Rising Texas Sophomores Modglin, Germonprez Post Lifetime Bests on Day 1 of Austin Sectionals

2024 Austin Sectionals

• July 11-14
• Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center
• Austin, Texas
• LCM (50 meters)
• Results on MeetMobile: “2024 ST TXLA SZ LC Sectional Champs”

Rising University of Texas sophomores Will Modglin and Nate Germonprez kicked off Austin Sectionals on Thursday night with lifetime bests in the 100-meter freestyle and 200 breaststroke, respectively.

Modglin fired off a personal-best 49.07 to win the 100 free, a few tenths quicker than his previous-best 49.41 from last month’s Olympic Trials, where he placed 28th. The 20-year-old also placed 6th in the 100 back (53.69) and 8th in 200 IM (1:58.44) at Trials last month.

Germonprez pulled off an impressive three-second drop in the 200 breast with a victory in 2:13.38, crushing his previous-best 2:16.86 from last summer. The 19-year-old placed 12th in the 200 IM at last month’s Trials, where he did not contest the 200 breast. Germonprez is now within a second of the time it took to make the 200 breast semifinals at Trials (2:12.23).

Modglin was the No. 2 recruit in the high school class of 2023 while Germonprez was ranked 5th.

Recent Texas A&M graduate Chloe Stepanek claimed the women’s 100 free crown in 54.99, just a few tenths off her Olympic Trials performance from last month (54.63) that placed 15th overall. The 22-year-old is in the NCAA transfer portal after spending her first four seasons swimming for the Aggies.

Stepanek reached the wall just a blink ahead of Texas graduate Grace Cooper, who earned a runner-up finish in 55.05. The 21-year-old touched within a couple tenths of the 54.91 she clocked at Olympic Trials last month en route to 21st place. Cooper’s lifetime best sits at 54.67 from last August.

The women’s 200 breast also came down to the wire as rising Texas junior Lindsey Hosch (2:35.43) eked past 17-year-old Aliana Marakovic (2:35.60). Hosch, 20, was only a few tenths shy of her personal-best 2:35.04 from May. Marakovic, a Harvard commit (’25), has been as fast as 2:33.69 last August.

Raphael Wang registered a lifetime best in the 200 breast on his way to 2nd place in 2:16.61. The 17-year-old Duke commit (’25) shaved more than a quarter of a second off his previous-best 2:16.87 from last month.

Texas graduate Emma Sticklen cruised to the women’s 200 butterfly victory in 2:08.95. The 22-year-old is coming off a solid showing at Olympic Trials last month that saw her post a personal-best 2:07.44 in semis before ultimately placing 4th in 2:08.07.

Matthew O’Konski captured the men’s 200 fly title in 2:03.84, dropping more than two seconds off his previous-best 2:06.02 from last July. The Crawfish Aquatics 17-year-old beat Logan Walker (2:04.48) and Andres Brooks (2:04.69) by less than a second.