For 14 years, Texas women’s swim and dive have yet to wear a medal other than gold at a conference meet. On Saturday, the Longhorns earned a back-to-back title at the 2026 Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The women’s competition began on day two of the conference meet. The Longhorns were on the podium for all four events — the 1650 freestyle, 200 medley relay team, 1-meter and 800 freestyle relay. Sophomore Jillian Cox took home the only gold that day in the 1650 freestyle, and the Longhorns concluded day two in first place with 232 points.
The following day, the Longhorns captured one podium finish by junior Campbell Stoll, who competed in the 200-yard butterfly. In the preliminaries, Stoll had a second-place finish of 1:53.36, which secured her spot in the finals. With the lack of podium finishes, the Longhorns trailed behind Tennessee at the end of day two, 377-345.
Day five of the championships was a significant day for the Longhorns, as the conference 500 freestyle record was broken, boosting the momentum heading into the final day. Jillian Cox shattered the record, winning the event and boasting a time of 4:30.53. A total of five Longhorns competed in that championship heat.
Texas started the day getting back-to-back podium finishes from junior Angie Coe and freshman Eva Okaro. Coe placed third in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:08.80, while Okaro had a solid podium finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.26.
The Longhorns rounded out the day with a third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay, boosting Texas to a 186.5 point lead heading into the final day.
Coe and Stoll picked up where the Longhorns left off, claiming first and second, respectively, in the 200-yard IM, with Okaro also earning a second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.
Okaro, sophomore Lillie Nesty, freshman Nikolett Padar and junior Erin Gemmell closed the championships, taking gold in the 400-yard relay, breaking a program record with a time of 3:08:14.
Texas concluded the championships with seven gold medals and 21 podium finishes, with a team total of 1,413.5 points, securing first place over Tennessee by 327.5 points.
During the Longhorns’ debut last year, they scored 1,450 points with seven first-place finishes. Still on the roster was SEC Swimmer of the Meet graduate Emma Sticklen, who contributed 96 points toward the Longhorns first SEC title.
The loss of Sticklen may be reflected in the total team points scored this year, but the young talent on the roster like Cox have stepped up and displayed their contribution to the team.
Qualified Longhorn swimmers and divers for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships will be announced March 4. Those selected will compete at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Georgia Tech’s McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga.
