Olympic medals in hand, Luke Hobson visits and hopes to inspire Reno High students

He's only a few years removed from high school himself. But on Wednesday, Luke Hobson returned to his alma mater, Reno High, to a hero's welcome.

Of course, it helps he had two Olympic medals with him, both won at the Paris Olympics this summer.

Hobson, a 2021 graduate of Reno High and entering his senior year at Texas, won bronze in the 200-meter freestyle in Paris and was part of the U.S. men's silver medal-winning 4-by-200 relay.

Hobson, 21, described himself as quiet, hard-working and competitive, leaving out the phrase "Olympic medalist."

"I'm not used to saying that yet," he said, smiling.

In Paris, Hobson was beaten by only 0.07 seconds in a thrilling and youthful 200-meter freestyle final, finishing third behind 19-year-old gold medalist David Popovici of Romania and 21-year-old silver medalist Matthew Richards of Great Britain.

Less than a second separated him from the leader. In his 200 free race, Hobson went from seventh place to fourth — and then in the final 50, briefly moved into second.

He finished only 0.02 behind Richards.

"It doesn't even feel real. When I touched (the wall) it felt like I was floating, just so excited and happy. You put a ton of work into it and it's really cool to see it pay off," said Hobson, a 12-time All-American at the University of Texas. "This was 11 years in the making of hard work, every day single day."

Hobson: City needs more pools

Hobson hoped to inspire young athletes to work hard to achieve their dreams, whether in swimming or other endeavors.

He said the new pool at the Moana Aquatic Facilities, scheduled to open in September, should help grow the swimming community in Northern Nevada. He said the area could use about two or three more pools in addition to Moana.

Hobson, who started swimming at age 9 with the Lakeridge Swim Club, said competing in the next Summer Olympics, in Los Angeles in 2028, is definitely on his list of goals.

He said the past few weeks have been a whirlwind.

"I'm super happy to be back here and hopefully inspire the next generation," Hobson said.

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Olympic medals in hand, Luke Hobson visits and hopes to inspire Reno High students