A Busy and Highly Successful 2024 Has Fueled Luke Hobson in Quest for Greater 2025
In so many ways, February 2025 was much different for Luke Hobson than February 2024.
For one, it was spent entirely in the United States, without a side quest to Doha for a World Aquatics Championships like last year. It brought Hobson and his Texas teammates to the SEC Championships for the first time, instead of past perfunctory Big 12 Championships. It was overseen by Bob Bowman instead of the legendary Eddie Reese, one NCAA winner following upon another.
And there’s that small matter of Hobson being an Olympic medalist and short-course world record holder this time around.
Hobson gained so much from a whirlwind 2024. And he has reason to believe that it could be the steppingstone to more, including at the 2025 NCAA Championships.
“It was by far my biggest year ever in swimming,” Hobson said. “It was great, and it’s still sinking in, just with everything that went on.”
A Medal-Worthy Odyssey
It’s with a sense of understatement that Hobson unspools just how busy 2024 was. The quick tour:
February: A trip to the World Aquatics Championships in Doha ends in bronze in the 200 free and gold in the 400 medley relay.
March: Hobson defends his NCAA title in the 200 free in an NCAA record 1:28.81 and finishes second to Leon Marchand in the 500 free.
June: A week before turning 21, Hobson dominates the 200 free at Olympic Trials to book his spot at the Olympics.
July: In a thrilling Olympic final in which .15 seconds separated gold from fourth, Hobson gets his hand to the wall and grabs bronze in 1:44.79. He tacks on silver in the 800 free relay a day later.
December: In Budapest, Hobson twice takes down the super-suited world record in the 200 free – set in 2009 by Paul Biedermann at 1:39.37 – at the World Short-Course Championships, a meet many Olympians opt to skip. His record brings gold in the 200 (in 1:38.61) plus gold in the 400 free relay and 800 free relay.
Luke Hobson. Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
That’s five major meets, any one of which could have yielded a career-defining result. Hobson left each with significant hardware, even while training to peak more than most swimmers can handle.
“It was kind of an up-and-down cycle of taper, training, taper, training,” he said. “And I kind of think that that’s where I thrive and do really well. … It was a lot to prepare for. Racing is my favorite part, so I thought it was a super fun year and great results. I can’t complain about anything.”
The groundwork, Hobson said, was laid in the fall of 2023, when he went hard at his training in Austin. He knew the deficit in training time that 2024 would demand, and he sought to get ahead of it. The results were pretty clear.
In a race as tactical as the 200 free, racing experience matters, too. As daunting as the field in the Olympic final was, Hobson entered confident. He knew he’d have a chance to win or medal if he executed his race, a plan that included being comfortable rallying from behind the pace. When the Olympic final tested that, he proved he could get it done.
“I’ve learned so much about racing and so much about strategy for a 200 free, whether long-course or short-course,” he said. “I would say racing is my favorite part, and it’s just getting comfortable with the nerves of racing, getting prepared and going through the process. I think the more times you can do it, the more prepared you are for the upcoming meets in the future. I think doing that many meets last year kind of prepared me for this year, and just the more racing experience I can get, the better, I think.”
Turning the Calendar Page
On to 2025, then, where so much has changed. The first is a new voice at the top, where Reese was synonymous with Longhorn swimming excellence for nearly a half-century. The cornerstone of so many of those 15 NCAA team championships was the mid-distance program, which made Hobson’s salutary 200 free title at Reese’s final NCAAs all the sweeter last year.
But the transition to Bowman, Hobson said, has not only been smooth but challenging in all the right ways. Having fellow Olympic medalist Carson Foster and new American record-holder Rex Maurer to train with and push him on a daily basis doesn’t hurt, either.
“It’s been great so far,” Hobson said. “I have absolutely no complaints, and my results in Budapest speak for that. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot faster this year just with another year of development and a change in stimulus in training. It’s been fresh. It’s been super fun. It’s been really difficult, and our training group this year is unmatched.”
The calendar’s focus adjusted with the SEC Championships on the docket instead of Big 12s, a conference that Texas had utterly dominated. (Hobson felt that last year, knowing he didn’t need to rush back from Doha for the conference meet.)
Hobson didn’t focus his rest on SECs, although he and Bowman pulled back training enough for him to put down some solid times and claim the team crown. It shouldn’t be a surprise that someone who so prizes racing as a sharpening tool looked forward to the test, even when less rested than his opponents.
Luke Hobson. Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
His achievements in the 200 free leave him wondering if more is possible internationally. At Trials last year, Hobson focused on the 200, only adding the 100 free, in which he finished 20th. The schedule is delicate – the 400 free prelims and finals are typically on the first day of major international meets, with the 200 free prelims the following morning. After two days of the 200 free comes the 100 free, which would mean six straight day of racing to start the meet; add in relays at an international championships, and it’s a docket over which it’s difficult to maintain peak speed. Believing he had a chance to medal in the 200 in Paris, Hobson didn’t want to jeopardize it chasing additional events.
But the 400 free appears open in the American ranks. While he is more dominant in short course, Hobson has no problems getting up and down the pool for 500 yards, so 400 meters is in reach.
“This summer, it’s a great opportunity to try some new events,” he said. “And I think as of now, I really want to get in that 400. It’s just a little bit tough with the schedule at Worlds. … But I think with the training now, I’m much fitter, and I think I can do that double.”
Hobson has proven the ability to step to the block and deliver, enough that you wouldn’t bet against him doing it again.