The Texas men’s swimming and diving team made their season debut on Thursday night in Austin with seven events for the annual Orange vs. White meet.
Seniors Alvin Jiang and Sam Pomajevich put up strong in-season times as Jiang won the 100 backstroke at 45.70, and Pomajevich won the 200 butterfly at 1:42.78. Jiang last season was ranked eighth in the 100 backstroke at the NCAAs before the meet was cancelled to slow down the COVID-19 pandemic, while Pomajevich was seeded third.
Texas junior Daniel Krueger, who had a breakout season last year, won the 50 freestyle with a 19.32, which was only a tenth off what his season best was last year. Krueger was a 19.19, having been seeded 15th at NCAAs. He has been better known as a 100 freestyler, as he had the top time in the country last season.
Sophomore Caspar Corbeau, one of the top breaststrokers in the country, just dipped under 52 seconds in the 100 breast with a 51.99, as he was as quick as a 51.46 last year.
The freshmen pair of Carson Foster and David Johnston made their Longhorn debuts on Thursday with Foster taking the 200 IM at 1:43.73, just off his 1:42 lifetime best. Foster was one of the top recruits in the high school class of 2020, and is already one of the top IM’ers in the country.
Johnston took the win in the 500 free at 4:16.45, just ahead of Drew Kibler (4:16.58), which is already a lifetime best for him. Johnston’s best was a 4:19 from earlier this year as the Dallas native has already adjusted well to life in Austin.
The Longhorns finished the short session with the 200 medley relay, with the team of Austin Katz (22.04), Corbeau (23.60), Jiang (20.64), and Krueger (18.97) touching at 1:25.25, which would have ranked 25th nationally last year.
