Texas women’s swim and dive closed out their regular season with a sweet victory over rivals Texas A&M and a win in the Sterkel Classic, but the hard part of their season is only beginning.
The Longhorns are headed to Athens, Georgia for their first Southeastern Conference Championship. Head coach Carol Capitani’s Longhorns are coming off 12 straight Big 12 Championship wins and hope to continue the tradition in their inaugural year in the SEC.
“It’s going to be a really exciting meet. It’s going to be a battle, and that’s what we have been looking forward to for a really long time,” Capitani said in a media availability Friday.
Texas dominated the regular season going 7–1 overall and 3–0 against SEC opponents, No. 21 Texas A&M, No. 11 Georgia and No. 20 LSU, winning all three matches by large margins. Texas is the highest-ranked team in the conference and are favorites to win despite intense competition.
The SEC is an arguably more competitive conference than the Big 12. With nine teams in the top 25, the conference is proving to be one of the most dominant for swim and dive. Despite the Longhorns’ success with SEC opponents so far this season, they have yet to face their toughest challenges in the conference, No. 4 Tennessee and No. 5 Florida.
The Lady Vols finished second in the 2024 SEC Championships and fourth in the NCAA tournament last year, in which Texas finished second. The Vols went undefeated in January and seem to be hitting their stride at the right time.
Tennessee boasts graduate Mona McSharry, bronze medalist in the 100-meter breaststroke, and three-time defending SEC champion in the 100-meter breaststroke. Although she has not been putting up her best times so far this season she is likely to come to full form for the SEC Championships in February and NCAAs in March.
The Longhorns lost their standout breaststroker Lydia Jacoby, who decided to forgo her last two years of eligibility and focus on her professional career, so McSharry could cause problems for the Longhorns if she is in peak form.
The Florida Gators, who placed third in the NCAA tournament last year, are looking to protect their title as two-time defending SEC champions despite coming off a loss from in-state rival Florida State and dropping one rank from No. 4 to No. 5.
The Gators have current 500 freestyle champion sophomore Bella Sims, but Texas sophomore Erin Gemmell, current Big 12 champion in the event, and freshman Jillian Cox, who has set school records this year in both the 500-meter and 1000-meter freestyle events could give Sims a run for her money.
The Longhorns have been on the podium in almost every single event this year. Texas swept the podium in the 200-meter individual medley and the 3-meter platform in its last dual meet against Texas A&M, and it will need to continue to perform in all aspects of the pool to secure the SEC Championship win.
“(The Big 12 Championships were) a way we could race and have some fun … but I don’t think it sharpened us that well for NCAAs … and now that we get to compete and we get to prepare,” Capitani said. “Winning is winning and swimming against the best always makes you better … It’s going to be a change. It will be fun.”
