University of Texas sophomore Charlie Crosby, a Big 12 silver medalist in the 100-yard backstroke (46.97) as a freshman, says he has quit the Longhorns’ program to pursue other passions.
A former top-10 recruit in the high school class of 2022 out of Minneapolis, Crosby also collected a 4th-place finish in the 50 free (19.71) and a 5th-place showing in the 200 back (1:46.04) at his first Big 12 Championships in February.
“I quit to pursue other aspects of my life,” Crosby told SwimSwam. “Nothing bad about the team, just swimming was taking up a lot more of my time than I wanted, and I never wanted swimming to be my end life goal. So now I have the time to properly pursue my other passions.”
Crosby last competed at the American Short Course Championships in early March, where he took 5th in the 50-yard free (19.98) and 4th in the 100 back (47.46). His season-best 46.97 100 back at Big 12s put him within half a second of qualifying for NCAAs in the event. He clocked lifetime bests in the 50 free (19.54) and 200 back (1:43.81) at the midseason Minnesota Invitational in late November and early December, but he was unable to find that speed again at the end-of-season conference championship meet.
Crosby is the first of the 13-member sophomore class to part ways with the Texas program. However, half of the 2021 recruiting class already stopped swimming for the Longhorns last season. Former No. 1 recruit Anthony Grimm retired, then entered the transfer portal and followed Tim Connery to Virginia. Breaststroke specialist Adam Fusti-Molnar said last October that he didn’t think the program was a good fit for him and fellow breaststroker Marko Vujosevic said he was no longer swimming for personal reasons.
Other Texas swimmers to leave the program prematurely over the past year include include All-American relay performer Zac Van Zandt, butterflier Ben Charles, freestyle specialists Victor Tremblay and Jimmy Gavin, Ethan Heasley, and sprinter Trey Jackson. Butterflier Armando Vegas also transferred to Indiana last summer.
The Texas men placed 3rd at the NCAA Championships last season behind ASU and Cal. Longtime head coach Eddie Reese, 82, announced last week that he will retire after the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials to cap a 46-year career leading the Longhorns. Texas is slated to join the SEC next year.
Good luck, Charlie! Swimming is an awesome sport, but it is generally a stepping stone. I have not followed your career, but you have obviously had a successful one to have been recruited and to have swum for Texas.
Ignore any who make mean spirited and/or uneducated remarks. So many people have opinions on things they know nothing about. I have watched this play out in replies to Swim Swam articles time and time again.
And Mike, kudos to you for speaking up. I generally just don’t read the comments any time my child is mentioned. Some people have too much time on their hands and not enough brains in their heads.
Charlie was told by coaches he had to train during the summer and if he didn’t , there would not be a spot for him on the roster in the fall. He made his choice. It’s his choice to make. Some can’t handle the expectations around training. This is where the elite athlete comes into play. Some have it, some don’t. That’s ok. That is really what happened with this athlete as well as the others who have left in the past couple years excluding Vanzandt who is a medical retirement along with Willenbring.
Just before summer Charlie still had a spot on the team even after declining to stay and train in Texas over the summer. Unfortunately, at that point, Charlies parents had convinced him to stay with the team and swim club at home over the summer but Charlie had mostly made up his mind. For him, he had met his goals in swimming and hadn’t envisioned new goals. Charlie tried to swim over the summer but his heart was not in it so he made his final decision.
Swimming is one of the worst sports for a long term career and I know his parents told him he was going to school for the education and the swimming was a bonus.… Read more »
Thank you for your comment. While I am sure it is frustrating to read some of the comments regarding your son, I am grateful that Swimswam reports on roster changes such as this. Learning why individuals make tough decisions is helpful for past, current and future swimmers and their parents. Our kids need as much information as they can to make wise decisions about their future and feel good about making those decisions. Best wishes to your family.
Good for you Charlie. Swimming is not the end all and you are courageous to make your decision as honestly and with as much class as you did. Texas and Coach Reese are both the shining beacon. The next HC will need support of the UT Alumni in order to regain the luster.
Out of curiosity does anyone know what his other pursuits are? A rigorous class schedule for premed or engineering can tax people and balancing swimming and school is brutal if they aren’t truly into the sport. It’s not for everyone.
Good luck on whatever it is he’s pursuing, hope it’s fruitful
It’s none of our business.
Dyslexia can make many pursuits more difficult.
My take is that Charlie is a bit mature for his age. He is looking forward and seeing his swimming career coming to an end. I believe he could have made a difference as he was a 1/2 second from making the NCAA team as a freshman and, either, over trained a bit or coasted a bit, since he hadn’t set a new goal. His HS team was totally goal oriented.
A lot of that freshman class looked a bit slow near the end of the season.
Char’s big passions are business and he might be working on an app to help student athletes navigate the new image and likeness rules but… Read more »
UT had a nice long run, but now the Wyatt Effect is in full force
If you mean getting rid of guys that can’t cut it, then yes, it’s the Wyatt effect.
Could this be the Wyatt effect?
If you mean getting rid of guys that can’t cut it, then yes, it’s the Wyatt effect.
This freshman class gonna prove everyone wrong. Mark my words!
When I criticize Dressel and Phelps for their antics I’m hated on SwimSwam but when Sussy swim bullied Crosby and other swimmers it’s funny tho????
Kyle ponsler is sussy swim. So it’s basically him just being a bully
wait… is ponsler actually the person behind the sussyswimnews account?? has this been directly proven??
Taht is not true. It’s the whole nc state class of 26
Sussy is dead and no one bullied anyone y’all are just soft. Rip to the goat