The undefeated University of Texas Longhorn men battled against North Carolina State on the Wolfpack’s home turf last Saturday, taking the win back to Austin by a score of 154-136. Along with the consistently key performers from Texas, including All-Americans Will Licon, Joseph Schooling and Jack Conger, two Longhorn freshman also made a name for themselves over the course of the meet.
As Eddie Reese points out in this video interview, Ryan Harty and John Shebat are two freshmen earning the spotlight via swimming phenomenally at this point in the season. Shebat led off Texas’ winning 200 medley relay with a swift split of 22.35 to help the Longhorns beat the Wolfpack by a mere .04 of a second. Shebat also scored big 3rd place wins in both the 100 and 200 backstroke races, registering times of 48.44 and 1:47.45, respectively.
First place in both of those backstroke races, however, was teammate Harty, who threw down the NCAA’s 5th and 2nd-fastest times in each event this weekend. Shebat denied NC State standout Hennessey Stuart in both races, finishing the 100 in 47.11 and 200 back in a time of 1:42.52.
Additionally, Harty exhibitioned the 200 IM and went head-to-head against teammate and two-time NCAA champion Will Licon. Interestingly, Licon actually out-split Harty in the backstroke leg, but, as Reese describes, a missed wall was involved, which led to the resulting splits between the two teammates:
Harty – 23.27, 27.66, 30.45, 25.33 = 1:46.71
Licon – 23.57, 26.89, 31.11, 25.69 = 1:47.26
Of his star freshmen, Reese says that the duo of Harty and Shebat are simply “great in practice” and that the two display “the greatest attitudes.” This just further proves that happy swimmers = fast swimmers.
I believe Eddie made a mistake. It was Licon that missed the wall, not Harty.
No, Harty missed the wall with his hand, but hit it with his feet when they came over. This extended his backstroke split because the clock didn’t stop until after he technically should have touched, and shortened his breastroke split because the time to get his feet over wasn’t calculated as part of that split, which it normally is.
At least this explains why Harty (faster backstroker, slower breastroker) was visibly ahead of Licon (faster breastroker, slower backstroker) after the backstroke leg but ended up with a slower back split.
God I hate all your posts.
When Eddie says “aw shucks, they make me look like a good coach” he actually means: “Well, yes, I know I am the best… I just want you to like me too.”
Eddie is the best because he applies the best business philosophy ever: “Simple solutions work!”. Simple solutions are most difficult to come up with, but they work. The tendency to obsessively search for simplest solutions is also a characteristic of people with mild OCDs. All great innovators have a mild OCD. Some coaches complicate things because they think that makes them look more competent. It does not!
Eddie, you are a young man and have a long career in front of you, but this “aw shucks” must go.
The always modest “aw shucks, they make me look like a good coach” Eddie Reese.
Well, they’re great talents and great student athletes Eddie, but it’s ok for us to bust on that one. Eddie Reese is plainly the best swim coach that ever lived.