Texas Invitational: Rex Maurer Shatters American Record in 500 Freestyle
He finished his high school years as a national-record holder and among the country’s top rising stars in the middle-distance events, but Rex Maurer struggled in his lone year at Stanford, falling to 31st at the NCAA Championships in the 500 freestyle. Upon transferring to Texas, Maurer immediately found success but nothing compared to his achievement Wednesday night, when he swam an enormous best time to become an American-record holder for the first time.
In the 500 freestyle final at the Texas Hall of Fame Swimming Invite, Maurer obliterated the national mark as he blitzed the field with a time of 4:04.45. The previous American mark belonged to former University of Florida swimmer Kieran Smith at 4:06.32, set at the 2020 SEC Championships, but Maurer swam almost two seconds quicker while becoming the second-fastest swimmer ever.
Maurer swam five seconds quicker than his previous best time of 4:09.49, which he achieved in Wednesday’s prelims. Entering the day, his lifetime best stood at 4:11.88, which he set at this meet last year while representing Stanford.
The only man to ever go faster is former Arizona State swimmer Leon Marchand, who swam an unfathomable time of 4:02.31 on his way to a win at last year’s NCAA Championships. The French star, who went on to win four Olympic gold medals in Paris, used his signature underwater kicks to become the fastest swimmer ever by almost four seconds in his lone appearance on the national level in the event.
On the way to his record, Maurer defeated a quality field that included two of his Texas teammates with Olympic appearances under their belt. David Johnston, the runnerup in the 1500-meter free at the U.S. Olympic Trials, took second in 4:09.41, ahead of Coby Carrozza (4:11.54) and Luke Hobson (4:12.92). Hobson, the Olympic bronze medalist in the 200-meter free, was the NCAA runnerup to Marchand last year, swimming a time of 4:06.93 that now officially ranks No. 6 all-time.
Notably, Maurer’s swim was not the only stunning 500-yard effort of the day in Austin. Earlier in the day, Carson Foster swam a time of 4:05.81 in a time trial, which beat Smith’s existing American record. The former Longhorn swimmer still trains at Texas, and he became only the second man in history to swim under 4:06, although Maurer would join that club and surpass Foster shortly thereafter.
Maurer’s swim was part of a big night for the Texas men at their home invitational. The team of Garrett Gould, Camden Taylor, Alec Filipovic and Kyle Peck topped the 200 free relay in 1:16.73 while Will Modglin took down Hubert Kos to win the 200 IM, 1:40.97 to 1:41.17, wit the Longhorns’ Ben Sampson taking third in 1:42.43 and Maurer’s older brother Luke, swimming for USC, taking third in 1:42.43.
Modglin also clocked the country’s fastest time in the 100 backstroke while leading off Texas’ 400 medley relay, clocking 44.41. He teamed with Nate Germonprez, Kos and Hobson to record a time of 3:02.18.
The only men’s swim from a non-Texas swimmer came in the 50 free, with Wisconsin’s Taiko Torepe-Ormsby clocking 19.28, ahead of Gould and Pitt’s Julian Koch, who both clocked 19.51.
