SEC Championships, Day 3 Prelims: Texas Distance Depth a Little Sluggish in 500
One of the stories of the 2025 SEC Championships, upon the inclusion of the University of Texas, would be how its vaunted distance program in particular shook up the status quo.
The first returns, in the men’s 500 freestyle, were mixed.
Texas put two in the A final and four in the B final of the men’s 500 freestyle in prelims Wednesday morning at the University of Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium. But that included American record holder Rex Maurer in just seventh place, and Coby Carrozza and Luke Hobson, both A finalists at NCAAs last year, in the B final.
A recap of the morning:
Wednesday’s night session will also include the 200 free relay and women’s 3-meter diving. The team scores as they sit after the action Tuesday night.
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 5 1. University of Texas 238 2. University of Florida 140 3. Texas A&M University 130 4. Louisiana State University 126 5. University of Tennessee 120 6. South Carolina, University of, 118 7. Auburn University 115.5 8. Kentucky, University of 115 9. Georgia, University of 104.5 10. University of Alabama 86 11. University of Arkansas 85 12. Missouri 84 13. Vanderbilt University 56
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 6 1. University of Texas 176 2. Georgia, University of 158 3. University of Tennessee 153.5 4. University of Florida 152 5. Louisiana State University 132 6. University of Alabama 118 7. Texas A&M University 111 8. South Carolina, University of, 110 9. Kentucky, University of 102 10. Auburn University 63 11. Missouri 62.5
Women’s 500 freestyle
Jillian Cox flew the Longhorn flag ably in the morning, going 4:35.18 to cruise into the top seed. She had set the conference record at 4:30.68 in November.
Wednesday, she led a trio of 4:35s, with Georgia’s Dune Coetzee finishing second and Emma Weyant of Florida third. Cox is joined by Erin Gemmell, who finished seventh, in the A final. Georgia has three in the A final, with Abby McCulloh fourth and Rachel Stege sixth.
Tennessee’s Ella Jansen, who entered as the third seed with a 4:35.85 to her name, finished 10th.
Event 9 Women 500 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
NCAA: N 4:24.06 3/16/2017 Katie Ledecky, Stanford
SEC: S 4:30.68 11/20/2024Jillian Cox, Texas
SEC Meet: M 4:33.10 2016 Brittany MacLean, Georgia
Pool: P 4:30.85 12/4/2015 Leah Smith, Virginia
4:36.89 A
4:47.20 B
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Cox, Jillian SO Texas 4:30.68 4:35.18 qA
r:+0.68 25.50 52.85 (27.35)
1:20.54 (27.69) 1:48.18 (27.64)
2:15.91 (27.73) 2:43.91 (28.00)
3:11.76 (27.85) 3:39.87 (28.11)
4:07.83 (27.96) 4:35.18 (27.35)
2 Coetzee, Dune JR UGA 4:39.89 4:35.53 qA
r:+0.68 25.60 53.09 (27.49)
1:20.92 (27.83) 1:49.08 (28.16)
2:17.14 (28.06) 2:45.45 (28.31)
3:13.30 (27.85) 3:41.40 (28.10)
4:09.18 (27.78) 4:35.53 (26.35)
3 Weyant, Emma J SR FLOR-FL 4:37.62 4:35.58 qA
r:+0.68 25.72 53.05 (27.33)
1:20.66 (27.61) 1:48.70 (28.04)
2:16.66 (27.96) 2:44.60 (27.94)
3:12.47 (27.87) 3:40.29 (27.82)
4:08.20 (27.91) 4:35.58 (27.38)
4 McCulloh, Abby JR UGA 4:36.18 4:36.29 qA
r:+0.70 25.58 53.08 (27.50)
1:20.96 (27.88) 1:48.91 (27.95)
2:16.99 (28.08) 2:44.92 (27.93)
3:12.92 (28.00) 3:41.12 (28.20)
4:09.21 (28.09) 4:36.29 (27.08)
5 Brousseau, Juli FLOR-FL 4:37.19 4:36.78 qA
r:+0.74 25.44 52.81 (27.37)
1:20.80 (27.99) 1:48.78 (27.98)
2:16.84 (28.06) 2:45.26 (28.42)
3:13.48 (28.22) 3:41.69 (28.21)
4:09.61 (27.92) 4:36.78 (27.17)
6 Stege, Rachel G JR UGA 4:34.27 4:37.58 qB
r:+0.72 25.49 52.84 (27.35)
1:20.67 (27.83) 1:48.87 (28.20)
2:17.05 (28.18) 2:45.29 (28.24)
3:13.75 (28.46) 3:42.10 (28.35)
4:10.01 (27.91) 4:37.58 (27.57)
7 Gemmell, Erin M SO Texas 4:38.28 4:38.21 qB
r:+0.77 25.13 53.05 (27.92)
1:21.19 (28.14) 1:49.53 (28.34)
2:18.02 (28.49) 2:46.30 (28.28)
3:14.61 (28.31) 3:43.08 (28.47)
4:11.33 (28.25) 4:38.21 (26.88)
8 McCarville, Kat Tennessee-SE 4:41.29 4:39.02 qB
r:+0.65 25.79 53.60 (27.81)
1:21.64 (28.04) 1:49.91 (28.27)
2:18.07 (28.16) 2:46.39 (28.32)
3:14.82 (28.43) 3:43.28 (28.46)
4:11.61 (28.33) 4:39.02 (27.41)
Men’s 500 freestyle
Georgia grabbed the top two seeds, with Tomas Koski going 4:09.92 and Jake Magahey 4:10.01. Magahey owns the pool record at 4:09.83 from 2022, which will be in the crosshairs at night.
