The Bob Bowman era has begun, and the outlook can’t be better.
In a dominant display, No. 3 Texas defeated No. 23 LSU 198-102 in Baton Rouge, setting nine pool records and sweeping the podium in four events in its first dual meet of the season.
Olympic Gold medalist and junior transfer Hubert Kós was the star of the show, headlining with his three pool records in the 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard backstroke, and 100-yard butterfly, with times of 45.54, 1:41.09, and 45.89, respectively.
“Hubert is just scratching the surface on what he can do,” Bowman told the Austin American- Statesman in August. “Obviously, in winning the gold medal, he kind of cemented his position as one of the best in the world, right? He’s a very exciting swimmer.”
Sophomore Will Modglin trailed just behind Kós in both backstroke events with times of 45.87 and 1:42.46 in the 100-yard and 200-yard and swam as part of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay team along with sophomore Camden Taylor, sophomore transfer Rex Maurer and senior Luke Hobson, who set a pool record with a total time of 2:51.37.
Maurer earned Texas wins in both distance freestyle events with times of 4:14.58 and 8:45.26 in the 500-yard and 1,000-yard events, respectively, with the latter beating the pool record by 15 seconds.
Olympic silver and bronze medalist Hobson notched his first individual victory of the season in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:33.92, beating the next-best time by over a second and a half and setting another pool record. He also placed second in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 43.34, narrowly finishing behind LSU sophomore Jere Hribar, who set a pool record himself.
Junior and 2023 All-American diver Nick Harris led the Longhorns to victories in both diving events, winning the 1-meter and 3-meter dives with scores of 390.90 and 405.98, respectively. In his debut meet, freshman Luke Forester placed second in the 3-meter dive with an impressive 381.60.
The remaining Texas wins came with sophomore Will Scholtz in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:55.70, another pool record, and sophomore Nate Germonprez in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:46.38. Other notable second-place finishes included the team of Modglin, Germonprez, Kós and Taylor in the 200-yard medley relay, senior David Johnston in both distance freestyle events in his return to collegiate swimming and freshman Kyle Peck in the 100-yard butterfly.
After a successful SEC debut, Texas gets a hiatus before its home opener and second dual meet against No. 4 Indiana on Nov. 1.
