No. 2 Women’s Swimming and Diving preview: No. 6 Alabama and No. 5 Ohio State

No. 2 Texas vs. No. 6 Alabama and No. 5 Ohio State
When: Friday, Jan. 13 – Saturday, Jan. 14
Where: Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Facility: Alabama Aquatic Center and Don Gambril Olympic Pool
Results: Meet Mobile | DiveMeets

Texas Top Times: 2022-23 | All-Time Top 10 | UT Record Holders

Event Schedule
Friday, January 13
Diving – 2 p.m. CT
Swimming – 3 p.m. CT

Saturday, January 14
Diving – 9 a.m. CT
Swimming – 10 a.m. CT

MEET NOTES

The Matchup
The last time Texas faced Alabama and Ohio State was at the 2022 NCAA Championships, where the Longhorns picked up a runner-up finish, the Crimson Tide finished fourth and the Buckeyes placed ninth.

A Look at the Longhorns
Texas competes in dual meet action for the first time since hosting Virginia in November, coming away from the matchup with the Cavaliers with combined men’s and women’s victory on Nov. 9 by a score of 171-159, followed by a pair of head-to-head wins, with the men winning 104-75 and the women, 95-51.

Over the break, several Longhorns saw action in national and international competition.

FINA Short Course World Championships

• Dakota Luther won gold in the 200m butterfly and Anna Elendt earned bronze in the 100m breaststroke this week at the 2022 FINA Short Course World Championships (25m) at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre.
• Luther won the first World Championships medal of her career in Thursday’s exciting 200-meter fly final that saw her battle United States teammate Hali Flickinger throughout the race, winning with a personal-best time of 2:03.37. She became the first American woman to win that 200m butterfly (SCM) world title since Mary Descenza in 2008 and her time makes her the third-fastest American in the event’s history.
• Elendt claimed third in the 100m breaststroke on Thursday, setting a German national record with a time of 1:04.05. She out-touched China’s Tang Qianting by one one-hundredth of a second to bring home the bronze. Elendt also took fifth in the 50m breast in 29.30.

USA Diving Winter Nationals

• Hailey Hernandez won the national crown on the 1-meter
• Hernandez also claimed silver on the 3-meter, while Bridget O’Neil finished as the runner-up on the 1-meter and Jordan Skilken took second on the platform.
• Hernandez scored 510.60 points in the 1-meter preliminary and final, the second-highest total of the competition, but as the event’s top American finisher she was credited with the U.S. national title. O’Neil’s, who placed fifth in the prelims, joined Hernandez on the podium with a total score of 489.60 points, the third-best score of the day and earned silver with the second-highest American score.
• On the 3-meter, Hernandez tallied 573.85 point to finish just 5.75 points behind champion Sarah Bacon. Sitting in fourth following the prelims, Hernandez opened the finals scoring 64.80 points with an inward 2 1/2 somersault tuck, the highest score of the opening round. She added a pair of 63-point dives in the third and fourth round to help secure her second medal of the event.
• Of Skilken’s five final-round dives on the platform, three were for at least 61 points. She twice scored 67.20 points in the final, first with a third-round armstand back two somersault 1 1/2 twist free, then clinching the silver on her final dive with a back 2 1/2 somersault 1 1/2 twist pike.
• Texas Divers won the women’s team title with 130 points and earned a third-place finish on the men’s side with 66 points. Collectively, Texas divers scored a combined 196 points to win the overall team competition.

Top-10 Times in the NCAA this season by Longhorns
50 freestyle: Grace Cooper (No. 10 – 21.89)
100 freestyle: Kelly Pash (No. 3 – 47.35)
200 freestyle: Kelly Pash (No. 2 – 1:43.40), Kyla Leibel (No. 10 – 1:44.75)
500 freestyle: Erica Sullivan (No. 2 – 4:39.26)
1000 freestyle: Erica Sullivan (No. 2 – 9:39.55)
1650 freestyle: Erica Sullivan (No. 2 – 15:58.97)
100 backstroke: Olivia Bray (No. 6 – 50.92*)
200 backstroke: Olivia Bray (No. 4 – 1:50.71)
50 breaststroke: Anna Elendt (No. 4 – 26.92), Lydia Jacoby (No. 7 – 27.07)
100 breaststroke: Anna Elendt (No. 2 – 57.48*), Lydia Jacoby (No. 3 – 57.54*)
200 breaststroke: Anna Elendt (No. 4 – 2:06.43*), Lydia Jacoby (No. 10 – 2:07.14)
50 butterfly: Emma Sticklen (No. 7 – 23.86)
100 butterfly: Emma Sticklen (No. 6 – 50.91*), Kelly Pash (No. 7 – 51.01)
200 butterfly: Kelly Pash (No. 1 – 1:51.96*), Emma Sticklen (No. 5 – 1:54.21)
100 IM: Kelly Pash (No. 3 – 53.88)
200 IM: Kelly Pash (No. 2 – 1:54.26), Emma Sticklen (No. 10 – 1:56.07)
400 freestyle relay: Kelly Pash, Kyla Leibel, Grace Cooper, Bridget Semenuk (No. 3 – 3:12.06*)
800 freestyle relay: Kyla Leibel, Kelly Pash, Erica Sullivan, Emma Sticklen (No. 2 – 6:59.67*)
200 medley relay: Olivia Bray, Anna Elendt, Emma Sticklen, Grace Cooper (No. 3 – 1:34.46*)
400 medley relay: Olivia Bray, Anna Elendt, Emma Sticklen, Kelly Pash (No. 1 – 3:25.96*)

* Denotes A Standard

Team Rankings
The Longhorns are ranked second in the latest College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association (CSCAA) Division I poll (December 15), one point behind Virginia. The top 10 includes Virginia (440), TEXAS (439), Stanford (413), NC State (398), Ohio State (372), Alabama (358), Louisville (339), Florida (334), Georgia (290) and Southern California (280).

Storied Program
Texas finished as the runner-up at the 2022 national meet after placing third in 2021. Overall, Texas has claimed a total of nine national titles in its proud history. The Longhorns won AIAW national championships in 1981 and 1982. UT added NCAA team titles in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990 and 1991.

Conference Dominance
The Longhorns have captured 10 consecutive Big 12 Conference crowns (2013-22) and 20 overall Big 12 team titles. UT has won a total of 34 conference championships (14 Southwest Conference, 20 Big 12 Conference).

Head Coach Carol Capitani
Carol Capitani is in her 11th season at the helm of the Texas program. She has led the Longhorns to 10-straight Big 12 Conference crowns (2013-22) and top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships in eight of the last nine meets held. Capitani has guided UT to back-to-back top-three NCAA results, finishing as the runner-up in 2022, Texas’ best showing since 1994.

Up Next
Texas will host No. 4 NC State on Jan. 27-28 at the Jamail Texas Swimming Center.