Hungary's Hubert Kos, Texas transfer, makes late push to win gold in 200m backstroke at 2024 Olympics

Hungarian Hubert Kos won the gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke Thursday afternoon. Going forward, he’ll have a burnt-orange future. That’s because his coach is Bob Bowman, the new leader of the Texas Longhorns swim team.

If you’re keeping count, Bowman swimmers are cleaning up in Paris. Bowman is coaching the French swim team, primarily to guide Leon Marchand, one of the Olympics’ most dazzling stars. He also was a standout for Arizona State, as was Kos, who is transferring to Texas.

And while Kos won gold, Regan Smith took silver in the women’s 200 butterfly, her second silver in Paris. Bowman also coaches Smith and she trained in Austin with Longhorn Aquatics for the Olympics. However, she’s all out of eligibility having competed for Stanford.

Hubie Kos of Hungary roars late to win the 200 backstroke — another win for the Bob Bowman training machine. Kos swam for him at Arizona State and will transfer to Texas. Ice Man Keaton Jones fifth, ending the USA string of medals in the event at seven straight Olympics.

— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) August 1, 2024

His new teammates with the Texas Longhorns definitely celebrated his gold medal. Of course, the UT program is a college swimming dynasty. Coach Eddie Reese retired in the spring after leading the Longhorns to 15 NCAA team titles. Reese coached countless Olympians, including three who medaled earlier in the week.

With that opening, Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte hired Bowman, who had been the coach for Arizona State, which won this year’s NCAA title. Bowman also worked as the private coach to Michael Phelps, who could be the best swimmer ever.

HUBERT KOS WINS GOLD ‼️🇭🇺

Kos wins it with a wild finish in the 200 back with his time of 1:54.26 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/ggT9PQbziR

— Texas Men's Swimming & Diving (@TexasMSD) August 1, 2024

Kos claimed his first Olympic gold medal by swimming a time of 1 minute, 54.26 seconds. He surged past Apostolos Christou of Greece, who earned silver. Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov claimed the bronze.

Keaton Jones was the highest placed American. He finished fifth. The United States missing the podium was a significant turn of events. The last time it happened was in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympics. Since then, the Americans won five straight golds in the event, including one from Longhorn Aaron Piersol in 2004. The streak ended in Tokyo, although Ryan Murphy won the silver.