Texas women's swimming and diving, ranked No. 2, is aiming for its 12th consecutive win at the Big 12 Championships next week.
If Texas wins this week, it will be the 22nd Big 12 title and 36th conference championship in program history.
“We don't want to slow down,” head coach Carol Capitani said during Thursday's media availability. “Competition brings out the best in us.”
This year's tournament will be held in Morgantown, West Virginia, home of the Mountaineers. West Virginia has hosted this championship twice before, but this will be their first since defeating Iowa State.
Time trials are scheduled to begin Tuesday morning, with all swimmers swimming all events they will compete in during the meet. Her next four days will include swimming and diving preliminaries in the morning, with finals in the afternoon.
Texas scored a total of 1,105 points last year, 540.5 more than second-place Iowa State and 549.5 more than third-place TCU.
The No. 2-ranked Longhorn team will bring back nine returning champions, including fifth-year player Kelly Pash, who won seven championships in 2023.
Sophomore Lydia Jacoby, new to the team in 2023, returned to this year's championships by winning both the 100-meter breaststroke and 200-meter breaststroke.
Junior Hailey Hernandez is a two-time Diver of the Meet and will look to defend the 1-meter title she won last season.
The University of Texas comes in second place after the University of Virginia. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas State, TCU, West Virginia. The Longhorns are the only team ranked in the top 25.
“I think we're in a good position,” Capitani said. “Especially seniors want to go out and have fun.”
After this championship, Texas will bid farewell to the Big 12. We have a strong senior class down to some promising freshmen and are poised to do well.
“This is my last year in the Big 12,” Capitani said. “As we go into our final Games and want to make our mark, there is a huge legacy of great swimmers from the past. We want to honor them and honor ourselves. I want to represent…respect for Texas' standing in the Big 12.”
