Will Licon

William Andrew Licon (born August 25, 1994) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in the breaststroke and medley events. He is the current American Record holder in the 200 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:47.91.

Licon is only the 4th swimmer in collegiate history to win 4 individual NCAA titles in 4 separate events during their career. He competed for the University of Texas at Austin from 2013 to 2017 under head coach Eddie Reese where he was an 11-time NCAA Champion; he now competes for the club team Longhorn Aquatics. For the past five years, Licon has been a member of the United States National Team.

Will Licon was born in El Paso, Texas on August 25th, 1994. He grew up in El Paso with his parents Bob and Nancy as well as with his younger siblings Michael and Elizabeth Licon. In 2009, Licon left El Paso and moved with his family to Plano, Texas. There he joined the club team, City of Plano Swimmers, where he swam for 2 years (2009-2011). While living in Plano, Licon attended Jasper High School (Plano, Texas) from 2009-2011 and swam for Plano Senior High School from 2009-2010, becoming a school record holder in the 200-yard medley relay during his freshman year.

In 2011, Licon moved to Austin, Texas at the age of 16 to swim for Nitro swim club. In the same year, Licon won the Jr. National Championships in the 200-meter breaststroke posting a 2:16.09, finishing ahead of future Olympic Gold Medalist Gunnar Bentz. In Austin, Licon attended Westlake High School (Texas) for one semester before briefly moving back to El Paso. For two months in El Paso, he attended El Paso High School before moving back to Austin for the final time in 2012. Back in Austin, he enrolled into, then eventually graduated from Vista Ridge High School.

That summer, Licon swam in the 2012 United States Olympic Trials (swimming), finishing 19th in the 200-meter breaststroke which qualified him for the 2012 Jr. Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii. In Hawaii, Licon posted a 2:14.53 in his 200-meter breaststroke to take 4th place.

Two months later, he gave his verbal commitment to swim at the University of Texas at Austin. and signed his letter of intent on November 14, 2012. Will Licon attended the University of Texas at Austin from 2013-2017.

2014 NCAA Championships

In his debut season as a freshman at the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, Licon placed 5th in the 400-yard individual medley “in school record-setting fashion” for the Longhorns with a 3:40.84. He also finished 12th in the 200-yard breaststroke and 14th in the 200-yard individual medley.

2015 NCAA Championships

For his sophomore year, Licon won two individual titles, one relay title, and got second place in one other event at the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships. In his first event, Licon got runner-up to Stanford’s David Nolan (swimmer) while producing a lifetime-best of 1:40.09 by over a second and a half, making him the third-fastest performer of all time in that event. Nolan’s time of 1:39.38 was a new American Record.

Licon then joined Kip Darmody, Joseph Schooling, and Jack Conger to win the 4 × 100-yard medley relay in a new NCAA and U.S. Open Record time of 3:01.23, just out-touching the California Golden Bears (3:01.60) for gold. Licon also won the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 3:36.37, crushing the American Record-Holder Chase Kalisz in the process. The time made Licon the fourth fastest performer in the event all-time, and “it was the first time Texas had won the event in Texas Longhorns swimming and diving history.”

With his last race of the meet, Licon went head-to-head against American Record-Holder and reigning NCAA champion Kevin Cordes in the 200-yard breaststroke. “(Licon) out-touched Cordes for the win with a 1:49.48 (to Cordes’ 1:49.53) and became just the second swimmer ever to break 1:50 in this race."

Licon’s breakout performance at the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships helped the Longhorns win their first team title since 2010. It was the Longhorns' eleventh overall men's team title.

2016 NCAA Championships

Competing at the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in his junior season, Licon won the 200-yard individual medley with a 1:40.04, ahead of future Olympic silver medalist Josh Prenot (1:40.14) and future 3-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Murphy (1:40.27). Licon’s time broke the pool record previously held by 12-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte (1:40.08), which was the former American Record just a year prior.

Licon won the 200-yard breaststroke with a 1:48.12, beating Prenot by 1.26 seconds. His time broke the NCAA, American, and U.S. Open Records previously owned by Kevin Cordes (1:48.66) by over half a second. Licon also earned 2nd place in the 400 individual medley behind Josh Prenot, with a 3:37.40 effort and a third place finish in the 200-yard medley relay.

Licon joined John Shebat, Joseph Schooling, and Jack Conger to help Texas win the 4 × 100-yard medley relay for the second straight year with a new NCAA and U.S. Open Record of 3:00.68, splitting a 50.69 on the breaststroke leg. Licon's efforts helped Texas win the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, winning back-to-back team titles.

2017 NCAA Championships

As he wrapped up his senior year, Licon went out with a bang at the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships by going undefeated in all of his races. In his first event, Licon won the 200-yard individual medley, tying University of Florida’s Mark Szaranek for top of the podium at 1:40.67. Later that same night, Licon joined Shebat, Schooling, and Conger in the 4 × 100-yard medley relay one last time to crush their previous NCAA and U.S. Open Records with a sensational time of 2:59.22, accompanied by a blazing 49.75 breaststroke split from Licon. That swim marked the first time in history that any relay team had cracked the three minute barrier in the 4 × 100-yard medley relay.

