Carmel swimmer Drew Kibler becomes world champion at 22

Drew Kibler won many state championships as a swimmer at Carmel High School and national championships at the University of Texas.

Now, the 22-year-old can call himself a world champion.

Kibler was part of the United States’ men 4×200 freestyle relay team at the 19th FINA World Championships, which are taking place this week in Budapest, Hungary. Kibler was the leadoff man for the relay, which finished first to win the gold medal in 7 minutes, 0.24 seconds.

Kibler swam his leg of the relay in 1:45.54. His teammates, Carson Foster, Trenton Julian and Kieran Smith, followed that up with solid swims as well, and the American team finished well ahead of silver medalist Australia; that team clocked in at 7:03.50.

In addition to the relay, Kibler also competed in the men’s 200 freestyle race. He finished fourth in a time of 1:45.01.

Earlier this year, Kibler finished his senior year for the Longhorns by winning three national championships, which took place in late March at McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta. First, Kibler teamed with Coby Carrozza, Luke Hobson and Carson Foster to win the 800 free relay in a new American record of 6:03.89 on March 23, the first day of the tournament.

Kibler went on to win two more national championships. On March 25, he finished first in the 200 free, clocking in at 1:30.23. The meet concluded on March 26, and Kibler joined Cameron Auchinachie, Caspar Corbeau and Daniel Krueger to claim the 400 free relay in 2:46.03.  The Texas team finished as runner-up at nationals with 436.5 points, second to California’s 487.5 points.

Over his four years at Texas, Kibler became a 21-time All-American, and won five national championships; he was part of the winning 800 free relay teams in 2019 and 2021, in addition to his three national titles this season.