Texas Longhorns Alums Luke Hobson, Carson Foster Win Olympic Bronze

Foster and Hobson finished their races just behind the silver medal winner.

Jul 29, 2024; Nanterre, France; Matthew Richards (Great Britain), David Popvici (Romania) and Luke Hobson (USA) in the men’s 200-meter freestyle medal ceremony during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Paris La Défense Arena. Mandatory Credit: Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Sports / Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Sports

If Texas was its own country, it would be in the top 30 in the overall medal count after the two bronzes claimed by the swimming team.

Texas ex-Carson Foster led his heat in the 400-meter individual medley to advance to the category finals with a time of 4:11.07. In the final on Sunday, Foster finished the race 5.71 seconds behind winner Leon Marchand, a French star who set a new Olympic record—Foster's 4:08.66 time earned him a bronze medal, making him the first Longhorn to step on the podium in this edition of the games.

“I've never really gotten emotional before with swimming, and I think that's why that's happened to me over the last couple of months, with trials and tonight,” Foster said. “Tonight feels really good to stand on that podium because of all the experiences I've had where I've come up just short.”

Senior Luke Hobson joined the bronze medal club on Monday. Hobson was the first Longhorn to take on the pool on early Sunday morning when he advanced to the men's 200-meter freestyle semifinals with a time of 1:46.23. That same day, Hobson won his semi-final pool to make it to the category final that would take place on Monday. Hobson had a strong race, fighting with Romania's David Popovici and Great Britain's Matt Richards until the end, but finished in third.

“The field from what I could tell was all bunched together pretty tight,” Hobson said. “So I kind of thought to myself, ‘Just be patient. Wait to strike.’ Coming home the last 50, I think we were all giving it all we had. Years of hard work go into this, and I think a lot of that paid off for me in the last 50...In a race as tight as that, just happy to end up on the podium.”