Texas A&M Adds Five for 2017-2018 Season

Photo Courtesy: Brett Smith

Five swimming and diving standouts have signed with the Texas A&M men’s team and will join the Aggies for the 2017-18 season, head coach Jay Holmes announced.

Joining the Aggies in the fall will be four new swimmers Gus Karau (Southlake, Texas), Tanner Olson (Saugus, Calif.), Felipe Rizzo (Curitaba, Brazil) and Hudson Smith (Brenham, Texas) and diver Kurtis Mathews (Brisbane, NSW, Australia).

Gus Karau

Southlake, Texas
North Texas Nadadores

Karau was rated the No. 13 senior recruit in the state of Texas by CollegeSwimming.com and he helped Southlake Carroll High School to four state team titles in the highest classification in the state. Always a valuable relay swimmer for the Dragons, Karau placed seventh in the 200 freestyle and 11th in the 100 butterfly at the 2017 Texas UIL Class 5A state meet. He also swam the fly leg on two state champion medley relays. An excellent student, Karau is a National Merit Scholarship finalist and a USA Swimming Scholastic All-American. Karau competes for the North Texas Nadadores and he has junior national time standards in all the freestyle races from the 200 through the 1,650, as well as the 100 and 200 fly.

Best Times:
200 free – 1:39.74
500 free – 4:31.01
1000 free – 9:19.17
1650 free – 15:46.69
100 fly – 49.03
200 fly – 1:48.43

Kurtis Mathews

Brisbane, NSW, Australia
Queensland

An accomplished junior diver, Matthews has been selected to multiple junior national teams for Australia, including the 2016 World Junior Team and the 2016 NextGEN AusComGame Squad. He represented Australia at the 2016 FINA World Junior Diving Championships in Kazan, Russia, placing 24th in the three-meter dive and seventh in the three-meter synchro. He shined at the 2015 FINA Diving Grand Prix in Singapore with four top five finishes, including fourth in the platform dive and fifth in the three-meter dive.

Tanner Olson

Saugus, Calif.
Canyons Aquatic Club

A U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifier in the 100 and 200 breaststroke in 2016, Olsen was rated the No. 4 senior swimmer in the state of California and No. 35 in the nation by CollegeSwimming.com. Competing for Saugus High School, Olsen won the 100 breaststroke at the CIF-South Section Championships in 2016. He trains with the Canyons Aquatic Club and he’s coached by Coley Stickels. At the 2016 Winter National Championships, Olsen placed eighth in the 200 breast (1:57.40), 12th in the 200 IM (1:48.34) and 12th in the 100 breast (54:22), as well as swimming legs on Canyons’ relays.

Best Times:
50 free: 20.50
100 free: 45.74
100 breast: 53.63
200 breast: 1:56.89
100 butterfly: 49.44
200 IM: 1:48.34

Felipe Rizzo

Curitaba, Brazil
Clube Curitibano

Rizzo comes to Texas A&M from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná in Curitaba, Brazil. Representing Brazil at the 2014 FINA World Junior Open Water Championships in Hungary, Rizzo placed 16th in the 5 km. His best time in the 400 SCM freestyle is 3:51.72. He trains with Clube Curitibano in Curitibano, Brazil.

Hudson Smith

Brenham, Texas
Brenham Swim Club

Smith, rated the 10th best senior swimmer in the state of Texas, finished his high school career at Brenham High School with five total individual state titles – three in the 100-yard breaststroke and two in the 200 IM. Competing for the Brenham Swim Club, Smith has posted U.S. Open qualifying cuts in the 200 breast and 400 IM and Summer Juniors cuts in the 100 breast, 200 breast and 200 IM. Competing at the 2017 Speedo Sectionals in College Station last February, Smith posted victories in the 100 and 200 breast and was sixth in the 200 and 400 IM.

Best Times:
100 breast: 55.67
200 Breast: 2:00.28
200 IM: 1:48.68
400 IM: 3:52.47

Texas A&M contributed this report.

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