Licon followed up his wins in the 200-yard individual medley and the 4 × 100-yard medley relay with another victory in the 100-yard breaststroke (50.68). That time made Licon the second-fastest performer in history. Later that session, Licon joined teammates Shebat, Schooling and Brett Ringgold in the 200-yard medley relay, taking gold in a new NCAA and U.S. Open Record of 1:21.54.

On his final night of collegiate swimming, Licon took down his own American, NCAA, and U.S. Open Records in the 200-yard breaststroke with a 1:47.91, beating second place Anton Sveinn McKee by 3.31 seconds. Licon’s opening 100 split of his 200 breaststroke (51.42) was so quick that it would’ve been only 2 hundredths slower than the 3rd place finisher in the individual 100 breaststroke race (51.40). Licon became the first swimmer in history to break the barrier of 1:48.00 in the 200-yard breaststroke.

Licon's performance was a huge factor in helping the Texas Longhorns swimming and diving team win the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, the Longhorns' 3rd consecutive team title and the men's 13th national championship in total.

Licon finished his career at the University of Texas with 11 NCAA titles (7 individual, 4 relay), 18 All-America honors, 16 Big 12 titles, 6 school and Big 12 records, and was named the Big 12 Men’s Swimmer of the Year twice (2015, 2017). “He became the 4th swimmer in collegiate history — and first in 17 years — to win 4 NCAA individual titles during his career.”

Big 12 Men's Athlete of the Year

Concluding his NCAA career in 2017, Licon “joined a rare group that includes Ricky Williams, Derrick Johnson and Vince Young” by becoming the first swimmer and the fourth Longhorn ever to win the Big 12 Men's Athlete of the Year award.” Licon shared the award with Kansas Jayhawks point guard, Frank Mason III.

El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame

On May 2, 2018, just over one year after his collegiate career had ended, Licon was inducted into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame.

2014 U.S. Summer Nationals

Licon placed 7th in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:11.68. He also placed 13th in the 200-meter individual medley (2:01.44) and 13th in the 400-meter individual medley (4:20.79).

2015 U.S. Summer Nationals

After a breakout NCAA season, but recovering from mononucleosis that took out five weeks of training, Licon entered Summer Nationals as a threat to win multiple events.

After swimming the fastest overall time in the prelims of the 200-meter individual medley, Licon was seeded a spot ahead of Michael Phelps going into the finals. Licon ultimately got silver behind Phelps in finals, swimming a personal best time of 1:58.43.

In the 200-meter breaststroke, Licon finished second to Great Britain's Craig Benson (swimmer) with a personal best time of 2:10.02. Despite the loss, Licon beat Michael Phelps who swam in the same race.

2016 United States Olympic Trials (swimming)

Licon placed 3rd in the 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials with a 2:08.14, just missing the qualifying standard for the United States Olympic team by 14-hundredths of a second. He also finished 8th in the 100-meter breaststroke final, recording a 1:00.61.

2017 U.S. Summer Nationals

After a heartbreaking third place finish in the 200-meter breaststroke at the Olympic Trials the previous year, Licon entered Summer Nationals with high expectations as a newly minted professional swimmer.

In the 200-meter breaststroke, Licon ultimately swam a 2:09.68 for 5th place, well off his personal best time that he set the year prior. He also placed 6th in the 100-meter breaststroke with a 1:00.67 and 6th as well in the 200-meter individual medley with a 1:58.90. His swims in the 200-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter individual medley qualified him to the 2017 World University Games in Taipei, Taiwan.

2017 Summer Universiade

Licon finished 7th in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:10.75 and 9th in the 200-meter individual medley with a 2:01.44, just missing the A Final (competition) in the latter. He was also named co-captain of the team, alongside teammates Ryan Held, Ella Eastin, and Ali Deloof.

2018 U.S. Summer Nationals

Licon came in 3rd place in the 200-meter breaststroke, posting a time of 2:08.72. He placed 1 hundredth of a second behind Andrew Wilson (swimmer)'s time of 2:08.71, which ultimately kept Licon out of competing in the 2018 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships by that margin. Licon also placed 8th in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:00.53) and 9th in the 200-meter individual medley, winning the B Final in 1:59.39. His times in the 200 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley qualified him for the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

2019 Pan American Games

With his first major international breakout swim meet of his career, Will Licon produced a lifetime-best in the 200-meter breaststroke, winning his first international medal in 2:07.62 over countryman Nic Fink (2:08.16) to annihilate the previous Pan American Games record of 2:09.82. That time vaulted Licon to 7th in the world in 2019 for that event, as well as making him the fastest American in 2019. In his second event, he matched his previous gold medal with another gold in the 200-meter individual medley by taking down Brazilians Caio Pumputis and Leonardo Coelho Santos with a time of 1:59.13. Licon's gold in the 200-meter individual medley was the first time that a United States male swimmer won the event at this meet since Ron Karnaugh in 1991.

On June 18, 2019, Licon announced his commitment to swim for the Los Angeles Current in the newly-formed International Swimming League.

As of August 8, 2019