The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championships
Women’s Swimming & Diving in second after opening night of 2026 NCAA Championships
03.18.2026 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Jillian Cox wins her second consecutive 1,650-freestyle national title on the opening night of the national meet.
ATLANTA, Ga. – Texas Women's Swimming and Diving sits in second place (89 points) behind Virginia (100 points) after Wednesday's opening night of the four-day 2026 NCAA Championships at the McAuley Aquatic Center. The Longhorns were led by a national title from Jillian Cox in the 1,650-freestyle and an eighth-place finish from Kate Hurst in the same event. Texas also recorded a runner-up finish in the 800-freestyle relay, a seventh-place finish in the 200-medley relay.
Jillian Cox set the tone for the evening, delivering a dominant 15:32.26 in the 1,650-freestyle to secure her second consecutive NCAA title in the event. Cox surged in the back half, dropping into the 27-second range over the final 500 yards to overtake California's Claire Weinstein and pull away for the win. The sophomore trimmed 1.28 seconds off her winning time from last year (15:33.54).
Kate Hurst added an All-America performance in the 1,650-freestyle, placing eighth with a time of 15:53.09. Hurst held a consistent pace throughout before finishing strong with a 27.97 split over her final 50, improving on her seed time of 15:56.37 to secure the top-eight finish.
To open the relay events, the quartet of Emma Kern, Piper Enge, Campbell Stoll and Eva Okaro earned All-America honors with a seventh-place finish in the 200-medley relay, touching in 1:33.38. Texas was powered on the back half by a 22.73 butterfly split from Stoll and a 20.78 freestyle anchor from Okaro.
In the final event of the night, the quartet of Nikolett Padar, Lillie Nesty, Campbell Chase and Erin Gemmell earned a runner-up finish in the 800-freestyle relay with a time of 6:46.91. Texas was led by Padar's program-record leadoff split of 1:40.30, breaking her own previous mark of 1:41.36.
The Longhorns continue competition at the NCAA Championships from Thursday, March 19 through Saturday, March 21 at the McAuley Aquatic Center. Thursday's championship finals events include the 100-butterfly, 400-individual medley, 1-meter diving finals, 200-freestyle, 100-breaststroke and the 200-freestyle relay. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. CT, with finals sessions scheduled to start each day at 5 p.m. CT. All prelim and finals sessions will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Team Rankings (Through Event 3):
- Virginia – 100
- Texas – 89
- Stanford – 59
T-3. Louisville – 59 - Michigan – 56
- Tennessee – 52
- California – 49
- Indiana – 46
- Ohio State – 39
- Georgia – 34
- Florida – 31
- NC State – 28
- Southern California – 24
- Alabama – 22
- Wisconsin – 16
- Nebraska – 15
- LSU – 14
- Pittsburgh – 10
T-19. Penn – 6
T-19. Minnesota – 6
T-19. Arizona State – 6 - UCLA – 4
T-22. South Carolina – 4 - Duke – 2
Texas Longhorns National Champions:
Jillian Cox: 1,650-freestyle (15:32.26)
Texas Longhorns All-Americans:
Campbell Chase – 800 freestyle relay
Piper Enge – 200 medley relay
Erin Gemmell – 800 freestyle relay
Kate Hurst – 1,650 freestyle
Emma Kern – 200 medley relay
Lillie Nesty – 800 freestyle relay
Eva Okaro – 200 medley relay
Nikolett Padar – 800 freestyle relay
Campbell Stoll – 200 medley relay
Schedule of Events – Thursday, March 19, 2026
(Prelims: 9 a.m. CT / 10 a.m. ET; Diving Prelims 11:30 a.m. CT / 12:30 pm ET; Finals: 5 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. ET)
100-Butterfly
Campbell Stoll
Eva Okaro
400-Individual Medley
Angie Coe
Campbell Stoll
Campbell Chase
Haley McDonald
200-Freestyle
Nikolett Padar
Erin Gemmell
Lillie Nesty
Inez Miller
100-Breaststroke
Piper Enge
200-Freestyle Relay
Eva Okaro
Lillie Nesty
Lucy Mehraban
Erin Gemmell
Players Mentioned
