Westminster, Colorado’s Harrison Lierz, the #12 recruit on our Way Too Early List of boys from the high school class of 2020, has verbally committed to the University of Tennessee’s class of 2024.
“I am thrilled to announce my verbal commitment to swim for the University of Tennessee in 2020! I would not be where I am today without the support of my parents, family, friends, Broomfield High School Eagles and Elevation Athletics. The Vols support my swimming and education goals. Go Vols!!”
Lierz is a junior at Broomfield High School where he is a USA Swimming Scholastic All-American and NISCA All-American. He won both the 200 free (1:39.12) and 500 free (4:34.18) at the 2018 CHSAA 5A Boys Swim-Dive State Championships. In his interview with BoCoPreps.com for the article about his Swimmer of the Year honors, Lierz said he decided to skip the 200 IM, which he had swum as a freshman (in 2017 he was runner-up in the 200 IM with 1:50.83 and runner-up in the 500 free with 4:33.09), “he knew that Fossil Ridge’s Danny Kovac ‘would destroy everybody’” so he went with the 200 free.
Lierz joined the start-up club Elevation Athletics this summer; prior to that he swam for Front Range Barracudas. He has one of the best 200 backstrokes in the class of 2020 and he won the B final in the event at Summer Junior Nationals in Irvine. There, he also came in 10th in the 100 back and competed in the 200 free, 100 fly, and 200 IM and he time-trialed the 200 fly. He wrapped up the summer with new PBs in the 50/100/200/400 free, 100/200 back, 100 breast, 100/200 fly, and 200 IM. He’s made significant progress over the last 2 years, as seen in this progression chart:
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| 100 LCM back | 59.12 | 57.27 | 57.15 |
| 200 LCM back | 2:06.10 | 2:03.38 | 2:02.32 |
| 100 LCM fly | 59.43 | 58.11 | 56.58 |
| 200 LCM fly | 2:11.84 | 2:13.66 | 2:08.99 |
| 100 LCM free | 53.04 | 54.79 | 57.28 |
| 200 LCM free | 2:07.99 | 1:56.77 | 1:56.04 |
| 200 LCM IM | 2:15.98 | 2:10.27 | 2:09.25 |
Tennessee backstrokers Joey Reilman, Matthew Garcia, and Nathan Murray will have graduated by the time Lierz arrives in the fall of 2020. It took 48.41 /1:45.06 to get a second swim in the 100/200 back events at 2018 SEC Championships; Lierz would have made the C final in the latter.
Top SCY times:
- 200 back – 1:43.76
- 100 back – 48.61
- 100 fly – 49.23
- 400 IM – 3:57.98
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
Best wishes at the REAL UT! Get those men racing on to SEC and NCAA Championships.
DO NOT MESS WITH DANNY KOVAC!!!!
The real GOAT