Texas men’s swim and dive won their 46th consecutive conference championship following a dominant five-day meet performance at the Southeastern Conference championship on Feb. 22.
In their inaugural year in the SEC, the Texas men’s swim and dive team broke Florida’s 12-year SEC conference champion streak, ultimately beating them by 149.5 points. The Longhorns have won 38 Southwest Conference titles, 28 Big 12 Conference titles, and now one SEC title.
Sophomore Rex Maurer, who won two gold, one silver and one bronze medal, was a major part of the team’s success.
Maurer dominated the pool over the week. At the end of the meet, he was awarded the SEC Commissioner’s Cup Trophy after scoring 91 points, the highest score by any male athlete during the championship. Maurer also broke the SEC record on Thursday following his 400-meter individual medley race with 3:35.61.
The Longhorns broke many school and meet records in their event, including junior Hubert Kós, who set the record in the 200-meter backstroke. Sophomore Nate Germonprez shattered his previous school record in the 100-meter breaststroke, winning silver in the event. On the final day of competition, senior David Johnston swam the fastest time for the 1,650-meter freestyle in the country and brought home the gold.
Kós was another stand-out swimmer over the week, winning three individual and four team relay medals. Kós previously attended Arizona State while head coach Bob Bowman led the Sun Devils, but transferred to Texas alongside Bowman this year. He said at the start of the season, the training from Bowman took some time for the team to get used to, but in the end, it would pay off, and the team would see the results. Texas is currently ranked No. 1 going into the NCAA meet.
By the end of the five-day meet, Texas had won 21 medals in 14 different events. After a dominating performance, the team looks forward to the NCAA Championships in March.
Before the meet began, head coach Bob Bowman said he would “leave some in the tank” for the NCAA meet and hoped to use the SEC championship to prepare the team for the competition they will face at the NCAA championships.
“We’re looking to use this as a rehearsal for NCAAs,” Bowman said. “We have a process of things that we want to go through at a championship meet, and there’s no better way to learn and perfect that than to actually go through a meet like this where you’re doing it under the pressure of competition.”
