When the SMU men’s swimming & diving program returns to competition on Tuesday against the University of North Carolina, they’ll have a new face on deck that should provide a substantial boost to the team’s fortunes heading into championship season.
Danny Kovac, who swam for SMU head coach Greg Rhodenbaugh in his previous job as the head coach at Missouri, has been added to the Mustangs’ roster and is expected to use his final season of eligibility this semester.
Kovac was recruited by and swam briefly for Rhodenbaugh at Missouri, though in October of 2018, Rhodenbaugh was placed on paid administrative leave before eventually leaving the program.
Kovac swam for four seasons at Missouri from 2018 through 2022, including the COVID-impacted 2020-2021 season for which he was awarded a 5th season of eligibility. While he opted not to use that extra season immediately at Missouri, the NCAA ruling also gave athletes an extra season to complete their eligibility. This 5th year of eligibility will be used in his 6th year since his NCAA clock began.
At Missouri, he qualified for the NCAA Championships in all four years and earned 11 All-America awards (excluding the 2021 awards given to all qualifiers), including two individual First Team honors in 2021 as a junior.
He was lined up for even more as a sophomore in 2020, where he won the SEC title in the 100 fly before the national championships were canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kovac’s Best Times in Yards:
- 50 free – 19.55
- 100 free – 42.72
- 200 free – 1:36.73
- 100 back – 48.30 (dual meet)
- 200 back – 1:49.35 (high school)
- 100 breast – 52.73
- 200 breast – 1:58.78
- 100 fly – 44.66
- 200 fly – 1:40.78
- 200 IM – 1:41.35
Kovac’s best times in the 100 fly, 200 fly, and 200 IM would all be school records at SMU, in the former cases breaking marks held by Mustang legends Lars Frolander and Jonathan Gomez, respectively. Frolander’s record in the 100 fly has stood since 1998.
In his first season after college, he continued training and competing under the banner of Team Triumph in his native Colorado. His last meet was at the USA Swimming Pro Championships in July, where he finished 12th in the 100 meter fly and earned his Olympic Trials cut.
He qualified for the final of the 100 fly at the 2021 US Olympic Trials. He was 4th in prelims and semi-finals before slipping to 8th in the final.
Kovac’s versatility gives Rhodenbaugh a lot of options in the sprint semester as the ACC-bound Mustangs face a big schedule that includes road dual meets against North Carolina and Texas A&M and a home meet against Texas for senior day on February 9. That all leads up to the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships from February 21-24, where Kovac should be a favorite to win three individual events.
If he recaptures form, though, his biggest impact could be in helping SMU returns relays to the NCAA Championship meet. SMU is, for example, about 1.8 seconds away from an NCAA “A” cut in the 400 free relay. A peak-form Kovac replacing Kristaps Mikelsons’ 43.71 from the SMU Invite could make up the bulk of that gap.
This is at least the fourth impact transfer for SMU this season, along with ACC Champion Jack Hoagland from Notre Dame, Chris Mykkanen from UNLV, and NCAA D2 Champion Harold Lockhart from Rollins College.
Kovac’s sister CJ Kovac is also transferring to SMU next fall after completing her undergrad at Missouri. Danny Kovac will pursue his Master’s of Science in Management at SMU.
Danny is an amazing athlete & a fabulous person. He is going to put 100% into anything he does. Wish him the best!
Can’t let go of this sport. Sometimes people just need to move on and apparently Danny kovac is incapable of doing that
such a hater lol, let him swim
who hurt you
Apparently Danny did
Danny is one of the most incredible young men I’ve ever met. Swam in our area for another club. I’ve known him personally since he was an age grouper. Polite, respectful, intelligent, articulate, good example for others… all of it. You wouldn’t speak against any of his decisions if you had ever spoken to him. Good luck Danny!
You must’ve lost to him in the SEC huh? Did he squash your dreams and make you transfer? Do you need a word count on this website?
Sounds like a Kovac siblings fishing for compliments
I think you meant Grant House
What kind of NiL money does SMU have, they have a great program, coaches, and facility but I feel like NIL has to have some factor in the caliber of transfers they are pulling.
Swim teams aren’t throwing around NIL money, at least not enough to lure athletes. They probably had an open scholarship and lined up with his masters degree desire. Gets some help on his Grad school costs but yeah, teams aren’t throwing around NIL money in swimming. Best they can offer is some help establishing brand deals but those are pennies
Swimming alumni, in fact, have begun doing this. It’s not to the scale of football or basketball, but it is, in fact, happening, and will do so more-and-more.
And it is impacting recruiting…
Probably easier to make a difference in swimming to be honest.
You could probably pay the best swimming team in the country with the amount of money Caleb Williams was getting for 1-2 games.
I don’t accept your premise on the whole. But if you’re asking if SMU has money, the answer is definitely yes. Go watch the 30 for 30 called Pony Excess, about the 80’s football program getting the death penalty because alumni were spending money. I know swimming isn’t football, but SMU really does have a proud history and passionate alumni. Go to a masters practice with SMU alumni and ask about Coach Mac. Then prepare to listen to stories for hours. It’s their money that finally got the facilities upgraded. Richard Quick swam for SMU and got his coaching start there. But money aside, haven’t a lot of the transfers been life changes and grad transfers? Not trying to be… Read more »
SMU swimming alums are absolutely using NIL. There is no shade intended in saying this. It is within the rules and they are using it to their competitive advantage. If you have it…which they do…use it.
This new model actually puts some responsibility on the alumni, friends, and parents who complain about how a program is doing. You can now influence the program’s success directly through contributions through NIL. In fact, to have success as a top 25 team, it will be needed more and more as the years go by. Passionate alumni who have the means to give are now playing a significant role in a program’s success.
Swimming programs ARE doing NIL deals. This is happening. It… Read more »
I’m seriously interested in how Andrew feels about this…his alma mater gets their “Hugo Gonzalez” – extremely fast, older swimmer who has somehow extended their college eligibility many years past start date to now help a program level up from how they would have placed without. The very situation you have consistently hated across time…now arriving at your alma mater.
Cognitive dissonance?
Except Hugo Fraudzonlez scores 50+ points at every NCAA after taking PEDs and Kovac is washed.
And btw, I am still against this from Kovac, I think its in his best interest to move on from swimming (still rooting for him though)
Hoagland would be in the same realm, too, no?
SMU is the greatest SwimSwam meme-to-reality since Dean Farris