In March 2012, Cannon Clifton and Brett Pinfold, competing on different teams and living on opposite sides of Houston, Texas, were at Texas A&M lining up a couple lanes away from each other to race in the finals of the 100-yard butterfly at a sectional meet. Four years later, the two Texans pushed each other to their limits at a recent afternoon practice at the University of Wisconsin leading up to the NCAA National Swimming and Diving Championships.
Many around UW and in the swimming community wondered how two of the fastest swimmers in Texas both ended up in Madison, Wis., of all places, because it almost didn’t happen. Surprisingly, it actually started with a Facebook message Clifton sent Pinfold, whom he’d known since the age of 10, at the beginning of their senior year of high school.
“I talked to him on Facebook after I committed, and I said, ‘Hey, you should take a look up here,’” Clifton recalls. “I just knew that he was a really good swimmer, and if I had him on my team, he’d make me better.”
“I was pretty set on [the University of Virginia] at first,” Pinfold said. “Then I was talking to Cannon, and Eddie Reese, the head coach at Texas, and [Reese] said hands down Wisconsin because Whitney Hite, the head coach here, swam for him.”
Reese’s connections with Hite proved to be one of the biggest deciding factors for Pinfold, who took a midweek official visit and made up his mind.
“I committed right away,” Pinfold said.
Once the two came to UW, they immediately got to work solidifying their reputation as two of the fastest swimmers in the country, and their success has not gone unnoticed. Both are the owners of multiple school records, are going to their second Olympic Trials in the summer and, this week, will head out to NCAAs—it will be Clifton’s third time competing and Pinfold’s second.
“National Championships and [Olympic] Trials, those are the two main focuses for this year,” Clifton said. “I’m excited.”
Unlike many Badger swimmers, it will not be Clifton and Pinfold’s first time swimming at Georgia Tech, which is where NCAAs are being held this year. The two actually swam there at a meet—against each other—a few years back, according to Pinfold.
The two are both looking forward to the close competition at the meet, and pitting themselves against swimmers they’ve raced for years.
“I’m looking forward to racing everyone because I pretty much know everyone who’s right around where I’m at, I’ve just grown up swimming against them,” Clifton said. “The competition is really fast this year, it’s faster going in this year than it’s been in the past.”
“Everyone’s gonna be right with each other,” Pinfold said of the close competition. “It all comes down to the morning swim, whoever does it there it doesn’t matter what they do at night.”
Clifton will be competing in the 50, 100 and 200-yard freestyles in addition to all three relays the Badgers have qualified.
Pinfold has qualified in the 200-yard individual medley, 200-yard backstroke, 200-yard freestyle and may also compete in the 100-yard freestyle. He will also compete on all three relays.
“I don’t know yet [about the 100 free], I don’t know exactly what my schedule is going to be,” Pinfold said.
The meet Clifton and Pinfold have locked into their schedules, however, is June’s Olympic Trials, which will be held in Omaha, Neb. Clifton will be competing in the 50, 100 and 200-meter freestyles, as well as the 100-meter butterfly. Pinfold will compete in the 100 and 200-meter freestyle, 200-meter IM and 100-meter backstroke.
“I was really close in the two back (200-meter backstroke) and one fly (100-meter butterfly),” Pinfold said.
“I barely sneaked in there for the one fly,” Clifton laughed. “I’m only two-hundredths of a second faster than you.”
The fact that both have qualified for their second Olympic Trials gives the two a better idea of what to expect and specific things they’re excited for.
“[I’m most looking forward to] being back in the pool,” Pinfold said of the extravagant, fire-lined pool that fills a basketball arena at the CenturyLink Center. “That pool is nice.”
“I think it’s just fun,” Clifton explained. “Four years ago, I was a little bit nervous because it was my first time competing at that big of a meet, so I’m just excited to go back and have the opportunity to race again and hopefully do significantly better and make some finals.”
Although they don’t go home much and Clifton’s family has since moved to Dallas, it’s pretty much a no-brainer that the city of Houston, as well as Badger fans, are proud of Cannon Clifton and Brett Pinfold, the duo who shocked the swimming world when they became Badgers.
