Felix Auboeck is Austrian freestyle specialist, earning the titles of world champion and Olympian.
University Of Michigan
2016-2017
Auboeck quickly made an impact on the Wolverine swim team, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors after his first conference championships. He took down Peter Vanderkay’s meet record in the 500 yard freestyle to grab maximum points in 4:10.63. He also won gold in the mile in 14:29.25 and edged his way in the top-ten all time in the event and fastest ever freshman. He also picked up a pair of bronze medals in the 200 yard freestyle and 800 yard freestyle relay.
At his first NCAA Championships, Auboeck picked up a silver and bronze medal. His bronze came in the 500 yard freestyle where he touched in 4:08.95, 0.03 behind Texas’ Townley Haas who took silver. Clark Smith claimed the gold.
His silver came after a tough battle in the 1650 yard freestyle. Auboeck along with Smith, Akaram Mahmoud and Jordan Wilimovsky put on a spectacular show for the crowd in Indianapolis. In the closing stages of the race the four swimmers wet stroke-for-stroke, pushing each other to post the four fastest ever mile swims. Smith took the gold, but Auboeck was right behind to touch in 14:22.88. Mahmoud took the bronze while Wilimovsky missed out on a medal in fourth. There was just over 1 second between the top four.
In the 200 yard freestyle, Auboeck took second in the ‘B’ final in 1:33.21.
2017-2018
At his Sophomore year NCAA’s, Auboeck again impressed, moving up the ladder in the 500 free and finishing 2nd (4:09.03) to Texas’ Townley Haas (4:08.60) in a tight 3-man battle including NC State’s Anton Ipsen (4:09.13) as well, with all 3 men touching within .53 of each other. In the 200 free, Felix finished 16th after qualifying as 16th in the prelims. In the 1,650 Felix once again placed 2nd, this time not quite in the tight battle he had been in the previous year. Anton Ipsen pulled away from Auboeck around the 1,000 mark and never looked back, touching 1st (14:24.43) by nearly 5 seconds to Felix’s 14:29.42.
2018-2019
Coming into the 2019 NCAA’s, Felix had primed himself to win multiple NCAA titles, seeded 1st in both the 500 and 1,650. In the prelims of the 500 however, Auboeck gained over 9 seconds from his seed, going from 4:09.37 at B1G Championships to 4:18.40, falling from top seed to 35th and missing a 2nd swim altogether. In the 200 free, Auboeck gained nearly 2 seconds from his seed to go 1:35.13 and place 38th, indicating that the 1,650 would go in a similar direction as his other races.
However, on the final day of competition Auboeck had an incredible momentum and mental shift, taking the lead in the 1,650 around the 650 mark and never relinquishing it. He touched at 14:23.09, a bit off his best time, but more importantly, crowning him an NCAA champion.
2019-2020
Auboeck put a bow on his Big 10 Career in his senior campaign, 4-peating in both the 500 free and 1,650. He also took 4th in the 200 free (1:33.03).
International Career
Auboeck has been a staple on the Austrian National team since 2013. In that year he competed at the European Junior Championships, World Junior Championships, and the European SC Championships.
2015 FINA World Championships
In Kazan, Russia Auboeck competed at his first long course World Championships. He swam the 200, 400 and 1,500 freestyle. His best finish was in the 400 meter freestyle with a 20th place. He finished 29th in the 200 meter and 37th in the 1,500 meter.
2016 Rio Olympic Games
In his first Olympic Games at 19 years old, Auboeck’s highest finish came in the 200 meter freestyle where he placed 18th. He also swam the 400 meter freestyle and 1,500 meter freestyle, finishing 25th and 42nd respectively.
2017 World Championships
On day one in Budapest Auboeck was in the line up for the 400 meter freestyle final. He finished 5th in 3:45.21. In the 800 meter freestyle he finished 6th in 7:51.20.
2021 European Championships (Budapest, Hungary)
Felix got his first international medal in Budapest on the first night of competition, touching for silver in a time of 3:44.63.
2020 Olympic Games
In Tokyo, Auboeck made his first Olympic final, qualifying for the 400m free top-8 on night 1 of competition. In the final, Auboeck placed 4th in 3:44.07, just outside of medaling. He went on to make the final of the 800 free (7:45.73 Austrian record in prelims, 7th in the final) and 1500 free (14:51.88 Austrian record in prelims, 7th in the final).
2021 Short Course World Championships
In Abu Dhabi, Felix earned his first international title, winning the 400 free on the first night of competition in 3:35.90 and making him a world champion. He also placed 12th in the 200 free at 1:43.49.
