After achieving the No. 2 ranking, Texas women’s swimming and diving is seeking its 12th consecutive Big 12 Championship win this next week.
If Texas wins this week, it will be the 22nd Big 12 title and 36th conference championship in program history.
“I don’t wanna slow down,” Head Coach Carol Capitani said in a media availability Thursday. “Competition brings out the best in us.”
The meet takes place this year in Morgantown, West Virginia, home of the Mountaineers. West Virginia has hosted this championship twice before and it will be its first meet since it won against Iowa State.
Time trials are set to begin on Tuesday morning, all swimmers will swim every event that they will compete in during the meet. Both swimming and diving preliminary rounds take place in the mornings for the following four days, with finals taking place in the afternoon.
Texas scored a total of 1,105 points last year, 540.5 more points than runner-up Iowa State and 549.5 points more than TCU, who clinched third.
The No. 2 ranked Longhorn team is bringing back nine returning champions, including fifth year Kelly Pash, who won seven events in 2023.
Sophomore Lydia Jacoby, a newcomer to the team in 2023, won both the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke and returns to compete in this year’s championship.
Junior Hailey Hernandez, who has been named Diver of the Meet twice, is looking to defend the 1-meter title she won last season.
Texas, which is only behind the No. 1 University of Virginia, is set to compete against BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, TCU and West Virginia. The Longhorns are the only team ranked in the top 25.
“I think we’re in a good spot,” Capitani said. “Seniors especially want to go out with a bang.”
After this championship, Texas waves goodbye to the Big 12. With a strong senior class all the way down to promising freshmen, it is prepared to finish strong.
“It’s our last year in the Big 12,” Capitani said. “Going into our last one and wanting to leave our mark, there is a gigantic legacy of just some incredible swimmers from the past. We want to honor them, honor ourselves … honor Texas’ place in the Big 12.”
