Maxime Rooney To Transfer to Texas

Photo Courtesy: Maxime Rooney

Maxime Rooney has decided to transfer to Texas for his senior season.

The All-American from Florida announced his decision on Twitter:

New Home! Thank you all for your support and helping me reach this point in my career. pic.twitter.com/6bKlZ2T9Gh

— Maxime Rooney (@Maxime_Rooney) May 1, 2019

Rooney announced last week his intention to leave Florida after swimming three years for the Gators. He is originally from Livermore, California.

Rooney recently finished his junior season at Florida where he was fourth in the 100 fly at NCAAs, 18th in the 100 free, and 30th in the 200 fly. Rooney was also sixth in the 200 free as a freshman in 2017.

Rooney was the SEC Champion in the 100 fly and was second in the 200 fly this year. He was also third in the 100 free this season. He won three SEC team titles with Florida in his time in Gainesville.

Rooney was one of the biggest transfers on the market within the last few years as he already has shown he can score at the NCAA level. Last year, the biggest transfer was Zach Apple, who left Auburn to go to Indiana ahead of his senior season.

Maxime Rooney best times:

50 Free: 19.43
100 Free: 41.74
200 Free: 1:32.18
100 Fly: 44.99
200 Fly: 1:40.87

He also swam a 48.27 in the 100 free LCM at US Nationals in July and was a 1:47.50 in the 200 free. He has Olympic relay potential in those two events next year.

This is a huge plus for the Longhorns, who graduated huge points from Townley Haas, John Shebat, Jeff Newkirk and Tate Jackson. Rooney will most likely be the butterflyer on the medley relays for Texas next season if he is eligible to compete right away. He is also capable of a good 200 free split (1:31.60 at NCAAs) on the 800 free relay. Texas finished second in 2019 as a team after winning four straight team titles.

The Longhorns will be welcoming a strong freshman class to Austin in the fall with Sam Artmann, Casper Corbeau, Cole Crane, Paul Degrado, Jake Foster, Ethan Harder, Trey Jackson and Peter Larson coming to campus.

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