Robert Howard is a competitive swimmer who represents the United States internationally. Coming into college, Howard was a AHSAA State champ in the 50 and 100 free, two-time USA Scholastic All-American (2013 and 2014), and Olympic Trials Qualifier in the 50-meter freestyle.
College (Alabama)
2015-2016
Howard was an immediate impact freshman for the Tide. He placed 12th in the 100 free (43.78), 15th in the 50 free (19.90) and 30th in the 200 free (1:37.74) at the SEC Championships, and also swam on the third place 400 free relay at the conference meet. Though he didn’t swim individually, Howard was a member of the sixth place 400 free relay at the NCAA Championships. At the end of the season, he was named as a member of the First Team CSCAA Scholar All-American.
2016-2017
Howard improved in his sophomore year, and it showed at the big meets. He finished seventh in the 100 free (42.96), ninth in the 50 free (19.52) and 17th in 200 free (1:35.07) at the SEC meet, and was a member of the runner-up 400 free relay, third place 200 free relay and fifth place 800 free relay teams. Playing a bigger role at the NCAA Champs, he was part of the fifth place 200 free relay, ninth place 400 free relay and 22nd place 800 free relay at the NCAA Championships. Howard was named Second Team All-SEC and (again) First Team CSCAA Scholar All-American.
2017-2018
Howard had a breakthrough NCAA year in his junior season. He placed third in the 50 free (19.14), fifth in the 100 free (42.58) and ninth in the 200 free (1:34.61) at the SEC Championships, and was part of the SEC champion 200 free relay, third place 200 medley relay and 400 free relays and fifth place 400 medley relay teams. He finished seventh in the 50 free (19.09), 10th in the 100 free (41.81), 23rd in the 200 free (1:34.42) at the NCAA Championships, and was part of the seventh place 400 free relay, ninth place 200 medley relay, 10th place 200 free relay and 11th place 400 medley relay teams at that same meet. Howard was, for the third time, named First Team CSCAA Scholar All-American.
2018-2019
Howard continued to improve, and had his highest finishes at both SEC and NCAA Champs of his career. He won the 50 free title (pool record 18.74) and 100 free title (41.57) and placed fourth in the 200 free (1:32.76) at the SEC Championships, and was part of the SEC champion 200 medley relay, which set the SEC meet and pool record (1:22.19), the title winning 200 free relay, which set a meet and pool record (1:15.43) and the runner-up 400 medley relay teams. Next month, Howard finished third in the 50 free (18.80), fifth in the 100 free (41.75) and 19th in the 200 free (1:33.37), and was a member of the NCAA champion 200 medley relay team which set the pool record, the sixth place 200 free relay and the ninth place 400 medley relay and 400 free relays.
National/International Competition
2018 Summer Nationals
At the summer nationals in Irvine, Robert Howard placed 11th in the 100 free with a time of 48.67. His performance from the B-heat qualified him to swim on the 4×100 free relay at the 2019 World University Games in Naples, Italy.
2019 World University Games
Howard started the 2019 WUG’s on the men’s 4×100 free relay. After splitting 47.72 in prelims, Howard helped USA take home gold with a split of 47.74 in finals at the 3rd spot.
