Meet the three members of the SMU men’s swim team who hope to qualify and add to the list of Mustangs who have gone for Olympic gold.
The SMU men’s swim team has had a storied history of success in the pool, producing dozens of former Olympians and NCAA Champions. History is repeating itself with at least six swimmers who have qualified for Team U.S.A. Olympic Trials in June.
More than a dozen student-athletes on the team earned Atlantic Sun All-Conference honors before the school year ended.
That same team won their 45th conference title in program history at the 2023-2024 conference tournament. One member of that team is junior Cotton Fields.
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“It’s everyone’s goal and it’s a big part of the sport [to qualify for the Olympics.] To finally achieve that was a good feeling and I was excited,” Fields said. “It’s really an awesome feeling and a very rewarding feeling. In high school, I missed trials by like a 10th of a second.” Once you have been swimming as long as I have, you realize just showing up is not enough. You have to show up ready to fight every day and embrace that mentality or you’re never going to go where you want.”
Fields will try to make Team USA in a few events, like SMU graduate student and teammate Danny Kovac. Kovac has had an unconventional road to this year’s trials though. He took 18 months off from the sport after finishing his undergraduate degree at Missouri. Thanks to the extra COVID-19 year of eligibility, he had a chance to make one final splash.
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“We had a conference out in Knoxville, Tennessee and I was fortunate enough to be on a school-record relay team. I also set the school record for 100 fly and then I swam the 100 breaststroke and set a school record for that,” Kovac said.
The Mustangs lived up to their mascot’s speed, as their season was full of record-breaking times.
Kovac, Fields and Jack Hoagland give credit to the coaching staff for their success in the pool.
“Under the leadership that we have with Roady [Head Coach Greg Rhodenbaugh] and Keith [Dawley], everyone has been flourishing. This program has jumped from not being ranked to being the top 20 and top 25 this past year alone,” Hoagland said. “It’s definitely something special to come to such a fast team and record being broken every single meet.”
Hoagland, who is also a graduate student, has found success in several events setting school, conference and meet records this past school year and hoping to carry those fast times in the pool to trials in June.
“Wearing red, white and blue to represent the school is amazing. I love it every single day. But to do it for the U.S. is unheard of and such a rare opportunity for me to do and it’s just exciting for me,” Hoagland said.
U.S. Olympic Trials for swimming and diving will happen from June 15-23 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with more than 700 athletes vying for a spot on Team USA.
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