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The fourth of the speedy Darmody siblings has given a verbal commitment to James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Kristie Darmody, the youngest sister of former NCAA swimmers Kellie (United States Naval Academy) and Kip (University of Texas), and current NCAA swimmer Kyle (Auburn University), will be a Duke for the next four years.
Darmody swims for SwimMAC Carolina and Providence Senior High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. She excels at pretty much the full range of freestyle distances, but especially middle-distance, and was a finalist in the 500 (11th) at the 2015 NCHSAA 4A State Championships. She also placed 17th in the 100 back and swam on both Providence’s freestyle relays in finals. Darmody also had strong performances in the IM and in butterfly this past summer. Her recent times include:
Short course season
- 200y free – 1:51.11
- 500y free – 4:55.77
- 1000y free – 10:16.47
Long course season
- 50m free – 27.45
- 100m free – 59.50
- 200m free – 2:07.08
- 100m fly – 1:05.60
- 200m IM – 2:25.77
Darmody will be a great addition to the Dukes’ roster next year. Her 200/500/1000 times alone would have been JMU’s top performances in 2014-15 by a significant margin, and she would have made top-ten in a number of other events.
“I am super excited to join the James Madison women’s swim team! The coaching staff was a perfect match for me, along with the educational programs the university has to offer. I want to thank all the other schools who offered their time and efforts. Go dukes!”
No one is prouder of Kristie, however, than her three older siblings, who banded together to send this message to their sister (Kellie is currently stationed in Okinawa with the Marines, Kip is in Austin finishing up school and Kyle is at school in Auburn):
Kip told SwimSwam: “[Kristie] has constantly developed as a swimmer the past three years and her coaches, Alan Pfau, Russ Kasl, and Peter Verhof have nothing but positive things to say about her attitude, work ethic and potential for her college career. Kellie, Kyle and I want to show her how proud we are of her.”
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