The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Auburn
No. 2 Men’s Swimming and Diving Preview: Auburn and Georgia
01.08.2019 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Longhorns head to final road tests of the season.
No. 2 Texas (2-2) at Auburn (1-3); at No. 12 Georgia (2-1)
When: January 10; January 12
Time: 2:00 p.m. CT; 9:00 a.m. CT
Where: James E. Martin Aquatic Center (Auburn, Ala.); Gabrielsen Natatorium (Athens, Ga.)
Television Coverage: SECn+
MEET NOTES
The Matchup – The last time the Longhorns faced off against Auburn and Georgia was at the 2018 NCAA Championships with Texas picking up their fourth-straight NCAA title and Georgia taking 10th and Auburn 12th. Texas also earned a 160-140 win over the Tigers in a dual meet last January when Auburn made the trip to Austin with UT grabbing eight event wins. Eddie Reese will be returning to Auburn once again for a matchup against a Tiger program that he helped turnaround prior to his coaching stint at Texas. Before Reese arrived on campus, the Tigers had not sent a swimmer to the finals of the SEC Championships the season prior. In 1978 with Reese at the helm, Auburn earned their highest finish at the NCAA Championships in program history as the runner-up.
A Look at the Longhorns – The Longhorns will look to build off their impressive showings at the 2018 Texas Hall of Fame Swimming Invitational (Nov. 28 – Dec. 1) and the USA Diving Winter Trials (Dec. 16 – 21). The Texas swimmers took 11 of 18 events at the Hall of Fame Invite, including five of six on the final night. Tate Jackson led the Longhorns with three individual event wins and set a new school and pool record in the 100 freestyle. The Longhorn diving contingent took a second-place finish in the team title race at the USA Diving Winter Trials in Atlanta. Jacob Cornish and Jordan Windle each took home a gold and silver medal over the week of competition. After taking down a pair of top-15 opponents in No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 15 Tennessee, the Longhorns jumped to number two in the latest CSCAA rankings released on Dec. 5. UT will look to secure another pair of wins over SEC-foes for their final road trip of the season.
Top Times in the NCAA this season by Longhorns
- Tate Jackson – 50 freestyle (18.79), 100 freestyle (41.06)
- Chris Yeager – 1650 freestyle (14.32.13)
A Look at the Tigers – Auburn grabbed its first dual meet win of the season with a 164-94 upset victory over No. 20 Georgia Tech on January 5. In the only common opponent on the season for UT and the Tigers, Auburn fell to Tennessee in early November with a final score of 233-66.
A Look at the Bulldogs – After splitting its first two dual meets of the season, UGA earned a win on Monday over a Harvard squad that visited Austin for the 2018 Texas Hall of Fame Swimming Invite. The Georgia swimmers finished third at the Georgia Fall Invitational (Nov. 29 - Dec. 1), behind top-ranked California and third-ranked Michigan, and are led by Greg Reed who enters the dual meet with top-10 times in the 1000 and 1650 freestyle.
SEASON NOTES
Divers Rake in Medals at USA Diving Winter Trials – The Texas diving contingent took second-place in the team title race at the 2018 USA Diving Winter Trials from Dec. 16-21. Jordan Windle and Jacob Cornish both earned a gold and silver medal as the Longhorns took home four medals throughout the week.
Another Week, Another Sweep – Tate Jackson and Jordan Windle were awarded Big 12 honors on Dec. 5 after their standout performances at the 2018 Texas Hall of Fame Swimming and Diving Invitationals. Jackson won three individual events throughout the week for his first Big 12 Swimmer of the Week award this year while Jordan Windle was the only diver at the Texas Diving Invite to place in the top-three in all three events. It's the third straight week Windle was named Big 12 Diver of the Week.
Longhorns take Big 12 Honors – Freshman Andrew Koustik and sophomore Jordan Windle were named Big 12 Swimmer and Diver of the week, respectively, by the conference on Nov. 14. Windle took the 3-meter event against No. 13 Texas A&M on Nov. 2 and a pair of second-places finishes on 1-meter and 3-meter at No. 10 Tennessee. Koustik earned the honor for the first time as a Longhorn after turning in a pair of season bests in the 200 fly and 400 IM. The freshman dropped a time of 1:46.43 to win the 200 fly and also earned a second-place finish in the 400 IM (3:57.39), setting the top time for the Longhorns in the event this year.
Golden Nominees - Townley Haas and Austin Katz made the trip to New York City for the 2018 USA Swimming Golden Goggles, with both nominations coming from their performances in Tokyo at the Pan Pacs. Haas was nominated for the 'Relay Performance of the Year' after he anchored the 4x200m freestyle relay to gold in Japan while Katz was up for 'Breakout Performer of the Year' with his bronze in the 200 backstroke.
Windle Dives into Big 12 Honors - Sophomore Jordan Windle earned his sixth-career Big 12 Diver of the Week award on Oct. 31 after a second-place finish in the 3-meter and taking third in the 1-meter in a dual meet against Florida and Indiana. He was only one of two divers to place in the top-3 in the double dual.
Horns Repping for Team USA – Tate Jackson (100 free), Townley Haas (200 free), Austin Katz (200 back) and Sam Stewart (400 IM) were all named to the 2018-19 USA Swimming National Team. Katz, Jackson, and Stewart will also be joined by John Shebat and Jeff Newkirk in Naples, Italy to represent the United States at the 2019 World University Games.
Hunt for 5 - The men's program has won four-straight NCAA championships, including 14 overall.
Horns Continue to Reload - The Texas men's team raked in the No.1 recruiting class in the nation last year, according to SwimSwam. The class was headlined by Drew Kibler, the second- ranked recruit in the class.
Longhorns in Japan - Austin Katz and Townley Haas both took home medals from the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships over the summer. Haas won the gold in the 200 free and anchored the 200m free relay, dropping the third-fastest split ever for the first-place finish. Katz earned a bronze with his 1:56.00 in the 200m backstroke in Tokyo.
Players Mentioned
