By Dan D’Addona.
While the Georgia women were showcasing their speed at their home invite, making a case that they could challenge No. 1 Stanford at the NCAA championships, the Texas women were doing the same thing this weekend.
The No. 3 Longhorns dominated at the Texas Invitational with school records and NCAA cuts happening left and right.
The country might not be as familiar with the names of Madisyn Cox, Claire Adams, Remedy Rule and Tasija Karosas as they are with Katie Ledecky (Stanford), Simone Manuel (Stanford), Kathleen Baker (Cal) or Olivia Smoliga (Georiga), because of the Olympics, but with each passing week, swimming fans are becoming more and more aware of what these women can do in the water.
They are building a team that could be in the mix with No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 Georgia at the NCAA championships.
Cox had the biggest breakout meet of the weekend. She won three won three individual events and took down a pretty impressive record.
The All-American senior won the 200 IM (1:52.83) in an NCAA “A” cut. Cox’s time was the fastest in the nation this season. The 10-time All-American toppled the seven-year-old school mark of 1:53.33 set by two-time U.S. Olympian Kathleen Hersey at the 2009 NCAA Championships.
Cox also swam to victory in the 400 individual medley, posting the No. 3 mark in the country and the second-fastest time ever at Texas with a 4:03.16. She scored her third win of the meet and posted the nation’s fourth-fastest time in the 200 breaststroke at 2:07.21, a personal best.
Karosas led a one-two Texas finish in the 200 backstroke where she took the victory in 1:51.65, an NCAA automatic-qualifying cut. Adams followed closely behind in second at 1:52.43. The duo also finished 1-2 in the 100 backstroke with Karosas (51.08) broke the school record leading off the 400 medley relay.
Rule posted a lifetime best on her way to victory in the 200 butterfly at 1:53.97.
The No. 4 Texas men had a huge weekend, too.
Clark Smith kicked off the night with a top national time in the 1,650-yard freestyle, where he took the win in 14 minutes, 32.77 seconds, just off of his school mark of 14:31.29 from the 2016 Big 12 Championships. Smith earned another win for the Longhorns in the 500 freestyle (4:11.20) an NCAA “A” cut.
Will Licon put together an outstanding swim in the 200 breaststroke, where he holds the American record and the last two NCAA titles, winning by four-and-a-half seconds in 1:50.76, the fastest time in the nation by more than two seconds.
Jack Conger won the 200 butterfly in 1:40.24, the top time in the country this season. He also clocked the nation’s third-fastest time this season in the 100-yard butterfly to win in 44.94.