The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Swimming and Diving primed for Big 12 Championships
02.23.2022 | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
The Longhorns will look to defend their conference titles in West Virginia this week.
By Emily Schumacher, Texas Athletics Communications
Texas Swimming and Diving commences postseason competition this week at the Big 12 Championships, where the men contend to preserve their 25-year Big 12 title streak and the women will reach for a decade of consecutive wins.
The Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships will take place over four days from Wednesday, Feb. 23 through Saturday, Feb. 26. with the teams traveling to Morgantown, W.VA. for the event.
This opportunity is a final tune-up for technique and speed for the squads and is a chance to cheer on teammates, as many of the athletes have already qualified for the NCAA Championships.
No. 2 Texas women's returns every Big 12 individual champion from last year and misses only one swimmer from the champion 400 free relay team. The roster has grown, as Olympian Erica Sullivan makes her championship debut for the Longhorns. The silver-medalist received Big 12 Newcomer of the Week twice this season.
Women's head coach Carol Capitani credits her team's hunger and desire for growth for what wakes her up in the morning. She especially acknowledges sophomores Emma Sticklen (fly/free/back), Olivia Bray (fly/back) and junior Kelly Pash's (free/fly/IM) progress after competing in a pandemic.
Big 12 Champions senior Paola Pineda and sophomore Bridget O'Neil will return to the water after dominating the diving portion last year.
Legendary head coach Eddie Reese left his momentary retirement to lead the men's team for his 44th season at Texas. Reese has witnessed many conference meetings but believes this year's intensity is unmatched with other conferences speeding up and the minimal amount of rest.
The top-ranked Men's Swimming and Diving joins the championship after recently defeating SMU in a dual meet, 164-127. Longhorn men captured five dual meet wins during the regular season.
In Dallas, the team racked up pool records with freshman Luke Hobson clocking the fastest time for the NCAA this year in the 1,000 free. Senior Drew Kibler (200 free), sophomore Carson Foster (200 back), junior Caspar Corbeau (200 breaststroke), junior Jake Foster (200 IM) and 200 free relay members Anthony Grimm and Daniel Krueger all attained pool records.
Texas' accomplishments are rarely overlooked, as the men have accumulated a series of Big 12 Conference weekly awards. Most recently, senior Alvin Jiang earned Swimmer of the Week, while sophomore Noah Duperre received Diver of the Week and freshman Luke Hobson collected Newcomer of the Week for the third time this season.
Despite college athletics possessing a greater feeling of normalcy this season, it's far from average as both teams experienced meet cancelations.
Head diving coach Matt Scoggin describes a sense of urgency among the athletes preparing for the postseason.
"When you turn the corner of the year, everyone starts feeling the urgency," Scoggin said. "This is not a sense of negative pressure, it's a sense of this is going to be exciting."
Preparation for the event brings different reactions among the athletes. According to Scoggin, the divers heighten their levels of concentration and attention to detail. The swimmers are energetic as they taper from their usual yardage.
Scoggin and Capitani attribute the teams' current success to the duality of the programs' focus to both swim and dive, which is a rarity at the collegiate level.
"You can't have a contest on who's working harder, the diving program or the swimming program. We value our diving program, not just for the points but for the people and what it means to have really amazing athletes," Capitani said.
The Big 12 Championships is a gauge of how the team will compete at the NCAA Championships in March. This weekend's performance is crucial.
"This is one of the most important conference meets for us in the last 10 or 15 years," Reese said.
Players Mentioned
