2024 US Olympian David Johnston has entered the NCAA transfer portal. Johnston is currently a graduate student at Texas but only competed for the Longhorns at one meet this season. Sources tell SwimSwam that Johnston is looking hard at Ohio State but that Indiana is in the mix as well. The portal opened today for men’s swimming and diving.
Johnston arrived at Texas as a freshman during the 2020-2021 season. He was 7th in the 1650 free and 8th in the 400 IM at the 2021 NCAA Championships. He returned to NCAAs as a sophomore, finishing 5th in the 1650 free, 6th in the 500 free, and 7th in the 400 IM.
He had a huge junior year during the 2022-2023 season that included an NCAA runner-up finish in the 500 free with a 4:08.79 at the 2023 NCAA Championships. He also was 4th in the 1650 free and 8th in the 400 IM at NCAAs to score a total of 43 individual points, the most of any Texas swimmer that season. In spring 2023, he finished his undergraduate degree.
Johnston then took an Olympic Redshirt for the 2023-2024 season. He made the 2024 US Olympic Team in the 1500 free and was 18th at the Olympics just days after testing positive for COVID-19. He returned to competing for the Longhorns this fall but only swam in their season opener with the dual meet at Alabama.
Other Portal Notes
- Missouri’s Alex Ochsenbein is in the portal. He did not compete at all for the team this season but competed at Cary Sectionals this past week representing Wildcat Aquatics. He originally committed to stay close to home at Kentucky before flipping to Missouri.
- Gardner-Webb University leads all programs with four members in the portal. St. Bonaventure University, Eastern Illinois University, Boston College, Saint Peter’s University, and the University of Pittsburgh each have three men in the portal.
Are you going to do any kind of deep dive on transfers for men? Any big surprises? Any schools with multiple entries?
Tony Tony Chopper pose
This guy is an Olympian of This Sport. Everyone should be supporting his pursuit(s) as he navigates a sport that offers nothing in the way of a professional sport(after college). Hope he finds continued success.
If we keep repeating the lie that it offers “nothing in the way of a professional sport,” it will eventually be true. We just gotta stop treating our swimmers like 12 year olds, and maybe they’d learn that as well.
It will be Ohio State OR Indiana…book it!
It literally says that in the article haha
There is a (Very) SMALL chance of FLOR. But they are a distant 3rd.
It’s the same schools all the time – IU, UF, OSU doesn’t even make sense… I’d love to see him at Kentucky. They’re growing a program over there, and he’d be surrounded by some very good swimmers. Flip college swimming on its head – UK.
Wow! Rarely have I seen this level of almost universal negativity and criticism — and a lot of it is way too personal. The 2026 Pan-Pac decision was a total heart-breaker. He sees the end (LA ’28?) and knows he has perhaps one more real toss of the coin before the reality of “post-swimming life” is going to begin. Let him enjoy it!
He’s a great guy. It is sad to read these comments.
I feel for these kids having to live in an age where everything they do is commented on and over analyzed by people who often don’t know anything about the situation. I kind of miss the days when results were on paper and publications came out once a month in your mailbox.
Some people never know when to call it quits…
Heard B. Bowman of Texas entered the portal.
Huge, if true!
Maybe he should go the Derek Maas route and go to a really good D3 grad school and obliterate those records and make all those coaches upset again.