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Lubbock, Texas native and U.S. Junior National Team member Gunnar Hansen will travel due east next fall, bringing his swimming talents with him as he relocates to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, joining the Crimson Tide in 2026.
“It’s a blessing to announce my verbal commitment to swim at the University of Alabama. I’d like to thank Christ for giving me this opportunity, my parents for supporting me in every way, and my friends and coaches for being there for me. Roll Tide! 🌊”
Hansen, who competes for his high school, Lubbock, is primarily a breaststroker and was ranked as one of SwimSwam’s Best of the Rest (BOTR) in our class of 2026 rankings. He is also a member of the USA Swimming Junior National Team.
Last winter at the University Interscholastic League (UIL) 5A State Championships, he finished runner-up with a personal best of 53.48, a drop of over half a second from his previous best of 54.08, which was set at the Winter Junior Championship – West meet. At the State championships, he also tied for 8th in the prelims of the 100 fly, setting a new PB of 50.32. In the ensuing swim-off, Hansen slashed even more time off his former best, stopping the clock at 49.57. He also helped lead Lubbock to two top 16 placed relay finishes, splitting 22.11 and 47.02 on the 200 and 400 relays, ultimately finishing in 15th and 9th overall. Lubbock finished the meet in 12th place, out of 74 teams, scoring 59 points.
Outside of the high school season, Hansen competes for the Lubbock Swim Club. As mentioned above, he competed for the club at the Winter Junior Championships meet last December where his 54.08, then-PB, finished 11th overall. He also competed in the 200 breaststroke going 2:00.05 in prelims, a PB, before adding just a tenth of a second in the final, stopping the clock at 2:00.15.
He further lowered that 200 time in March of this year while competing at the Sectional meet in Justin, Texas. In prelims, he produced a time of 2:00.32, which earned him the 6th seed in finals, where he broke the 2:00-barrier for the first time, stopping the clock at 1:58.20, which saw climb to 4th place on the podium. He also earned a 4th-place finish in the 100 breaststroke, hitting the wall in 54.03.
Hansen continued that short course success into his long course season as he posted a pair of A-final results at Juniors. In the 50 breast he posted a PB of 27.98 in prelims, before adding just .12 of a second to finish 5th overall at 28.10. The 100 was a similar story, where he posted a PB of 1:01.59 in prelims to qualify 2nd into the final, where he added just .05 to post a time of 1:01.64, collecting the bronze medal in the process.
Best SCY Times:
- 50 Breast – 25.48
- 100 Breast – 53.48
- 200 Breast – 1:58.20
Hansen will be looking to join the Margo Geer led Alabama program that scored 667 points to finish 6th last year at SECs, more than 100 points back of Texas A&M but over 80 points clear of LSU. Bama had a strong showing at NCAAs finishing 12th overall lead by Charlie Hawke‘s pair of A-final finishes as the now graduated Australian finished 4th in the 200 free, 8th in the 500 free and helped the 800 free relay to a 4th place finish.
Alabama did not have a breaststroker at NCAAs, but senior Kaique Alves finished 4th in the 100 breast at SECs, posting a time of 51.37, which cut under the NCAA B cut time of 53.43. Then grad student Trey Sheils also earned a 2nd swim in the 100, going 51.92 to finish 11th in the B-final. While they advanced no swimmer into the A-final of the 200 breast, the Crimson Tide advanced three into the B-final and one in the C-final. Sheils’ 1:53.59 placed 10th overall, just ahead of Lance Johnson‘s 1:54.00 and Mark Underwood‘s 1:54.36.
While both Alves and Sheils have moved on, both Johnson and Underwood are juniors, meaning they will overlap with Hansen for one year. Overlapping three years with Hansen will be Steijn Louter, a Dutch first-year. Louter set a PB of 53.19 in the 100 earlier this month in a duel against Texas, finishing just ahead of sophomore Noah Saylor‘s PB of 53.33. Last winer Saylor set a PB of 53.93 to finish 35th at SECs. Hansen’s personal bests of 53.48 and 1:58.20 currently sit outside of the range of earning a second swim, but he still has his entire senior year to make improvements.
Looking to make Tuscaloosa home with Hansen next fall is fellow BOTR Bogdan Zverev, a versatile swimmer with strengths in the Free, Fly and IM events. Also making the trip to the Yellowhammer State are Carter Wright, Jack Grimley, Michael Gorey and Zach Parent.
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Great write up. He was also named to the National Junior Team for 25-26.