Texas Women Break SEC Championship Record in Their First SEC Swimming Race

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

Southeastern Conference (SEC) – Men and Women

• Dates: Tuesday, February 18–Saturday, February 22
  • Prelims: 9:30 am EST/ Finals 5:30 pm EST (Tuesday-5:00 EST)
• Location: Gabrielsen Natatorium, Athens, GA
• Defending Champions: Florida women (2x); Florida men (12x)
• Live Results
• Live Video: SEC Network+
• Championship Central
• Fan Guide (Men)
• Fan Guide (Women)
• Psych Sheets
• Teams: Alabama, Arkansas (women), Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas*, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt (women)

The University of Texas has had an immediate impact on the SEC, setting a new SEC Championship Record in their first-ever SEC swimming race.

The Longhorn women’s 200 medley relay won the event in 1:33.84, which breaks the old SEC Meet Record of 1:33.94 that was set in 2022.

The Texas relay of 5th year Emma Sticklen, freshman Piper Enge, 5th year transfer Abby Arens, and 5th year Grace Cooper combined to win the race ahead of Tennessee (1:34.27).

Of note, the Texas swim was neither the overall SEC Record (which Alabama set in 2022 at NCAAs) nor the Texas school record (which was set at the 2023 NCAA Championships).

Both Cooper and Sticklen were on that Texas-record relay in 2023; Cooper was .43 seconds better here, and Sticklen, the defending NCAA Champion in the 200 fly, flexed her versatility by swimming the fastest backstroke leg in the field.

Sticklen also swam this leg of the medley at the mid-season invite, where she split 23.58, so early indications are that she, and the Texas women (1:34.06 mid-season), are locked in for their first championship meet.

Splits Comparison:

The Longhorn women had a best of 1:34.14 last season and replaced the front-half of their relay, with the freshman Enge splitting a 26-mid to help shore up a gap after the graduation of Anna Elendt. She was able to keep contact with an incredible 25.68 split from Tennessee freshman McKenzie Siroky, which ties for the 10th-best breaststroke split in history, and give the Longhorn backhalf a chance to run the Volunteers down.

The Texas women enter the meet as the favorites to win the title after placing 2nd at the NCAA Championships in each of the last three years. A veteran roster boosted significantly by 5th years, the Longhorns are comfortable favorites ahead of Tennessee and Florida, though they’ll also have one eye out for the emergence of new stars to occupy the places of the outgoing class.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Texas Women Break SEC Championship Record in Their First SEC Swimming Race