On to Texas, whose swims are likely a reflection of some of the top swimmers not being fully rested. David Johnston paced the Longhorns in third place in 4:10.44. Rex Maurer, whose 4:04.45 in November stands as the American mark, was seventh in 4:11.27. He was lucky to get into the A final, with teammates Coby Carrozza (seventh at NCAAs last year) ninth in 4:11.65 and NCAA runner-up Luke Hobson .03 back. They join Manning Haskal and Jackson Huckaby in the B final.
It is a daunting field, to be sure. Charlie Hawke, fifth at NCAAs last year, finished fourth in the morning for Alabama. Gio Linscheer of Florida was fifth, with teammate Jake Mitchell eighth. Auburn’s Mason Mathias, another A finalist at NCAAs last year, tied Linscheer for fifth.
Event 10 Men 500 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
NCAA: N 4:02.31 3/28/2024 Leon Marchand, Arizona State
SEC: S 4:04.45 11/20/2024Rex Maurer, Texas
SEC Meet: M 4:06.32 2020 Kieran Smith, Florida
Pool: P 4:09.83 11/17/2022Jake Magahey, Georgia
4:10.64 A
4:21.28 B
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Koski, Tomas S SO UGA 4:11.96 4:09.92 qA
r:+0.62 22.53 47.38 (24.85)
1:12.61 (25.23) 1:38.10 (25.49)
2:03.75 (25.65) 2:29.37 (25.62)
2:54.91 (25.54) 3:20.33 (25.42)
3:45.67 (25.34) 4:09.92 (24.25)
2 Magahey, Jake M 5Y UGA 4:10.93 4:10.01 qA
r:+0.72 22.82 47.96 (25.14)
1:13.34 (25.38) 1:38.88 (25.54)
2:04.39 (25.51) 2:30.05 (25.66)
2:55.62 (25.57) 3:20.89 (25.27)
3:46.02 (25.13) 4:10.01 (23.99)
3 Johnston, David SR Texas 4:09.41 4:10.44 qA
r:+0.71 23.07 48.13 (25.06)
1:13.47 (25.34) 1:38.76 (25.29)
2:04.18 (25.42) 2:29.80 (25.62)
2:55.18 (25.38) 3:20.64 (25.46)
3:45.77 (25.13) 4:10.44 (24.67)
4 Hawke, Charlie SR Alabama-SE 4:11.95 4:10.95 qB
r:+0.71 23.25 48.43 (25.18)
1:13.84 (25.41) 1:39.27 (25.43)
2:04.84 (25.57) 2:30.35 (25.51)
2:55.74 (25.39) 3:21.24 (25.50)
3:46.37 (25.13) 4:10.95 (24.58)
5 Linscheer, Giov JR FLOR-FL 4:15.04 4:11.03 qB
r:+0.65 23.35 48.39 (25.04)
1:13.81 (25.42) 1:39.34 (25.53)
2:04.80 (25.46) 2:30.14 (25.34)
2:55.66 (25.52) 3:21.05 (25.39)
3:46.27 (25.22) 4:11.03 (24.76)
5 Mathias, Mason SR Auburn-SE 4:14.03 4:11.03 qB
r:+0.67 23.33 48.75 (25.42)
1:14.27 (25.52) 1:39.97 (25.70)
2:05.40 (25.43) 2:30.86 (25.46)
2:56.14 (25.28) 3:21.45 (25.31)
3:46.56 (25.11) 4:11.03 (24.47)
7 Maurer, Rex SO Texas 4:04.45 4:11.27 qB
r:+0.71 22.96 48.25 (25.29)
1:13.78 (25.53) 1:39.65 (25.87)
2:05.03 (25.38) 2:30.71 (25.68)
2:56.28 (25.57) 3:22.10 (25.82)
3:47.09 (24.99) 4:11.27 (24.18)
8 Mitchell, Jake 5Y FLOR-FL 4:16.06 4:11.49 qB
r:+0.69 22.97 47.90 (24.93)
1:13.39 (25.49) 1:39.23 (25.84)
2:05.22 (25.99) 2:31.05 (25.83)
2:56.54 (25.49) 3:21.64 (25.10)
3:46.88 (25.24) 4:11.49 (24.61)
Women’s 200 individual medley
Men’s 200 individual medley
Women’s 50 freestyle
Men’s 50 freestyle
