After months of hard work in the pool and on the springboard, the Texas high school state swimming and diving meet has finally arrived.
The Lone Star State’s fastest high school swimmers and top divers from around the state will gather to compete at the 2026 UIL Swimming and Diving State Meet for Class 5A and 6A schools on Friday-Saturday, Feb. 20-21, at the University of Texas’ Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin.
The state’s best swimmers and divers from 4A schools competed at a separate UIL State Meet on Thursday-Friday, Feb. 12-13, at North East ISD’s Josh Davis Natatorium in San Antonio.
Here’s a closer look at all the Abilene area’s state qualifiers and the Big Country schools they’ll be representing at the 2026 UIL Swimming and Diving State Meet:
Class 5A Boys – 50-yard Freestyle
Diego Duarte will be Wylie’s most experienced swimmer heading to the state meet, making his second straight appearance at state in the 5A boys 50-yard freestyle after finishing in 20th at last year’s state meet.
The junior had the eighth-fastest qualifying time (21.45 seconds) in the field after his first-place finish at the Region I-5A meet in Lubbock.
Duarte also earned a spot as a call up for the 5A boys 100-yard butterfly after clocking in at 51.87 seconds at the regional meet.
Class 5A Girls – 100-yard Backstroke
Maria Brigino will be the only Lady Bulldog competing solo amongst a larger group of Wylie swimmers going to the UIL state meet.
The junior punched her ticket to state for the first time in the 5A girls 100-yard backstroke after she logged a second-place finish at the Region I-5A meet with the eighth-fastest qualifying time (1:05.61) in the field.
Class 5A Boys – 1-meter Diving
Lucas Lee – the Big Country’s only diver to qualify for state – will be making his second straight trip to the UIL state meet, this time as Abilene High’s lone representative.
He earned 20th place after racking up 155.40 points during the 1-meter diving prelims at the 2025 state meet.
But the senior should figure into the 5A boys 1-meter diving finals this year after posting the 18th-best qualifying score (283.00) and collecting a third-place finish at the regional meet behind Lubbock High senior Reed Multer and Lubbock Monterey freshman Coleman McIlroy.
Class 5A Girls – 200-yard Freestyle Relay
The Abilene Wylie girls – senior Morgan Bankhead, sophomore Summer Diehl, sophomore Arianna Paasch and Brigino – were one of two West Texas schools that earned spots in the 5A girls 200-yard freestyle relay at the UIL state meet.
The Lady Bulldogs join Lubbock High as one of 16 Class 5A schools to secure spots at the state meet.
Wylie clocked in with the 15th-fastest qualifying time after finishing second at the Region I-5A meet (1:47.03).
Class 5A Boys – 200-yard Freestyle Relay
Abilene Wylie also qualified for state on the boys side in this event, however this is the second straight year the Wylie boys have competed in the 200-yard freestyle relay at the state meet.
The Bulldogs logged the 23rd-fastest time (1:32.08) out of 24 relay teams included in the event at the 2025 UIL state meet, but they bring back three out of four of the swimmers who competed at state a year ago.
Duarte is back alongside seniors Teagan Dougherty and Joshua Heidema, who has slid into the anchor leg position for Wylie with senior Laton Thompson joining as the third swimmer on this year’s state-bound relay team.
The Bulldogs enter the 2026 state meet with the 11th-fastest qualifying time (1:29.80) after finishing in second place at the Region I-5A meet, clocking in just 0.12 seconds behind Amarillo High for first place at the West Texas regional meet.
The Wylie boys’ relay team will also be listed as the No. 1 call up for the 400-yard freestyle relay after the same group posted the fastest seed time (3:16.23) of all eight relay teams listed as call up options for the event.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Big Country area qualifiers for 2026 UIL State Swimming & Diving Meet
Reporting by Andrew McCulloch, Abilene Reporter-News / Abilene Reporter-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
