2024 AUSTIN SECTIONALS
- July 11-14
- Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center
- Austin, Texas
- LCM (50 meters)
- Results on MeetMobile: “2024 ST TXLA SZ LC Sectional Champs”
- Day 1 Recap
- Day 2 Recap
- Day 3 Recap
Rising University of Texas sophomore Nate Germonprez capped the four-day Austin Sectional meet on Sunday with a huge lifetime best in the 50 freestyle.
The 19-year-old Germonprez dominated the 50 free final in 22.49, dropping almost a second off his previous-best 23.28 from 2021. He would have placed 22nd at Olympic Trials last month, where he placed 12th in the 200 IM (1:58.97). Germonprez touched more than half a second ahead of Longhorns classmate Camden Taylor (23.07) at Sectionals as they gear up for their first season under former Arizona State head coach Bob Bowman.
Germonprez didn’t swim the 200 IM on Sunday, but the event still features some impressive finishes courtesy of recent Texas A&M graduate Thomas Shomper and Waterloo Swimming 17-year-old Raphael Wang. Shomper won the battle in 2:03.72, taking almost two seconds off his previous-best 2:05.45 from 2021. The 22-year-old backstroke specialist placed 25th in the 100 back (55.11) and 27th in the 200 back (2:00.23) at Olympic Trials last month.
Wang earned the runner-up finish in the 200 IM with a lifetime best of 2:06.33 as the Duke commit (’25) knocked more than two seconds off his previous-best 2:08.59 from last August.
Recent Texas A&M graduate Chloe Stepanek continued her red-hot weekend with another lifetime best en route to the 200 IM title in 2:17.63. She dropped almost two seconds off her previous-best 2:19.20 from 2022 as the freestyle specialist seeks a fifth-year collegiate destination in the NCAA transfer portal.
Rising Texas A&M sophomore Hannah O’Leary was the only other swimmer under 2:20 in the women’s 200 IM final on her way to 2nd place in 2:19.56. The 19-year-old dropped more than two seconds off her previous-best 2:21.81 from 2022.
Recent Texas graduate Grace Cooper claimed the women’s 50 free title in 24.96, beating recent NC State graduate Abby Arens (25.54) by more than half a second. Cooper was within a couple tenths of her personal-best 24.77 from last July.
Colton Bennett captured the men’s 1500 free crown in 16:27.90, crushing his previous-best 16:34.55 from 2022. The 19-year-old Henderson State commit (’24) beat Travis Ly (16:28.69) by less than a second in a thrilling showdown earlier in the day. Rising Texas A&M junior Kaylee Coffey clinched the women’s 1500 free title in 17:38.42, more than 10 seconds slower than her personal-best 17:27.57 from last July.
A WHOLE SECOND IN A LONG COURSE 50 FREE??
Training under Bowman is going swimmingly!
Bowman has yet to coach any of the existing Longhorns.
Don’t let this distract you from the fact their 2 medley relay added and got 9th at NCAAs (lost to Stanford lol), their 4 frr got 12th, and their 2 frr got 19th lmaoooooo. They lost to Hawaii😭😭😭
@Braden Keith do my anti Texas comments help dispel any false notion that I’m a UT fan?
Grace Cooper of Longhorn Aquatics won the 50 Freestyle with a 24.96 while Aliana Marakovic was 9th in the event.
Andrew on his way to trash those swimmers for not going best times at trials in 3,2,1…
Are you only writing about Texas Sectionals? What about the others?
We wrote daily articles about all 4 Sectionals meets. Which one are you looking for?
How do I find Mt Hood?It hasn’t come up in my search. Was that not a fast enough meet or did nothing happen worth writing about ? And thank you for replying
You have wrong people winning the 50 free.
Looks like they did the article before the final heat was completed. Using the consol heat results.
For the women.
@Andrew