Carol Capitani: “This meet is just like the Wild West” (Video)

Texas women’s head coach Carol Capitani sat down with the media at the conclusion of NCAA’s to breakdown the Longhorn’s 6th place performance.

After losing two of its all-time top performers in Tasija Karosas and Madisyn Cox, it seemed like a stretch for the UT women to repeat their 5th place performance at the 2017 NCAA Championships, perhaps even to finish in the top 10. The longhorns proved their resilience and grit this weekend however, as the women raced through adversity to a 6th place team finish overall.

Among that 6th place finish, a few things are worth noting. Claire Adams, one of the longhorns top individual scorers, opted to only swim two individual events (100 back and 100 free) and all 5 relays. In the same vein, Texas racked up points in every single one of those relays, placing top 8 in all 5.

The top individual scorer on the team (in swimming) was freshman Evie Pfeifer, who was the only longhorn to score in all 3 of her individual events, placing 6th in the 500 free, 11th in the 400 IM, and 12th in the 1650. The top scorer overall for the longhorns was diver Samantha Bromberg, who scored 30 points individually with a 6th place finish on 3m and 2nd place finish on platform.

Capitani mentions one of their top swimmers coming down with mono, who we are guessing was distance ace and senior Joanna Evans. Joanna didn’t swim at the Big 12 conference at all, and added significant time in her 500 and 200 freestyles, opting not to swim the mile on the final day. Had Joanna swam to her seed, or even close, in both distance freestyle events, Texas could have easily challenged for a 4th place finish and team trophy, their ultimate goal at NCAA’s according to Captani.