Can Hubert Kos, Rex Maurer Lift Texas Men to Repeat Title?
A seventh-place national finish in the final year under legendary coach Eddie Reese was the outlier for the men’s swimming and diving program at the University of Texas. The uncertainty surrounding Reese’s retirement and the team’s future head coach surely contributed to this dip out of contending status after Texas was a top-three team every season for a decade-and-a-half.
And in year one under Bob Bowman, brought to Austin two days after leading Arizona State to a national title, the program quickly rebounded to its usual standard of excellence. The NCAA Championships brought a tussle with familiar rivals Cal and Indiana, with the Longhorns finishing 19 points ahead of the Golden Bears and 31 points clear of the Hoosiers.
Are back-to-back titles in order? Texas is used to such accomplishments, having previously won four-in-a-row from 2015 through 2018. And while the team graduated key performers from the 2024-25 team, the two swimmers who won multiple individual NCAA titles last season both return.
The clear top performer in the country is Hubert Kos, the champion in a trio of events at the 2025 national meet. Kos blasted the second-fastest time ever in the 200 IM before edging Florida’s Jonny Marshall for the title in the 100 backstroke by two hundredths, swimming the fastest time in history in the process. Kos also demolished the NCAA and U.S. Open records in the 200 back by more than a second, and he demonstrated his versatility by swimming butterfly on the Texas medley relays.
Over the summer, Kos made a significant leap in long course by winning World Championship bronze in the 200-meter IM and then breaking the European record in the 200 back on the way to a world title, so he comes into his senior season with momentum.
Rex Maurer — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Meanwhile, the past 12 months have marked a breakout campaign for Rex Maurer, who picked up two individual wins at the 2025 NCAAs and came close to a third. Maurer won NCAA titles in the 500 free, the event in which he broke the American record in November, as well as the 400 IM before finishing behind only Zalan Sarkany in the 1650 free. Then, Maurer qualified for his first senior-level U.S. national team with a huge performance at U.S. Nationals.
At that meet, he set the U.S. Open record in the 400-meter free to propel himself into international contention in the event, and he also finished second in the 800 free and third in the 200 free and 400 IM. Maurer’s World Championships debut did not go as planned as he was among the Americans to suffer severe gastrointestinal illness in the leadup to the meet and during competition, but that did not erase his monumental progress in his first full year competing for Bowman and Texas.
Entering this college season, Kos and Maurer might be the two best male college swimmers in the country, although Florida sprinter Josh Liendo will surely have a say in the conversation before all is said and done. The Longhorns also have an accomplished team around their dynamic duo, even with 200 free maestro Luke Hobson and sprinter Chris Guiliano out of college eligibility.
David Johnston, who represented the U.S. in the 1500 free at the Paris Olympics and this summer’s World Championships, returns for his fifth season of eligibility. Will Modglin made a sophomore surge that put him in national A-finals of both backstroke events as well as the 200 IM, and he excelled in long course as well. Modglin won silver in the 100-meter back at the World University Games, crushing his best time with a mark of 52.54 while becoming the fastest American in the event in 2025. A pair of NCAA-scoring divers, Nick Harris and Jacob Welsh, both return as well.
Meanwhile, Texas might have the country’s best breaststroke group. Nate Germonprez finished third in the 100 breast at last year’s NCAAs, and he and Will Scholtz were both national consolation finalists in the 200-yard race. The new member of that group is Campbell McKean, a freshman who exploded over the summer. Enormous personal-best times carried McKean to national titles in the 50 and 100-meter breast, and even though he struggled with illness in his senior international debut, he still finished the summer ranked eighth globally in the 100 breast.
The group of arrivals for Texas includes U.S. junior team veteran Aiden Hammer and British sprint standout Calvin Fry. Baylor Nelson, an accomplished 400 IMer and 200 freestyler who previously attended rival Texas A&M, now brings his talent and versatility to Austin with the aim of pushing his career to the next level. And Texas also brings in Rafael Fente-Damers, who has won Olympic and World Championship medals as a relay swimmer for France. Fente-Damers is the most likely candidate to take over for Guiliano as the anchor of the Longhorns’ medley relays this season.
The wildcard here is Ksawery Masiuk, a Polish swimmer who has won World Championship medals in the 50 backstroke as well as multiple world junior titles. Masiuk has been long rumored to join Texas, and he could join the roster this season. It would not be surprising if Bowman and his staff find another international recruit to enter the picture midseason.
Perhaps last year’s title was a surprise as Texas found itself atop the national pile sooner than most expected following Bowman’s arrival just 362 days before the team lifted the trophy. This year, though, everyone will see the Longhorn juggernaut coming, with this roster the clear favorite to win a 17th national title.
