The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
FINA Short Course World Championships (25m)
Luther wins gold, Elendt bronze at FINA Short Course World Championships
12.18.2022 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Dakota Luther won the world title in the 200m fly and Anna Elendt earned bronze in the 100m breast at the 2022 Short Course World Championships.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Texas Women's Swimming's Dakota Luther won gold in the 200m butterfly and Anna Elendt earned bronze in the 100m breaststroke this week at the 2022 FINA Short Course World Championships (25m) at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre.
Luther, an Austin native, won the first World Championships medal of her career in Thursday's exciting 200-meter fly final that saw her battle United States teammate Hali Flickinger throughout the race, winning with a personal-best time of 2:03.37. She became the first American woman to win that 200m butterfly (SCM) world title since Mary Descenza in 2008 and her time makes her the third-fastest American in the event's history.
"I was a little out of my element in short course meters but I felt really great," Luther said. "I had an awesome time racing Hali and being under the bright lights with the USA flag on my cap was a great experience."
Elendt, a native of Dreieich, Germany, claimed third in the 100m breaststroke on Thursday, setting a German national record with a time of 1:04.05. She out-touched China's Tang Qianting by one one-hundredth of a second to bring home the bronze. Elendt also took fifth in the 50m breast in 29.30.
Incoming Longhorns Erin Gemmell and Jillian Cox, part of Texas' 2023 signing class, had stellar performances competing for the United States at the championships.
Gemmell earned bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay on Wednesday, helping establish a new American record of 7:34.70. The Potomac, Md. native swam the fastest split in the final, clocking 1:52.23 in the third leg for the U.S. Leah Smith, a team captain for the United States who trains in Austin with Texas head coach Carol Capitani, swam the anchor leg to help secure the medal. All told, Gemmell returns home with three world championship medals, adding a gold in the 4x50m free relay and silver in the 4x100m free relay after swimming for Team USA in the preliminary rounds.
Gemmell also advanced to a pair of individual finals for the United States, finishing just outside the medals with a fourth-place finish in the 200m free (1:52.56), in which the 18-year-old was the youngest swimmer in the final, and placing sixth in the 400m freestyle (4:01.82).
Cox, who hails from Cedar Park, Texas, advanced to two individual championship finals, placing sixth in the 800m free with a time of 8:20.95, then taking eighth in the 1500m free in 16:09.72. At 17, she was the youngest swimmer competing in the 800 free final in what was the fastest heat of the event. Cox earned a bronze medal in the 4x200m free relay after swimming in the prelims for the United States.
Smith opened the championships with a bronze in the 400m free (3:59.78) and tallied a pair of fourth-place results, finishing just off the podium in the 800m free (8:14.24) and 400 IM (4:29.18).
