.jpg) Haas at the2016 Summer Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Francis Townley Haas[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname | Doge Aquatic Feller Water Kitten | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team |  United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1996-12-13)December 13, 1996 (age 28)[1] Richmond, Virginia, U.S.[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.95 m)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Cali Condors[2] NOVA of Virginia Aquatics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | University of Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Eddie Reese Kris Kubik (University of Texas) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Francis Townley Haas (born December 13, 1996) is a retired American competitiveswimmer who specialized in freestyle events. He is anOlympicgold medalist in the4 × 200 m freestyle relay from the2016 Summer Olympics inRio de Janeiro. Haas competed collegiately for theUniversity of Texas at Austin from 2015 to 2019 under head coachEddie Reese where he was a 10-time NCAA Champion, a 17-time All-American, and a 3-time NCAA team champion (2016,2017, and2018).[4] He is the formerAmerican record-holder in the 200-yard freestyle (1:29.50) and represented theCali Condors in theInternational Swimming League.[2]
Haas grew up inRichmond, Virginia (where his family still lives)[5] and graduated fromBenedictine College Prep. Before his college career, he swam for Geoff Brown at Nova of Virginia Aquatics (NOVA), which sent nine swimmers to the2016 Olympic Trials inOmaha, Nebraska.[6] In College, Haas swam for Hall of Fame CoachesEddie Reese, andKris Kubik at theUniversity of Texas.[7]
Townley has two siblings, an older sister, Emily, and older brother, Wyatt. His sister was shot twice in theVirginia Tech Shooting, but survived. His mother is the Virginia State Director for theCoalition to Stop Gun Violence.
In December 2020, Haas announced his engagement to his girlfriend of over 5 years, Megan Meseck.[8][9] They married on May 28, 2022.
In August 2014, as a 17-year-old at the2014 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships inHawaii, Haas won gold medals in five events, the 200 meter freestyle with a Championships record time of 1:48.32, the 800 meter freestyle with a 8:00.99, the 4×100 meter freestyle relay with a 3:18.68, the 4×200 meter freestyle with a 7:21.36, and the 4×100 meter medley relay with a 3:39.09.[10]
On the first day of the2016 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in hisfreshman season, Haas won the 4×200-yard freestyle relay for theLonghorns alongside teammatesJack Conger,Clark Smith, andJoseph Schooling, setting a newU.S. Open record with Haas swimming the fastest relay split ever for a 200-yard freestyle in 1:30.52. The next day, Haas won his first individual NCAA Championship in the 500-yard freestyle going 4:09.00.[3] Following his title in the 500, Haas set a new precedent in the 200-yard freestyle by becoming the first man to ever break the 1:31.00 barrier in a newNCAA,American, andU.S. Open record time of 1:30.46.[11] This time eclipsed the elusive 10-year-old mark of 1:31.20 held by theArizona WildcatSimon Burnett.[12]
At the2016 U.S. Olympic Trials inOmaha, Nebraska, Haas won the 200-meter freestyle in 1:45.66 ahead ofConor Dwyer andJack Conger, qualifying for the2016 Olympic Games inRio de Janeiro. Haas also placed third in the 400 m freestyle.[13]
At the Rio Olympics, Haas placed fifth in the200-meter freestyle and won gold in the4×200-meter freestyle relay. He swam the second leg of the relay, providing the fastest split of the entire field by 0.71 seconds going 1:44.14.[14]
At the2017 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, Haas again won the 200 free, going just shy of his record time in 1:30.65. His second victory of the meet came in the 400 freestyle relay, with Haas splitting a 41.01 on the third leg. His relay consisting of Brett Ringgold,Jack Conger andJoseph Schooling set a new NCAA and U.S. Open record in 2:45.39. In the 500 free, Haas wasn't able to defend his title and finished second behind teammate Clark Smith, swimming a personal best time of 4:08.92.[3] Haas also failed to defend Texas' title in the 800 free relay, finishing second behindNC State.
| 2017 World Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
 | 4×100 m freestyle | 3:10.06 |
| 4×100 m medley | 3:27.91 |
| 4×100 m mixed freestyle | 3:19.60 (WR) |
 | 200 m freestyle | 1:45.04 |
 | 4×200 m freestyle | 7:03.18 |
Swimming in the2017 World Championships, Haas won 3 gold medals, as well as earning a silver and a bronze. In the 200 m free, Haas placed second behindSun Yang, earning himself his first major international medal in an individual event. SinceCaeleb Dressel, 2017 world champion in the 100 m freestyle, was swimming the butterfly leg of the medley relay, this allowed Haas to swim the freestyle portion of the 4×100 medley relay preliminaries, which won him his second gold medal of the competition. Haas picked up his third gold medal by virtue of the4 × 100 m mixed free relay prelims. Swimming the second leg of the4 × 200 m free relay, Haas split 1:44.58 to pick up a bronze medal behindGreat Britain andRussia.[3]
Swimming in his junior season at the2018 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, Haas anchored the Longhorns to a third-place finish in the 800 free relay. Earlier in the race,Blake Pieroni broke Haas' American record in the 200 y free while leading off theIndiana Hoosiers' relay. Pieroni's 1:29.63 not only broke Haas' American record by almost a second, it also made Pieroni the first man to ever swim under the 1:30.00 barrier in the 200 y free. Two days later, Haas raced Pieroni head-to-head in the individual 200 free. Stepping up to the plate, Haas beat him in a newNCAA,American, andU.S. Open record time of 1:29.50, taking his record back after a 2-day hiatus.[15] Haas also won the 500 free in a new personal best time of 4:08.60 and got 6th place in the 100 free (41.67).
