Coby Carrozza Swims 1:33 200 Freestyle to Beat Luke Hobson at Texas Intrasquad
As legendary head coach Eddie Reese begins his final season guiding the Texas men’s swimming program, his group unofficially began their racing campaign at the Sam Kendricks Memorial Orange & White Classic, named for the longtime public address announcer and former Texas student manager and assistant coach who passed away last year after a short battle with cancer.
In this initial racing appearance, the perpetual-powerhouse Longhorns were led by senior Coby Carrozza, a member of the 2022 U.S. World Championships team who won gold as part of the U.S. team in the 800 freestyle relay. Carrozza swam a strong 200-yard performance Friday, leading wire-to-wire and beating teammate Luke Hobson, the NCAA champion in the event last year, by two seconds. Carrozza touched in 1:33.60, with Hobson second in 1:35.66.
Carrozza also won the 100 free in 43.99 while Hobson went 4:20.33 for the 500 free win. Sterling Crane was a double winner in the 100 butterfly (47.39) and 200 fly (1:46.05) while Chris O’Connor earned a narrow win in the 100 back (47.88) before going wire-to-wire in the 200 back (1:45.88). Alec Enyeart paced the 1000 free with a time of 9:01.91.
Will Modglin, the National High School Swimmer of the Year last year and now a Texas freshman, did not race Friday, but several of his fellow Texas rookies impressed. Will Scholtz took first in the 100 breast (53.37) as the Longhorns move into the post-Caspar Corbeau era. Camden Taylor took the 50 free (20.39), and Nate Germonprez swam a time of 1:46.89 for a 200 IM win. Brayden Taivassalo edged Scholtz in the 200 breast, 1:57.34 to 1:57.54.
Top splits in the 200 free relay belonged to Smith (19.89), Crane (19.91) and Hobson (19.93). Separated by one hundredth at the final exchange, Smith and the Orange Team had just enough to hold off Crane’s White Team by three hundredths. In diving, Nicholas Harris won 1-meter (319.00), and Noah Duperre won 3-meter (333.50).
The White team ended up earning a 139-134 win over the Orange team.