Will Modglin Follows Up 100 Back American Record With 43.37 in Final at Texas Invite
Texas junior Will Modglin has broken out as a star backstroker in recent months. He won silver in the 100-meter back at this year’s World University Games, posting the fastest time in the event by any American, and he has continued building momentum this college season. He opened the midseason Texas Invite by becoming the fastest swimmer ever in the 50-yard back. In morning’s prelims at the Texas Invite, he took down the American record in the 100 back with a mark of 43.26, and he came up just short of that time in the final.
Modglin clocked 43.37 at night, well ahead of his previous best time of 43.91. Texas teammate Hubert Kos, Jonny Marshall and former American-record holder Luca Urlando are the only swimmers to ever surpass that effort. Moreover, Modglin is far clear of any other swimmer in the country this year, with Georgia’s Ruard Van Renen the only other collegian to dip below 44 seconds. Northwestern’s Stuart Seymour took second here in 44.64, followed by USC’s Michal Chmielewski (45.63).
Shortly after, Modglin’s Texas teammates showed out in the 200 breaststroke. One day after becoming the fourth-fastest swimmer ever in the 100 breast, Nate Germonprez had the lead throughout the final before Will Scholtz used a sizzling finish to pull ahead by 0.21. Scholtz touched in 1:49.59, just ahead of Germonprez’s 1:49.80, as these two swimmers became the first this season under 1:50. Baylor Nelson, fresh off a breakout performance in Wednesday’s 400 IM, came in third at 1:50.71, followed by Campbell McKean (1:51.82).
Rex Maurer has not been close to best times this week, but the two-time NCAA champion from last season came through in his best event, the 500 free. Maurer finished in 4:11.07 to beat out Texas teammate Cooper Lucas (4:11.59), with USC’s Krzysztof Chmiewlewski coming in third (4:12.24). The Texas men completed their sweep of the evening’s races as Garrett Gould won the 50 free in 18.99 ahead of Pitt’s Julian Koch (19.21) and Texas A&M’s Ben Sytsma (19.24).
The Longhorns completed the night with a blistering time of 3:00.34 on the 400 medley relay, good for an American record. Modglin led off in 43.78, only a half-second behind his time from the individual race, and Germonprez followed with a 49.91 split on breaststroke. Gould and Camden Taylor provided the back half, and the final time was 3:00.34, with Northwestern (3:04.80) and USC (3:05.37) placing second and third, respectively.
In women’s competition, Torri Huske nearly recorded the season’s first 20-second 50 freestyle. The world and Olympic champion checked in at 21.01, only nine hundredths off her lifetime best from last season’s NCAA Championships. Huske is the fifth-fastest woman ever in the 50 free and the quickest still competing in the college ranks. In Texas, she was followed by Stanford teammate Annam Olasewere (21.51) and Texas’ Eva Okaro (21.63).
Stanford’s Lucy Bell is the reigning NCAA champion in the 200 breast, and she was not far off her lifetime best in a dominant performance in Austin. Bell touched in 2:04.69, clipping her previous nationally-top-ranked time while remaining more than two seconds clear of anyone else in the country. She swam as fast as 2:04.28 at last season’s national meet, good for No. 11 in the all-time rankings. Texas’ Angie Coe (2:07.59) and Bell’s Stanford teammate Caroline Bricker (2:07.87) finished out the top-three.
Huske and Bell were both part of a dominant Cardinal effort in the 400 medley relay. Bell split 57.93 on breaststroke before Huske went 48.59 on fly. Alana Berlin and Gigi Johnson bookended the relay that clocked 3:25.93. Stanford finished 1-2 here as a “B” team featuring Lucy Thomas on breaststroke (57.67) clocked 3:28.30 for second. Texas ended up third in 3:28.53.
Another top-ranked time came in the 500 free as reigning national champion Jillian Cox swam a time of 4:32.92. Cox went 4:31.58 at last season’s NCAA Championships, but only one other swimmer even broke 4:34 in that final. Here, USC’s Claire Tuggle placed second in 4:35.42 while Texas’ Nikolett Padar came in third (4:36.45).
Wisconsin’s Maggie Wazenek became the newest member of the sub-50 club in the women’s 100 back. The sophomore dominated the event with a time of 49.95, beating out Pitt’s Claire Jansen (51.03) and Texas’ Berit Berglund (51.48).
Two events on the day with non-NCAA record American Records for Modglin; 100 back in a.m. and 4×100 Medley relay in finals.
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