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).
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. 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.
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).
