Rockford's first All-American swimmer in 17 years anchors third-place relay team

Camden Taylor’s freshman goal at Texas was to simply qualify for the NCAA Championships in a relay. Once there, he found himself unexpectedly swimming the anchor leg on the Longhorns’ 800-yard freestyle relay team.

“At the last minute, they moved me to anchor,” said Taylor, who broke all eight individual NIC-10 swimming records in his final three years at Rockford East. “I like to anchor. That’s how I feel I do my best. I was pretty excited.”

Excitement quickly turned to nerves when he had an equipment problem.

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“When we were walking out, my goggles broke,” Taylor said. “They were too tight. When I was putting them on, they snapped. When that happened, I got pretty scared.

“I had to run all the way back to my bag. Luckily, I had another pair. I rushed to get those on. The nerves were definitely running when that happened. Then I calmed down and just went and swam my race. And I think I did pretty good.”

Good enough to become Rockford’s first NCAA Division I swimming All-American in 17 years. Taylor anchored Texas to a third-place finish in the 800 free relay. Guilford’s Lisa Coole and Freeport’s Emily Pisula on the women’s side and Guilford’s Brad Boswell on the men’s side are the only other local swimmers to earn All-America status in the last 30 years.

“That feeling was insane,” Taylor said. “I didn’t expect this to happen my freshman year. To look up (after the race) and see that time we went and that I was part of that relay, it was special to me. And I got to anchor that relay. For the guys to put that on me, that was amazing.”

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Taylor lost his state high school record this year when West Chicago’s Brady Johnson swam a 43.15 to win the IHSA 100-yard state freestyle title.

He also lost his college coach. And his conference.

He is excited about both changes.

Eddie Reese was a legend at Texas, coaching the Longhorns for 46 years. He led the Longhorns to 15 NCAA titles and 13 runner-up finishes. He ended his career with 44 consecutive top-10 finishes in the NCAA and 45 consecutive Big 12 Conference titles.

“The week before Big 12 Conference, Eddie sat me down and told me the times I was going to go,” said Taylor, who swam career bests of 42.5 seconds in the 100 free and 1:33.9 in the 200 in his individual events there. “He told me I was going to go 42.5 (seconds) and 1:33. He’s like a wizard.”

Texas replaced Reese with Bob Bowman, who coached Arizona State to its first NCAA title this year and was the longtime coach of Michael Phelps, who won a record 23 Olympic gold medals.

“I saw it coming," Taylor said, "but I thought he might have a couple of more years left. I’m pretty bummed that he’s retiring, but we’re going to be good with our new coach.

“Bob is probably the opposite of Ed. Ed is pretty relaxed. Bob is pretty strict. The style is going to be different. And I do have something to prove to him, to show him what I’m worth.”

The Longhorns will also have to step up as a team. A conference title will no longer be automatic when they move to the SEC in all sports next year.

“That’s going to be good for our team,” Taylor said. “The SEC is the best conference for swimming. Our new coach is bringing in some guys. I am excited for the SEC. We’re also going to be competitive to win the NCAA championship next year.”

Taylor’s other freshman highlights included winning Big 12 titles in three relays (200 and 400 freestyle and 200 medley), finishing third in three individual events at conference (50, 100 and 200 freestyles) and was honorable mention All-American in the 400 free relay, swimming on a team that took 12th in the NCAAs.

“I am just most proud of dropping time from last year and being able to be part of that NCAA team,” Taylor said. “That was my goal all along, to see if I could make the NCAA team in a relay this year.

“Next year, I hope to make some big drops and make it individually (in the 100 and 200 free).”

NCAA Division I swimming All-Americans from NIC-10 since 1990

• Guilford’s Lisa Coole, 19-time All-American at Georgia from 1994-97, NCAA titles in 100 butterfly and 200 free relay. Coole, a five-time IHSA state champ, was also named 1997 NCAA Woman of the Year. She died in a car accident at age 23 in 1998.

• Freeport’s Emily Pisula, All-American in 800 free relay in 2001 at Wisconsin

• Guilford’s Brad Boswell, All-American in 800 free relay as freshman at Tennessee in 2004 and in 100 back and three relays (400 free, 200 medley and 400 medley) as a senior in 2007.

• East's Camden Taylor, third place in the 800 free relay as a freshman at Texas in 2024.

Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: What's next for Rockford's rare swimming All-American Camden Taylor?