Texas Invitational: Rex Maurer Shines Again in 400 IM; Germonprez, Modglin Climb Rankings
The new-look Texas men have posted some breakthrough swims at their home invitational this week, but no swimmer has been more impressive than Rex Maurer. The sophomore transfer from Stanford swam an American record in the 500 freestyle Wednesday, and now he has become the fifth-fastest man ever in the 400 IM.
Meanwhile, Nate Germonprez of the Longhorns posted a strong performance in the 100 breaststroke and Will Modglin went sub-44 for the first time in the 100 backstroke, while on the women’s side, Olympic gold medalist Torri Huske stood out with a win over Texas veteran Emma Sticklen in the 100 butterfly.
Women’s 200 Medley Relay
The Texas women won a showdown against a Torri Huske-led Stanford squad to open the session. The Longhorns moved butterfly specialist Emma Sticklen to the backstroke leg, and that paid off by giving Texas an eight-tenth lead, plenty quick enough to put her teammates in position to claim the win.
Sticklen was joined by freshman Piper Enge and a pair of fellow fifth-year swimmers, transfer Abby Arens and longtime Longhorn Grace Cooper, on the way to a time of 1:34.06. Stanford, with Levenia Sim, Lucy Thomas, Huske and Gigi Johnson, clocking 1:34.61, with Huske splitting 22.37 on fly. Wisconsin’s Maggie Wanezek, Hazal Ozkan, Phoebe Bacon and Hailey Tierney took third in 1:35.04.
Men’s 200 Medley Relay
As expected, the Texas men crushed their competition to open the night. Will Modglin led off in 20.45, and he was followed by Nate Germonprez, Hubert Kos and Camden Taylor. The final time for Texas was 1:22.43, quicker than a Longhorns’ team that included Modglin and Germonprez (on butterfly) swam at the NCAA Championships last year. The Texas B-team (1:24.44) and Pittsburgh (1:25.26) rounded out the top-three.
Women’s 400 IM
The sub-4:00 club in the women’s 400 IM has a 17th member as Stanford’s Caroline Bricker blasted a time of 3:59.88 in her wire-to-wire win. Bricker previously placed fourth in the event as a freshman at last season’s NCAA Championships.
Lucy Bell, a junior teammate of Bricker with the Cardinal, swam a time of 4:03.86, about two-and-a-half seconds shy of her best time, while Wisconsin’s Callahan Dunn took third (4:07.64).
Men’s 400 IM
One night after setting American record and swimming the second-fastest time ever in the 500 free, Rex Maurer posted another eye-popping swim in the 400 IM. Swimming against two strong teammates, veteran and U.S. Olympian David Johnston and freshman Cooper Lucas, Maurer out-split the field on every stroke except breaststroke, and he obliterated his best time by almost four seconds while vaulting up the all-time list.
Maurer clocked 3:34.19, becoming the fifth-fastest man in history. The only man to ever swim faster are Leon Marchand, Hugo Gonzalez, Chase Kalisz and Carson Foster, all swimmers who have concluded their college careers. While Marchand’s NCAA and U.S. Open records of 3:28.82 could last for generations, Maurer is within eight tenths of Kalisz’s 2017 American record of 3:33.42.
Johnston took second here in 3:39.55 while Lucas was third in 3:40.75.
Women’s 100 Butterfly
The Olympic gold medalist in the 100-meter fly held off a fast-finishing veteran in her home pool to win this race. Torri Huske swam a time of 49.24 to win the race, less than three tenths behind her best time of 48.96 that ranks her No. 4 all-time in the event.
Sticklen, meanwhile, came in second at 49.60, clipping two hundredths from her best time set earlier this month while remaining at No. 10 all-time in the event.
This summer at the Paris Olympics, Huske overtook Gretchen Walsh to win Olympic gold in the long course equivalent event, but she will have trouble staying close to the UVA star in the 25-yard course. While racing Thursday at the Tennessee Invite, Walsh broke her own American, NCAA and U.S. Open records with a time of 47.35, almost two seconds quicker than Huske in Texas. However, Huske did surpass the 49.50 recorded by former Stanford teammate and current Cavalier Claire Curzan.
Men’s 100 Butterfly
Once again, the Longhorn men dominated the final, with only USC twins Michal and Krysztof Chmielewski breaking up the Texas stranglehold on the A-final. Kyle Peck took the win in 45.77, coming from behind to touch out Kos. The Hungarian who won Olympic gold in the 200-meter backstroke took second in 45.81, and Logan Walker placed third (45.94).
Women’s 200 Freestyle
USC’s Minna Abraham entered the meet with the country’s fastest time in the 200 free at 1:42.39, and she swam just a bit slower as she beat out U.S. Olympian Erin Gemmell for the win here. Abraham took over the lead at the halfway point and never surrendered the advantage.
