Sub-20 sprinter Tyler Zelen will be finishing out his collegiate eligibility with the Wisconsin Badgers after the University of North Dakota cut its swimming programs last year, a local ABC affiliate reports.
The news comes from 10/13 ABC News out of Duluth, Zelen’s hometown. An August report says Zelen will start competing in the Big Ten for Wisconsin this fall. He swam two years at North Dakota and should have two seasons of collegiate eligibility left. Wisconsin has not yet posted its official roster for the 2017-2018 season.
North Dakota cut its men’s and women’s swimming & diving programs this spring, part of a wave of schools across the nation cutting swimming from athletic departments based on budget concerns.
Just a month prior, Zelen had been a scorer for the Fighting Hawks at the WAC Championships, taking 15th in the 100 free, 15th in the 100 fly and 10th in the 50 free while swimming four relays for UND.
He’s still got some ground to cover to compete in the tough Big Ten, but he brings in solid sprint times in free and fly and has been a productive relay leg for North Dakota over his collegiate career. Here’s a look at his top times:
Zelen’s Top Times:
- 50 free: 19.97
- 100 free: 44.59
- 100 fly: 49.36
Zelen also split 21.8 swimming fly on the 200 medley last year, as well as 19.6 on freestyle. He’s coming off a great summer that included a lifetime-best 23.27 in the 50 meter freestyle, and his times dropped pretty dramatically over the course of his sophomore year. Zelen cut from 20.8 to 19.9 in the 50 free and from 45.6 to 44.5 in the 100 free throughout the collegiate season for UND.
Great genetics too
Great kid – hard worker.