| Luke Hobson | |
| Birth Place: | Reno, Nevada, U.S. |
| Sport: | Men's swimming |
| Strokes: | Freestyle |
| Collegeteam: | University of Texas[1] |
| Club: | Lakeridge Swim Team Reno, Nevada |
| Coach: | Eddie Reese (U. of Texas) |
Luke Hobson (born June 25, 2003) is an American swimmer, who competed for the University of Texas, and was a 2024 Summer Olympics team member for the United States, where he won a silver in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the individual 200-meter freestyle events.[2]
Hobson was born in Reno, Nevada on June 5, 2003, and attended Reno High School, graduating in 2021. As both his parents were collegiate swimmers, beginning at the age of eight, Hobson swam for the Lakeridge Swim Team, an outstanding program, under Coach Sharon Weiss.
In May 2019, as a Reno High School Sophomore, Hobson won both the 200-yard freestyle in a state record time of 1:38.53, and the 500-yard freestyle in 4:28.35 at the Nevada State Championship swim meet at the Carson Aquatic Center in Carson City. Hobson said he wanted to set a goal to continue to win the two events as a Junior and Senior.[3] Continuing to achieve as a High School Senior, he swam a 45.22 in the 100 freestyle on May 22, 2021, which qualified him to compete at the "2020 U.S. Olympic Trials", which were held in June, 2021 due to COVID.[4] In the Spring of 2020, when many pools were shut down due to COVID, Hobson trained by lifting weights and swimming in his parent's backyard pool while tethered to a pole.[5]
From 2021 to 2025 he studied advertising at the University of Texas and competed for Texas's Men's Longhorn Swimming Team under Head Coach Eddie Reese and Coach Wyatt Collins. At the 2024 NCAA Championships, Hobson helped establish an NCAA 200-yard freestyle record of 1:29.13 as the lead swimmer for the University of Texas 4x200 yard freestyle relay. Hobson also swam a 1:28.81 to win the individual 200 yard freestyle final, setting a new record. He was a five-time NCAA champion including the 200 yard freestyle in 2023, and 2024; the 500 yard freestyle in 2023; and the 4x200 yard freestyle relay in 2022, and 2023. He graduated Texas as a twelve-time All-American.[6]
He was a world championship medalist six times, taking one gold, one silver, and four bronze medals. In 2024, He won his first individual global medal in 2024.
In 2023, he became only the fifth US swimmer to break 1:45 seconds for the 200m freestyle, with a time of 1:44.87 in the semifinals of the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Hobson qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the June, 2024 US Olympic Swimming Team Trials where he placed first in the 200m freestyle.
Swimming in his Senior year at the University of Texas in the 2024 Paris Olympics, Hobson won a silver medal as a member of the Men's U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle Olympic relay team, taking silver with a combined team time of 7:00.78, around 1.35 seconds behind the gold medal time of the British team.
In individual competition, in an exceptionally close race in the 2024 Olympic Men's 200 m freestyle, with less than a second separating the top three finishers, advancing from seventh place, Hobson came in third at 1:44.79 to take the bronze medal. Romanian team member David Popovici captured the gold medal with a 1:44.72, with Great Britain's Matthew Richards won the silver with a time of 1:44.74. He became the first Texas to medal in the 200-meter freestyle.[7] [8] [9]
He holds the US Open and American records in the 200m freestyle and won Bronze in that category at the 2024 Paris Olympics.