InTokyo, Haas got more hardware by winning two gold medals. In the 200 m freestyle, Haas outlastedUnited States teammateAndrew Seliskar, winning in 1:45.56 to Seliskar's 1:45.74. On the second day of competition, Haas competed in the4 × 200 m freestyle relay alongside Andrew Seliskar, Blake Pieroni, andZach Apple. With only one swimmer left to swim, the USA dove in 1.40 seconds behindAustralia. The Aussie lead slowly diminished as Haas closed onJack Cartwright. With his final lunge to the wall, Haas outtouched Cartwright in a clutch swim as the USA beat Australia 7:04.36 to 7:04.70. Haas' split of 1:43.78 was the 3rd fastest rolling-start split in history.[3]
In his final season as a collegiate athlete, Haas entered the2019 NCAA Championships at his home pool inAustin, Texas looking to repeat his title in the 500 y freestyle, and 4-peat his 200 y freestyle titles. Swimming the anchor leg of the 800 free relay, Haas split 1:29.66 to give the Longhorns the victory as well as a new NCAA, American, and U.S. Open record time of 6:05.08. Swimming in the heat prior to the Longhorns',Harvard'sDean Farris broke Haas' 200 free American record while leading off the Crimson's 800 free relay in 1:29.15. On day 2 of the competition, Haas repeated his title in the 500 free with a new NCAA record time of 4:08.19. While looking to make a clean sweep of 200 freestyles at the NCAAs and retake his American record, Haas eventually finished a distant 4th place in 1:31.80, well off his personal best time. In the last race of his college career, Haas anchored the Longhorns to a victory in the 400 free relay (2:45.12), splitting 40.76.[16] Despite the victory, the Longhorns finished second in the team standings to theCal Golden Bears.
| 2019 World Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| 4×100 m freestyle | 3:09.06 |
| 4×200 m freestyle | 7:01.98 |
In his first event at the2019 World Championships, Haas swam in the prelims of the4 × 100 m free relay, leading off in 48.60. The relay would go on to victory later that night, winning Haas a gold medal. In the 200 m free, Haas regressed to 14th place going 1:46.37, well off his silver medal performance from 2 years prior. Swimming the anchor leg of the 800 free relay, Haas split 1:45.16 to get the USA on the podium with a bronze medal.[3]
In 2019 he was a member of the inauguralInternational Swimming League representing theCali Condors, who finished third place in the final match in Las Vegas, Nevada in December. Haas competed in the 200 meter and 400 meter freestyle races as well as relay events throughout the season.[17]
In February 2022, Haas announced his retirement from competitive swimming through his Instagram post.[18][19]
| Long course | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Time | Meet | Date | Note(s) |
| 100 m freestyle | 48.20 | 2017 U.S. Summer Nationals | June 27, 2017 | |
| 200 m freestyle | 1:45.03 | 2017 U.S. Summer Nationals | June 28, 2017 | |
| 400 m freestyle | 3:45.04 | 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials | June 26, 2016 | |
| Short course | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Time | Meet | Date | Note(s) |
| 200 m freestyle | 1:40.49 | 2020 International Swimming League Final | November 22, 2020 | CurrentAmerican record |
| 400 m freestyle | 3:52.37 | 2020 International Swimming League Match 1 | October 15, 2020 | |
| Short course yards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Time | Meet | Date | Note(s) |
| 100 y freestyle | 41.67 | 2018 NCAA Championships | March 24, 2018 | |
| 200 y freestyle | 1:29.50 | 2018 NCAA Championships | March 23, 2018 | FormerNCAA,American, andU.S. Open record |
| 500 y freestyle | 4:08.19 | 2019 NCAA Championships | March 28, 2019 | Big 12 Conference and University of Texas school record, former NCAA record |
| 1650 y freestyle | 14:34.36 | 2016 NCAA Championships | March 26, 2016 | |
the Henrico County native won his first Olympic gold medal" ... "Haas family house in the Church Run subdivision in western Henrico shortly after the Benedictine College Preparatory graduate received his gold medal
Townley Haas is the highest profile swimmer to represent NOVA this year.The sophomore at Texas helped the Longhorns win this year's NCAA team title. He has qualified in five different events, but will only compete in the 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle races
