Texas 6A Swimming and Diving State Championships – Preview

2022 6A UIL Swimming and Diving State Championship Preview

• February 17th, 2022
• Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, Austin, Texas
• Short Course Yards (SCY)
• State Callups

Next weekend, the University of Texas’s Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center will play host to the 2022 UIL 6A Swimming and Diving Championships. In Texas, 6A is made up of the state’s largest schools. Selections for the meet were made based on Region Championships held across the state last weekend.

At the Region 1 meet, Elise Clift of Mansfield High School came away with a pair of wins that seed her first heading into the state championship. Last weekend, Clift cruised to a win in both the 200 free (1:47.84) and 500 free (4:46.28). Joining Clift in winning the two longest events in the high school lineup was Cooper Lucas of Keller High School. The sophomore easily claimed both region titles, taking the 200 in 1:38.00 and the 500 in 4:23.43. Those times put Lucas, who is one of the top swimmers in the class of 2024, ahead of the rest of the state going into the state meet.

After sweeping his events at the Region 2 meet, Maximus Williamson will enter the 6A State Championships as the clear favorite in both his races as a freshman. A national age group record holder in the long course meters 200 free and the runner-up for SwimSwam’s 13-14 Age Group Swimmer of the Year in 2021, Williamson enters the state meet three seconds ahead of the field in the 200 IM (1:45.64) and over a second ahead in the 100 back (47.94). His Southlake Carroll team is also seeded first in the 200 free relay and second in the 400 free relay. Joining Williamson as the top seed at the state meet after winning events at the Region 2 Championship is Julia Wozniak and Hailey Heldenbrand. Wozniak is the top seed in the 200 IM by over a second with her time of 1:59.57, while Heldenbrand narrowly leads the field in the 50 free (23.02).

Region 3’s Ava Whitaker will enter the state meet as the top seed in the 100 fly after winning the event last weekend. Whitaker finished in 53.18.

One the top sprinters on the men’s side going into the state meet, Connor Little currently sits tied for the top seed in the 50 free and is the second seed in the 100 free behind Sonny Wang. In the 50, Little is tied for the top spot with Peter Horton, with both swimmers having gone 20.24 at their Region meet. A senior at Kingwood High School, Little is committed to the University of Alabama next year. Last season, his top finish at the state meet came in the 100 free, where he took 4th.

Leading the field going into the state meet in the 100 fly is Alex Fu on the men’s side. Fu, who won the event at the Region 5 Championship, enters the meet with a time of 48.37.

Leading what could be a very strong showing for Humble Kingwood High School in the 100 back is Alexis Newman, who enters the meet seeded almost two seconds ahead of the field. The defending state champion in the event and University of Arizona commit is seeded at 53.43, well ahead of Universityo f Kentucky commit Paige Taber (55.06) and Humble Kingwood teammate Lizzie Watson (55.11).

The breaststroke events are a tight race on both sides, with Emma Kinsey leading the women and Tyler Tannenberger leading the men. Kinsey claimed the event title at the Region 5 meet in a time of 1:01.75, while Tannenberger won at Region 4 in 54.81.