Texas sophomore Kendall Shields has entered the NCAA transfer portal, the second Longhorn to seek a transfer off of the women’s team this offseason.
Shields just wrapped up her freshman year at the University of Texas. She swam the 200 free, 500 free and 200 back at the Big 12 Championships, placing 17th, 20th and 17th, respectively, but didn’t have any lifetime-bests at Big 12s. She did hit a career-best time in the 500 free at the mid-season Texas Hall of Fame Invite, going 4:50.51. Here’s a look at Shields top times pre-college and during her freshman season with the Longhorns:
Shields’ Top Times Out of High School
(fastest times done during her freshman year of college shown in parentheses)
- 200 free: 1:48.45 (1:48.72)
- 500 free: 4:55.23 (4:50.51)
- 100 back: 53.98 (54.69)
- 200 back: 1:56.14 (1:56.57)
- 50 free: 23.85 (25.97)
- 100 free: 50.75 (52.61)
Shields did have a big drop in her 500 free, but went mostly backwards in everything else. She was originally from Austin, Texas, Vandegrift High School and Austin Swim Club.
She’s the second Texas swimmer to transfer away this offseason. Fellow backstroker Kaitlin Harty transferred to Tennessee after not competing last year for the Longhorns.
Texas finished 5th at women’s NCAAs last year, two points ahead of Virginia and 45 behind Louisville. We’ve asked Shields about her plans, but haven’t yet received a response.