines, Southern Methodist also put in strong performances

Justin Baker won the 50 free, getting the better of Grimm by the smallest possible margin, 19.59 to 19.60.

It was the only outright win of the day, but the Mustang men and women (who basically did time trials after the Longhorn women didn’t make the trip from Austin) swam with several best times of the season.

The 1000 free turned out to be a fast event all around. Ilektra Lebl went 9:58.64 in the 1,000 freestyle, lowering the team’s best for the season by almost exactly ten seconds. Likewise, freshman Russell Exum lowered his own and his team’s season record to 9:10.23 from 9:20.03.

Colin Fehery broke an SMU season record in the 200 breaststroke with his time of 1:55.78, while Kolos Nagy did the same with a 1:48.69 in the 200 fly.

The Longhorn men will then swim in about two and a half weeks at the Big 12 Championships, while the Mustangs next meeting (in addition to the “pre-conference time trials” tomorrow) will be the American Athletic Conference Championships, which will begin on February 16.