AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Longhorns senior Luke Hobson claimed the bronze medal in the 200-meter freestyle in a crowded finish Monday at the Paris Olympics.
Just 0.17 seconds separated the gold medal winner from the fourth-place finisher, and thankfully for Hobson, he found his way onto the podium despite having the worst start of the eight finalists.
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Hobson finished third with a time of 1 minute, 44.79 seconds, 0.05 seconds behind silver medalist Matthew Richards of Great Britain and 0.07 seconds away from gold medal winner David Popovicit of Romania. Hobson did just enough in the final 50 meters of the race to beat Great Britain’s Duncan Scott to capture his first-ever Olympic medal.
With a reaction time of 0.75 seconds off the starting platform, the slowest in the field, Hobson was in last place after the first 50 meters. He stayed with the race, however, improving one spot after 100 meters and then jumped three spots into fourth heading into the home stretch. The two-time NCAA champion in the event held off Scott, who charged from fifth place over the last 50, and nearly caught Richards for silver.
Hobson joins Carson Foster as Longhorns who have won bronze at the 2024 Games. Foster, who turned professional after his junior season with Texas in 2022-23, finished third in the 400 IM.
On the women’s side, Regan Smith won in the 100 backstroke semifinals with a time of 57.97 seconds and advanced to Tuesday’s final to set up a showdown with Australia’s Kaylee McKeown. McKeown beat Smith for the gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Smith trains with new Longhorns head swimming coach Bob Bowman.