A month removed from the 2023 NCAA Championships, a handful of big names from the University of Texas and Texas A&M returned to the pool last week, but this time in long course meters (LCM) as they prepare for this summer’s international calendar.
TXLA 11 & Over Long Course Kickoff
The women’s 100-meter butterfly in Austin featured a fun battle between Texas teammates Kelly Pash (59.49) and Dakota Luther (59.66) during the 19 & over division. Pash was nearly two seconds off her lifetime best from last year’s Austin Sectionals (57.73), but it was still enough to secure the victory by just .17 seconds. She also went 58.52 in the 100 fly prelims at the Westmont stop of the Pro Swim Series earlier this month. Meanwhile, Luther was only about a second off her personal-best 58.39 from last July’s U.S. Nationals.
Pash also won the 100 free (55.92) and 200 IM (2:15.92), but she was a few seconds slower than her best times in both events. She nearly set a lifetime best in the 50 free, though, clocking a 26.16 to place third and come just .16 seconds shy of her best time from 2019.
Longhorns distance specialists Erica Sullivan and Alec Enyeart were also in action. Sullivan won the 800 free (8:44.17) and placed 2nd in the 400 free (4:17.78), having previously been 20 seconds faster and 11 seconds faster in each event, respectively. Sullivan also went 8:40.23 in the 800 free at the Westmont stop of the Pro Swim Series earlier this month. Enyeart similarly triumphed in the 800 free (8:13.79) and earned a runner-up finish in the 400 free (3:55.18). He set his personal bests in both events last April, when he went 7:58.68 and 3:50.18.
The most impressive swims of the meet may have come from a pair of high schoolers who will be joining the NCAA ranks in the next couple years. Texas Longhorn Aquatics (TXLA) 17-year-old Jillian Cox dropped over a second in the 100 back to win the event in 1:06.53, erasing her previous-best 1:07.92 from 2019. The Texas commit picked up additional victories in the 100 free (57.47), 200 free (2:02.64), and 400 free (4:12.14), although not in best times. Cox is slated to arrive on campus with the Longhorns this upcoming fall.
Fellow TXLA 17-year-old Amelia Bodenstab, a Louisville commit, shaved nearly two seconds off her previous best in the 200 back, clocking a 2:24.72 on her way to a big win. She added victories in the 200 fly (2:26.09) and 200 IM (2:23.49).
In the younger age groups, TXLA 15-year-old Rowan Cox was among the standouts with a 200 free win in 1:54.62, improving upon his previous best from last June by over six seconds. He also placed first in the 200 IM (2:07.83), 100 back (58.09), and 100 free (52.98) along with a 12-second drop in the 800 free (8:35.99) and runner-up finish in the 50 free (24.51).
GU AGS Aggieland Long Course Invitational
Canadian Olympic medalist Sydney Pickrem, who trains with the pro group in College Station, collected three wins in the 200 free (2:03.40), 100 back (1:02.92), and 200 IM (2:11.99). In the 100 back, she was only about a second off her personal-best 1:01.55 from May of 2021.
Texas A&M freshman Baylor Nelson wasn’t particularly close to hitting any best times in his long course debut this season, but he did achieve an Olympic Trials qualifying mark with a 2:03.03 in the 200 IM to beat 25-year-old Mexican Angel Martinez Gomez (2:03.42). Nelson also reached the wall first in the 200 free (1:54.71) while placing second in the 400 free (4:09.10) and third in the 100 back (59.57).
Gomez got a World Championships ‘B’ cut in the 200 IM, but he’s still about four seconds away from the ‘A’ cut (1:59.53). He also won the 100 fly with a 54.31, about half a second outside the Worlds ‘B’ cut.
Fellow Texas A&M freshman Giulia Goerigk had never been under one minute in the 100 free before, and she posted a 58.78 for a new personal best en route to a runner-up finish just a blink behind sophomore teammate Aviv Barzelay (58.73). Goerigk just barely missed the Worlds ‘B’ cut in the 200 IM with a 2:17.65. Barzelay, a 20-year-old from Israel, added a runner-up finish in the 100 back (1:03.17).
Texas A&M senior Ashley Conrad hit a new lifetime best during her 50 free victory in 26.99, on the heels of a personal-best time in the 50-yard free at a Last Chance meet in February. Conrad also placed second in the 400 free (4:29.43) and 3rd in the 200 free (2:07.04).
Other event winners included Texas A&M senior Caroline Theil in the women’s 200 breast (2:35.23), who was just half a second off her personal best, Turkish freshman Batuhan Filiz in the men’s 400 free (4:01.32), and Texas A&M junior Abby Grottle in both the women’s 400 free (4:25.18) and 200 fly (2:24.48).