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Jake Watkins of the Aquawolves Colo Swim Team in Denver, CO, has verbally committed to join the SMU Mustangs next fall. The high school senior competed at the 2015 Junior Nationals this past summer, racing in the 100 LCM breaststroke and finishing in a personal LCM best time of 1:05.97.
Watkins has progressed significantly over last season, from sophomore year to junior year, he has dropped 7 seconds in his 100-yard breast and 10 seconds in his 200-yard breast. He says, “I really started to find my way in swimming this past summer. I finally started taking the sport seriously and I showed up to every practice and put forth the effort needed to reach my goals. I’m really excited about this short course season to prove that I can swim fast in a yard pool as well. My goal at Winter Juniors is to make finals in the 100 breast and to qualify for Olympic Trials on Sunday when they time trial long course.”
Watkins’s best times are:
- 100-yard breaststroke: 58.38
- 200-yard breaststroke: 2:09.27
- 200-yard IM: 2:01.89
“SMU is the perfect school for me, I love the city of Dallas and its people. The campus is absolutely beautiful and everyone there is always so kind and willing to help. I can’t wait to continue my swim career as a mustang!” – Watkins
Watkin’s best 200-yard time would have placed him 4th on the Mustangs men’s swimming all-time top five rankings at the end of last season. At the 2015 American Athletic Conference championships, he would have also finished 3rd and 5th in the B final of the 100-yard and 200-yard breast events respectively.
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