A Statistical Look at Texas’ 17th NCAA Championship
The year was 1981 and under the direction of third-year coach Eddie Reese, the University of Texas captured its first NCAA championship. The title followed a runnerup showing the previous year and established the Longhorns as a force on the collegiate swimming stage. In the year since, no program in the country has matched Texas’ success, and the latest championship was secured over the weekend.
By accumulating 445.5 points, UT – now under the direction of Bob Bowman – registered a 29.5-point triumph over the University of Florida. The title marked the 17th in program history and the second in a row under Bowman, who took the reins from Reese (15 championships) following the 2024 season. Both are Hall of Fame inductees, the two men considered among the finest coaches the sport has seen.
Here is a quick statistical look at Texas’ championship pedigree – both this year and historically.
- En route to its latest title, the Longhorns received scoring from 15 athletes, headlined by the 57 points of Hubert Kos, who delivered another sensational NCAA showing. Fourteen of the Longhorns who competed at the McAuley Aquatic Center scored on an individual basis.
- Kos established a trio of NCAA records during the four-day meet. He followed a prelims mark of 43.08 in the 100-yard backstroke with a difficult-to-comprehend effort of 42.61 in the final. He also clocked an NCAA record of 1:34.13 in the 200 backstroke and is now 1.24 seconds faster than the No. 2 performer in history, Destin Lasco at 1:35.37. More, Kos was the runnerup in the 100 butterfly, going 42.54 to finish just behind Florida’s Josh Liendo (42.49) with the No. 2 performance of all-time.
- Rex Maurer repeated as champion of the 400 individual medley with an American record of 3:32.96. That time took down the 2017 standard of Olympic gold medalist Chase Kalisz, who held the former record at 3:33.42. Maurer was followed as runnerup by teammate Baylor Nelson.
- Texas held the lead at the NCAA Championships from the end of the 400 IM, the second event of Day Two’s night session.
- With its 17th national championship, Texas increased its lead in the all-time titles race to five over Michigan (12). Ohio State sits third on the list with 11 championships, all captured from 1943-1962.
- By capturing back-to-back championships, Texas has been a repeat team titlist on four different occasions: 1988-91; 2000-2002; 2015-2018; 2025-2026.
- Since winning their first NCAA title in 1981, the Longhorns have captured 37.7% of the available championships.
- The Longhorns’ margin of victory, 29.5 points, is the 12th-largest spread among its 17 crowns.
- Texas won its second NCAA title at the McAuley Aquatic Center, on the campus of Georgia Tech University and the host pool of the 1996 Olympic Games. The longhorns also won in Atlanta in 2016.