Simone Manuel Fires Off Season-Best 53.15 100 Free On Day 1 of Austin Sectionals

2026 Speedo Sectionals – Austin

• July 15-19, 2026
• Austin, Texas
• Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center
• LCM (50 meters)
• Results on Meet Mobile: “2026 ST TXLA SZ LC Sectional Champs”

Simone Manuel highlighted the opening day of the 2026 Speedo Sectionals in Austin with a very impressive performance in the 100 freestyle, while many of her Texas pro group teammates also performed well in their home pool.

Manuel, 29, put up a time of 53.15 in the women’s 100 free, lowering her previous season-best of 53.33, set at the U.S. Open in December, to move up from a tie for 13th into 11th in the world this season.

After clocking 53.98 in the prelims behind splits of 26.08/27.90, Manuel was out more than half a second faster in the final (25.53) while still managing to close a bit quicker in 27.62.

Since setting her season-best in December, Manuel has produced five other sub-54 swims in 2026 prior to this meet: 53.55 in January, 53.88 in March, 53.94 in April, and then 53.50 and 53.67 at last month’s Longhorn Elite Invite.

Manuel is one of many Texas pro swimmers who will represent the U.S. at next month’s Pan Pacific Championships.

Placing 2nd to Manuel in the women’s 100 free was rising Texas senior Erin Gemmell, who clocked 54.52, while rising sophomore and Hungarian native Nikolett Padar rounded out the top three in 55.02 after going 54.52 in the prelims.

In the men’s 100 free, it was Chris Guiliano powering to victory in a time of 48.40, with Luke Hobson the only other swimmer sub-50 in 49.98. Both are members of the Pan Pac team.

Guiliano is the fastest American so far this season, ranking 3rd in the world with his 47.38 from the Westmont Pro Swim in March.

Other U.S. Pan Pac roster members picking up wins were Regan Smith, Carson Foster, Shaine Casas, Jillian Cox and Rex Maurer.

Smith won the women’s 200 fly in 2:06.18, topping training partner Lindsay Looney (2:08.65), while current Longhorns Angie Coe (2:10.37) and Campbell Stoll (2:11.50) also had strong swims.

Smith went out fast, turning in 59.70 at the 100, and was still within a half-second of her American Record pace at the 150 before tightening up on the way home and splitting 34.20.

Stoll, the reigning NCAA champion in the 200 fly, narrowly missed her personal best time of 2:11.47, set just over a year ago at the 2025 Longhorn Elite Invite.

Foster rolled to victory in the men’s 200 fly in a time of 1:55.33, slowly but surely pulling away from Mitchell Schott (1:55.82) on the back half.

Foster owns a season-best of 1:55.09, set at the Fort Lauderdale Open in April, while Schott knocked four one-hundredths off his previous best time of 1:55.86.

Tyler Ray, the recent Michigan grad who announced his move to the Texas pro group a few months ago, was 3rd in 1:58.03 after setting a lifetime best of 1:57.99 in the prelims. His previous PB stood at 1:58.36, set back in the summer of 2024.

Shaine Casas ripped a time of 24.67 en route to winning the men’s 50 back, with Will Modglin and Jack Wilkening tying for 2nd in 25.17. Casas currently ranks 14th in the world this his season-best of 24.53 from the U.S. Open.

In the timed finals of the 800 freestyle, Cox won the women’s event in 8:24.90, with teammate Kate Hurst the only other swimmer sub-9:00 in 8:32.45.

Cox essentially even-split the race, out in 4:12.33 at the 400-meter mark and then back in 4:12.57. She improves on her season-best of 8:26.04 to move up from 14th into 12th in the 2025-26 world rankings. As for Hurst, she was less than three seconds shy of her 8:29.58 season-best.

Maurer won the men’s race in 7:53.90, just shy of his 7:52.71 season-best from last month’s Longhorn Elite Invite. He was out fast, turning in 3:52.83 at the 400, before falling off pace coming home, splitting 30-plus throughout the majority of the back half before the final 100.

Rising Texas sophomore Aiden Hammer placed 2nd in 8:01.21.

OTHER EVENTS

• German native Anna Elendt dominated the women’s 200 breaststroke field in 2:25.01, using an aggressive strategy with a 1:09.09 opening 100. The time is just shy of her 2:24.77 season-best set in April at the German Championships.
• Austrian native and former Michigan Wolverine Luka Mladenovic won the men’s 200 breast in a time of 2:11.88, outduelling training partners Campbell McKean (2:12.75) and Nate Germonprez (2:13.14). Mladenovic was much more conservative than the other two on the opening 50, but was significantly faster on the second length and then was the only one able to keep his back half sub-1:09 to book the victory. Mladenovic owns a personal best time of 2:10.08, set last year, and he’s been as fast as 2:10.87 so far this year.
• In the lone race not won by a Texas swimmer, Texas A&M’s Halina Panczyszyn claimed the women’s 50 back in a time of 29.29, matching her personal best on the number. Rising Texas sophomore Sarah Rodrigues was the runner-up in 29.35.