Abraham touched in 1:42.39, four tenths clear of the 1:42.80 of Gemmell, while Stanford’s Kayla Wilson came in third at 1:43.33.
Men’s 200 Freestyle
The fastest swimmer ever was in the field here, but Luke Hobson could not keep pace with a pair of Texas teammates that ended up dominating the event. Camden Taylor nearly swam under 1:32 for the first time before settling for a strong mark of 1:32.02.
Coby Carrozza, a fifth-year swimmer who has been part of three national titles for Texas in the 800 free relay, took second in 1:32.27, followed by USC’s Oliver Sogaard-Anderson (1:32.66). Hobson ended up fourth in 1:32.99.
Women’s 100 Breaststroke
A pair of decorated breaststrokers departed Texas this offseason, with 2021 Olympic champion Lydia Jacoby and 2022 World Championships medalist Anna Elendt both turning professional. In their absence, freshman Piper Enge has already become the top breaststroker on the Texas roster.
In this final, Enge faced an early challenge when Stanford’s Lucy Thomas led the race throughout, but she clocked with a 15.51-second final lap to win in 58.85. Thomas and Texas’ Abby Arens tied for second in 59.06.
Men’s 100 Breaststroke
Versatile Texas sophomore Nate Germonprez did not score individually at last year’s NCAA Championships, but he is finding a home in breaststroke this season. He swam a time of 50.39 in prelims, cutting eight tenths from his best time while becoming the No. 7 performer in history (now No. 8, following Julian Smith’s sub-50 performance Thursday evening in Athens).
Germonprez clipped the Texas team record of 50.49 set in 2022 by Caspar Corbeau, who went on to win Olympic bronze in the 200-meter breast this year. The time was also faster than any swimmer aside from Liam Bell, who has since graduated, swam at last season’s national meet.
In the final, Germonprez clocked 50.87 to hold off teammate Will Scholtz (51.03) for the win, with USC’s Chun Ho Chan third (51.80).
Women’s 100 Backstroke
Emma Sticklen made her second backstroke appearance of the day after previously racing the stroke on Texas’ 200 medley relay. This time, Sticklen used her underwaters to hold off a pair of backstroke specialists from Wisconsin. Sticklen clocked 50.85, ahead of Phoebe Bacon (51.02) and Maggie Wanezek (51.08).
Men’s 100 Backstroke
Earlier in the day, Rex Maurer and Nate Germonprez established nation-leading times in their respective events, although Germonprez lost his top spot in the 100 breast to Florida’s Julian Smith. In the final individual race of the night, Will Modglin became the third Texas sophomore to post such a scintillating swim as he broke 44 in the 100 back for the first time.
Modglin, ninth at last year’s NCAA Championships in 44.20, swam a time of 43.98 in prelims and then 43.91 in the the final, becoming the 10th-fastest performer ever in the event. Given the departures of NCAA champions Brendan Burns and Kacper Stokowski from the college ranks, Modglin is now the third-fastest active collegian behind Georgia’s Luca Urlando and teammate Hubert Kos, neither of whom is guaranteed to swim the 100 back on the national level.
Texas’ Kyle Peck returned after winning the 100 fly to take second in 45.79, and Cal Poly’s Drew Huston took third in 46.53.
Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay
The Texas women occupied the top-two spots in this relay, but the team listed as the “B” team actually took the win by 2.34 seconds. Angie Coe, Lillie Nesty, Campbell Chase and Kate Hurst put up a time of 7:03.55, while the foursome of Erin Gemmell, Jillian Cox, Brooke Adams and Olivia McMurray clocked 7:05.89. Gemmell, who helped the U.S. women to silver in the 800-meter free relay at the Paris Olympics, had the fastest split overall at 1:44.15.
Pittsburgh took third, with the team of Avery Kudlac, Sydney Gring, Mary Clarke and Claire Jansen clocking 7:11.36.
Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay
Following his stellar 400 IM performance, Rex Maurer put together a national-caliber 200 free leadoff leg while pacing the Longhorns to an easy win and the country’s fastest time in the 800 free relay. Maurer clocked 1:31.59 on the leadoff leg, beating his best time by a half-second, and he combined with Coby Carrozza, Camden Taylor and Luke Hobson to swim a time of 6:09.30.
Carrozza and Hobson have both been part of multiple national-title-winning efforts for Texas in this relay, with Hobson owning the fastest time ever in the 200-yard free and winning Olympic bronze in the meters version of the event. Four months out from the NCAA Championships, this Texas team already looks like the strong favorite in this relay.
Finishing well back in second was the Pitt team of Julian Koch, Marcin Goraj, Guy Frimis and Max Matteazzi in 6:21.05. BYU took third in 6:27.30 with Tanner Nelson, Darwin Anderson, Payton Plumb and Joshua Reed.