Day 2 Longhorn Elite Prelims: Manuel Shines With Sub-54 100 Free, Kos Takes Hold Of 100 Breast

The men’s 400 free was also a highlight of the morning, with four of the top contenders for June’s U.S. Trials all swimming the race, alongside four-time Paris Olympic champion Marchand, who is using this meet to qualify for the French Worlds roster.

23-year-old Carson Foster led the way with a time of 3:52.04, followed by rising star Rex Maurer in 3:52.21. Luke Hobson, the all-time short course meters 200 free record holder and reigning SCM world champion in that event—who also won bronze in the 200 free at Paris—hit the wall 3rd in 3:54.21. Paris Olympian David Johnston, a two-time long course World Championships team member, advanced 4th at 3:54.39, while Marchand lurks in 5th (3:54.45).

Maurer is coming off the NCAA season of his life, having won gold in both the 500 free and 400 IM, plus a 2nd–place 1650 finish at the championships. In November, he became the second-fastest man in history in the 500 free with a blazing 4:04.45, trailing only Marchand’s incredible 4:02.31. At just 20 years old, if Maurer can match a similar drop from his 3:47.31 personal best in the 400 free, he’ll be hard to beat at Trials.

Foster, the third-fastest 500-yard freestyler in history, recently earned his first senior international individual freestyle medal by tying for silver in the 400 free at the Short Course Worlds alongside fellow American Kieran Smith. Foster owns a long course best of 3:45.29 from July of 2022. 

In the women’s 400 free, Texas freshmen Jillian Cox (4:11.78) and  Kate Hurst (4:12.80) were quickest, with Gemmell backing up on the back end of her 100 free double in 4:12.89. Cox, who claimed NCAA titles in both the 500 and 1650 free events this March, owns a lifetime best of 4:06.31.

Two-time Olympic champion Regan Smith also took to the pool, clocking 2:09.57 in a women’s 200 fly field that included just three swimmers. The Paris silver medalist and American record holder owns a season best of 2:05.38 in the event, with her American record standing at 2:03.84.

Texas Pro swimmer and former ASU standout Lindsay Looney posted a season-best 2:10.55 for 2nd this morning. She placed 3rd at the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer and represented the Red, White, and Blue at the 2023 Worlds, where she finished 9th. Her personal best remains 2:07.03.

Texas sophomore Campbell Stoll was the final swimmer in the event, hitting 2:14.96. She has been as quick as 2:12.92, a time she recorded in August 2022.

2024 Olympic 200 back champion and Hungarian native Hubert Kos was in the pool twice, logging a lifetime best of 1:02.26 to lead the 100 breast and 2:00.18 in the 200 fly, where he advanced 2nd behind Ryan Branon’s 1:59.03.

Notably, breaststroke is Kos’s weakest stroke, yet with his outing this morning, he now ranks first among Hungarian swimmers this season— with potential to improve further tonight. 

Nate Germonprez, who made waves this past NCAA season with his breakthrough in breaststroke and is among the U.S.’s top hopes this summer—alongside Campbell McKean and Michael Andrew if he can regain his 58-second form—sits in 6th with his 1:04.20, about four seconds off his career best of 1:00.48.

Texas freshman Piper Enge, 18, was the fastest in the women’s 100 breast with a time of 1:10.88. They are coming off an impressive NCAA season, finishing 5th in the 100 breast and 32nd in the 200 breast at NCAAs. At the 2024 Worlds, Enge touched 6th in the 50 breast (30.69) after a personal best clocking of 30.53 in the semifinals, and placed 18th in the 100 breast (1:08.14). At the 2024 Olympic Trials, they took 14th in the 100 breast.