Aaron Shackell and Caspar Corbeau kick off Longhorns’ Olympic Games

The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games took place on the River Seine in Paris and in the early hours of July 27, two Longhorns kicked off the Games for Texas in the swimming pools.

Incoming Texas transfer from California Aaron Shackell was the first member of the U.S. swimming team to qualify for the Olympics. After a brief stint with the Golden Bears, Shackell returned to his hometown of Carmel to practice for the qualifiers in Paris before returning to collegiate swimming in the fall.

Shackell competed in the 400-meter freestyle in the fourth heat and qualified third with a time of 3:45.45.

Caspar Corbeau, a Texas graduate, already represented the Netherlands at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 and started his second round as an Olympian as best he could.

In the men’s 100m breaststroke, Corbeau led the third series with a time of 59.04.

The top three athletes from each heat advance to the semi-finals and as the first place winner of his heat, Corbeau will compete in the next round in the Paris evening at 2:15 p.m. CT. After the final, Corbeau will compete in the 200m breaststroke on Tuesday.

For Shackell’s category, the top three from each heat will advance directly to the final later today at 1:42 p.m. CT. Shackell qualified sixth overall.

Wimbledon star Lulu Sun of the Longhorns will also be representing New Zealand on the first day of the competition. She will team up with Erin Routliffe to compete in the women’s doubles against Italian duo Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani.