Will Modglin Splits 20.00 50 Backstroke, Torri Huske Shines on First Day of Texas Invitational
As college invitational season kicked off Tuesday evening, Will Modglin of the Texas Longhorns provided the first stunning performance of the week. Tasked with leading off his team’s 200 medley relay at the Texas Invitational, just as he did on the way to an NCAA title last March, Modglin touched in 20.00 to record the fastest 50 backstroke performance ever.
That time was seven hundredths faster than NC State’s Aiden Hayes clocked in 2024 (20.07) and puts Modglin on the precipice of becoming the first man ever under 19. The Texas junior is coming off a breakout summer in which he earned silver in the 100-meter backstroke at the World University Games and secured his spot on the senior-level U.S. team for next year’s Pan Pacific Championships. Now, Modglin is continuing to thrive as a central player for a Texas team aiming for back-to-back national titles.
His followed up that record-setting backstroke sprint with a fine medley time. Nate Germonprez went 22.59 on breaststroke, 0.24 quicker than he went on the way to the national title last year, and Kyle Peck and Garrett Gould completed the quartet. The final time was 1:21.11, less than a second behind the Longhorns’ winning mark from the 2025 NCAAs. The Texas “B” team, featuring Campbell McKean going even faster on breaststroke at 22.51, was second in 1:23.81, and Texas A&M placed third (1:24.44).
The Longhorn men then dominated the 800 free relay by almost five seconds. Rex Maurer, the only swimmer back off a team that took second at last year’s NCAAs in American-record time, led off in 1:32.87, and that was surprisingly the slowest time of all four Longhorns. Camden Taylor (1:31.49), Baylor Nelson (1:31.67) and Jacob Wimberly (1:31.63) all went 1:31s on the way to a final mark of 6:07.66. USC took second in 6:12.57, with Krzysztof Chmielewski splitting 1:31.67, and Northwestern (6:16.48) rounded out the top-three.
In the only individual men’s race of the day, Texas’ Alec Enyeart grabbed first in the 1650 free in 14:53.38, just ahead of freshman teammate Aiden Hammer (14:53.58), with Wisconsin’s Yoav Romano third (14:54.42) and Manning Haskal of the Longhorns also breaking 15:00 (14:59.05).
In the women’s competition, Stanford won both relays on day one. Levenia Sim, Lucy Thomas, Torri Huske and Annam Olasewere swam a time of 1:33.29, which only two teams (including the Cardinal) surpassed at last year’s NCAA Championships. Huske was dynamite on the butterfly leg, her time of 21.88 faster than any swimmer in history aside from Gretchen Walsh. Texas came in second in 1:34.69, with Eva Okaro coming home in 21.02, and Wisconsin’s time of 1:35.53 was good enough for third.
Huske also took part in a victorious Stanford effort in the 800 free relay, where she went 1:41.22 on the second leg. Caroline Bricker led off while Gigi Johnson and Kayla Wilson completed the back end, and the team put up a time of 6:51.07. That time would have been good enough to win the national title in the event last year if not for the time of 6:46.98 posted by a Cardinal team that featured Bricker and Wilson.
The fastest 200 free split of the evening belonged to USC’s Minna Abraham, who went 1:41.06 to put her team into second place at 6:53.17. Texas was third in 6:53.68, with Nikolett Padar splitting 1:42.05 and Lillie Nesty coming home in 1:41.91.
Jillian Cox, the reigning NCAA champion in the 1650 freestyle, put up the fastest time in her best event in 15:41.70. The Texas sophomore was eight seconds slower than her winning time from last year’s national meet but still quicker than any other swimmer went last March aside from the now-graduated Aurora Roghair. Fellow Longhorn Kate Hurst was second in 15:59.59, while Northwestern’s Zoe Nordmann placed third (16:04.59).
