The rich get richer as the University of Texas men have landed yet another elite swimmer to their roster as Chris Guiliano announces his transfer to the Longhorns from Notre Dame.
Guiliano, 21, led the Fighting Irish to a record-breaking season in 2023-24 as a junior, but in the offseason, it was the men’s swimming program was suspended for one academic year after an independent law firm found that most team members engaged in gambling throughout the season.
Prior to the suspension, Guiliano had a breakthrough summer, qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team in the men’s 50, 100 and 200 free, becoming the first American male since Matt Biondi in 1988 to do so in all three.
Guiliano went on to have a successful Olympic debut, winning gold in the men’s 4×100 free relay, silver in the men’s 4×200 free relay (prelims) and making an individual final in the 100 free, placing 8th. He was also 17th in the 50 free and 19th in the 200 free.
In early September, Guiliano entered the NCAA transfer portal, remaining adamant that he would pursue graduating at Notre Dame if it was possible.
In his announcing his transfer to Texas on Wednesday, he reiterated that sentiment, saying there’s a path for him to finish his degree at UND.
View this post on Instagram
Guiliano has one season of NCAA eligibility remaining. Although he didn’t specifically say he’ll be joining the Longhorns this season, that’s the expectation given Notre Dame’s suspension will expire come 2025-26.
He is scheduled to represent the United States at the 2024 Short Course World Championships next month in Budapest.
The addition of Guiliano gives the Texas men and ace in the free relays (not to mention individually), as he’s coming off a standout NCAA campaign that included him sweeping the men’s 50, 100 and 200 free at the ACC Championships.
Guiliano was also 3rd in the 200 free, 4th in the 50 free and 5th in the 100 free at NCAAs last season, his first time cracking an NCAA ‘A’ final in his career after he was 9th in the 200 free and 10th in the 100 free as a sophomore.
Guiliano’s Lifetime Bests (SCY)
- 50 free – 18.43
- 100 free – 40.62
- 200 free – 1:30.36
If Guiliano does join Texas for the second semester in January, he’ll do so alongside Polish backstroker Ksawery Masiuk, who announced he would be heading to Austin in 2025 to begin his collegiate career in September.
In the seven months since Bob Bowman was hired as the Director of Swimming and head men’s coach at Texas, the Longhorns have seen a massive influx of talent on their roster, with the likes of Hubert Kos, Rex Maurer, Aaron Shackell and Ben Sampson transferring over, David Johnston returning from a redshirt season, and the addition of a strong freshman class led by Cooper Lucas and Kyle Peck.
Now with Guiliano and Masiuk joining the mix, Texas promises to make a significant jump up the standings after they finished 7th at the 2024 NCAA Championships, their lowest finish since 2005.
Outside of the NCAA team’s performance, Texas now boasts arguably the best training group in the nation, with pros Carson Foster, Shaine Casas, Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland also training in Austin, not to mention the best male swimmer in the world, Leon Marchand, expected to arrive in early 2025.
Very exciting for Chris. What’s going with NDMS – will they be back, or should we assume / presume this means they wont be back next year?
Legitimately how can they afford to pay all these studs
Everything’s bigger in Texas.
Esp the NIL deals
Kalisz and litherland aren’t retired???
Is there a possibility Jay Litherland could represent Japan internationally? I’m suprised he’s still training
Good luck with your Longhorn stint, Chris. I’d love to see you join the “1:29 Club.”
America has spoken, and I’ve taken my departure cue. This is my last post as your beloved “Timpon Tam.”
(Waves both hands enthusiastically and twirls away!)
Well this probably makes Texas the favorites this year.
This one is pretty surprising given Braden (I think?) mentioned just a day or two ago that there were two schools leading, neither of which was Texas.
So based on Bob Bowman’s instagram story, can we assume he is a MAGA guy?
What did he post?
I think he posted that before this story broke… meaning it was a GREAT day to be a Longhorn cuz Chris was coming.
Don’t worry… I thought the same thing first too! 😆
Wait you think him saying it’s a great day to be a longhorn is a presidential endorsement?
The same day he picks up the biggest free agent in swimming?
With so many swimmers on the UT team, how does anyone get even a 0.3 of a scholarship? If the SEC enforces a 22 men’s team limit next year, so many good swimmers will get cut. Interesting times.
Prior to recent times the majority of the team received a “books” scholarship, which gave them full access to all of the UT academic support while saving full or partial scholarships for elite/olympic level swimmers. Plus 2 scholarships were reserved for divers.
Only “books” is almost like paying UT to swim.