Longhorn Elite Day 3 Finals: Marchand’s 4:07.11 Puts World on Notice, Gemmell & Maurer Shine

2025 Longhorn Aquatics Elite Invite

• May 14-16, 2025
• Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center, Austin, Texas
• Long Course Meters (50 meters)
• Live Results
• Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 2 | Day 3
  • Finals: Day 2

After a strong prelims session, the finals of the third day and the second full day of the Longhorn Aquatics Elite Invite saw some eye-catching results. With a small but very deep field including American Olympic Medalist Simone Manuel, Regan Smith, Carson Foster, and Luke Hobson, as well as international talents like Leon Marchand and Hubert Kos, the meet is serving as a final tune-up for many of the world’s best before they start their training for World Trials.

The night kicked off with a strong showing in the Women’s 200 free as Texas’s 7th place finisher at NCAAs, Erin Gemmell, took the win. Gemmell, who placed 4th at the US Olympic Trials in the event, was out quickest, opening up in 56.72, well ahead of Olympic teammates Simone Manuel (58.22) and Regan Smith (58.56). While Manuel closed the gap on the backhalf, Gemmell’s lead was too much as she took the win in 1:56.41, with her training partners finishing behind her in 1:57.34 and 1:58.83.

Both Gemmell and Manuel should be pleased with the results. For Gemmell, the 1:56.41 is her fastest time since 2023, faster than any of her swims at Trials or at the Olympics, and appears to be her fastest time outside of a championships meet (her PB stands at 1:55.97 when she led off the USA’s 800 Free Relay in Fukuoka). Manuel’s 1:57.34 is faster than both her results from the Westmont PSS (1:57.54) and Fort Lauderdale (1:58.25) and is just .21 off her 7th-place finish at last year’s Olympic Trials.

The men’s 200 free saw training partners Luke Hobson and Rex Maurer go head to head. Hobson, the Olympic bronze medalist in the event and short course World record holder had the better start of the two as he flipped .63 ahead of Maurer, 51.75 to 52.38. Maurer, who is the American record holder in the 500 free, started to close the gap on the 3rd 50, out-splitting his teammate 27.20 to 27.58, but used a blistering 27.21 last 50 to surge ahead of Hobson (28.02) to take the win 1:46.79 to 1:47.35.

Maurer’s transition to Texas obviously paid off in the yards pool and now appears to be showing in the 50-meter pool. Before tonight, Maurer, who was previously at Stanford, had a PB of 1:47.19, courtesy of his 11th-place showing at the Olympic Trials. His time tonight of 1:46.79 would have been 7th in the semifinals at trials.

The 200s back on both the women’s and men’s sides went true to form. Olympic finalist Phoebe Bacon easily won the seven-woman field, hitting the wall in 2:09.19, ahead of Wisconsin teammate Maggie Wanezek‘s 2:10.95. Neither Bacon or Wanezak competed in Fort Lauderdale, so their times this evening are season’s best, with Wanezek’s time being within a second of her PB of 2:10.13.

Olympic Champion Hubert Kos cruised his way to victory in the 200 back as the Hungarian opened in 55.08 and closed in 1:00.42. Like in Fort Lauderdale, Kos had little competition, as he won by nearly five seconds, stopping the clock in 1:55.50. The time is faster than his win in Florida (1:56.45) and jumps him up the World Rankings to sit as the second faster this season.

Just one event later, training partner and fellow Olympic Champion Leon Marchand one-upped Kos as he blasted his way to the top of the World leaderboard with a 4:07.11. Marchand, who returned to competition in Fort Lauderdale, was 4:13.86 in South Florida, but in the intervening two weeks, he has dropped over six seconds.

As reported by SwimSwam, the French Swimming Federation has allowed their star swimmer to qualify for Worlds at this meet, so Marchand was chasing a 4:12.50 qualifying time. For reference, his 4:07.11 this evening would have won silver in Paris, behind only himself, and is much faster than his swims in the lead-up to Paris (4:10.62) and Fukuoka (4:10.57), the latter of which he notably set the world record at 4:02.50.

While Marchand was well off his pace from the get-go, the Frenchman’s last 100, particularly his last 50, was faster than his gold medal splits. While tonight, he likely knew how much effort he had to put forth, especially as he likely will need to conserve some energy with it being a condensed schedule as opposed to the French Championships, his last 100 this evening was .04 faster than in Paris and may reflect his recent emphasis on training freestyle.

His time tonight ranks as the 21st fastest of all time (his fourth fastest), and while this meet is serving as his qualification meet, it appears to be the second fastest outside of a season-ending meet (Olympics/Worlds), sitting behind only Daiya Seto‘s 4:06.09, which was swum in January of 2020.

Bumped down one spot on the leaderboard, Carson Foster still put a strong showing in the field, placing 2nd in 4:11.81, ahead of Rex Maurer‘s 4:16.61.

Sandwiched between Kos and Marchand was the women’s 400 IM, which saw just three swimmers compete, with Campbell Stoll dropping nearly seven seconds from her prelims time, taking the win in 4:48.66.

The evening concluded with the 100 fly. Regan Smith, who did not enter her traditional 200 back, took the event win, as she attacked the race from the get-go. Out in 27.09, Smith had a lead of over a second at the turn and closed in 30.42 to take the win in 57.51, ahead of Stoll, who, on a very quick turn-around, placed 2nd in 59.54.

Texas teammates Ryan Branon, Garrett Gould, and Will Modglin concluded the evening with the trio going 1-2-3 in the 100 fly. Branon, who had the fastest time this morning of 53.40, sliced nearly a second off as he took the win in 52.46. His time this morning and this evening were an improvement upon his PB of 53.42 from last year. Gould, who did not swim on either the SEC or NCAA winning teams, dropped from 55.11 this morning to 53.82 tonight, slicing .05 off his PB.