With the conclusion of swimming events in Paris, the U.S. beat Australia in the medal race and six Longhorns earned their first Olympic medals.
The 4×200 freestyle relay bled burnt orange on both the men’s and women’s sides as both teams brought home a U.S. silver medal.
The Longhorns were responsible for the first three legs of the men’s relay, and before swimming together on the global stage, senior Luke Hobson and former Texas swimmers Carson Foster and Drew Kibler had been on a relay together at Texas.
“Racing out there in the finals with … my Longhorn teammates, you’re part of a really amazing team, and I’m super thankful to be a Longhorn,” Kibler said.
Kibler got his first Olympic medal when the relay team finished with a time of 7:00:78. Meanwhile, Hobson and Foster, who had both won individual bronze medals earlier in the week, got to add a silver medal to their collection.
On the women’s relay team, sophomore Erin Gemmell earned her first Olympic medal. Swimming the anchor leg in 1:55:40 for a combined time of 7:40:86, Gemmell became the only female Longhorn on the podium for swimming.
“I am extremely honored to have won a silver medal for Team USA along with six other amazing women,” Gemmell wrote on social media. “Dreams do come true, and above all I had so. much. fun!”
Other Longhorns found success while representing different countries.
Incoming junior transfer Hubert Kós brought Hungary their first gold medal in Paris with a wild finish. At the halfway point in the 200-meter backstroke, Kós was in third place. With 50 meters left, Kós was more than a second behind Greece’s Apostolos Christou.
But Kós overtook Christou to win the race with a final time of 1:54:26.
“I just knew that I had to do something like that to win,” Kós said to the Associated Press. “Doesn’t really matter how I got there. The point is that I got there and I’m just really happy.”
Former Longhorn Caspar Corbeau won his first Olympic medal in the 200-meter breaststroke. Swimming for the Netherlands, Corbeau’s time of 2:07:90 got him on the podium with a bronze medal around his neck.
Corbeau has continually progressed at the Olympics. In 2020, he didn’t make the finals. Then, several days before his medal finish, Corbeau finished eighth place in the 100-meter breaststroke finals.
“Today, I am proud to say that I’m an Olympic medalist,” Corbeau wrote on social media. “Starting last fall, I moved across the world in hopes to rediscover my love for the sport of swimming. Little did I know that I would be welcomed with open, loving arms.”
After Paris, 34 men and 19 women have become Olympic medalists after swimming for Texas.
Kibler, Foster, Hobson, Corbeau, Kós and Gemmell have all added their names to the all-time list of Longhorn Olympic medalists.
