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Madeline Smith from Greenville, North Carolina has verbally committed to swim for the University of Virginia in the class of 2026.
“I’m super excited to announce that I will be continuing my academic and athletic career at the University of Virginia! Big thank you to my coaches, family, & friends for always holding me accountable and continuing to push me to reach my goals. WAHOOWA!! 🧡💙”
Smith is a junior at Junius H. Rose High School in Greenville. In two short years of high school swimming, she has already won three state titles at the North Carolina 3A State Championships. In her freshman season, she won the 100 free (50.83) and was runner-up in the 200 free (1:50.76) at the 2019 NCHSAA 3A State Championships. She also led off the 13th-place medley relay (28.11 backstroke) and anchored the 7th-place 400 free relay (51.16). Last season, the sophomore won both freestyle events (1:49.38/50.15) and anchored the 5th-place 200 free relay (23.80) and the 5th-place 400 free relay (50.91). She was named 2020 NCHSAA 3A State Swimmer of the Year for her accomplishments.
Smith does her club swimming under coach Casey Charles at East Carolina Aquatics. Charles told SwimSwam, “I am proud of the efforts Madeline has put forth in each one of her practices. She is thoughtful and coachable. I am happy that she will get a chance to work with Coach Todd and his staff at UVA.” Smith is a Winter Juniors qualifier in the 100/200 free and 200 back; she has Futures standards in the 50 free, 100 back, and 200 IM.
Top SCY times:
- 50 free – 23.63
- 100 free – 50.15
- 200 free – 1:49.10
- 50 back – 27.47
- 100 back – 56.64
- 200 back – 2:00.43
- 200 IM – 2:07.35
At 2020 Cary Sectionals last March (SCY prelims/LCM finals), Smith finaled in the 50 free (20th), 100 free (9th), 200 free (6th), and 100 back (25th). She picked up a lifetime best in the 100m free (58.46). She went best times in the 200 free and 100 back at ECA’s Southeastern Classic last November, winning all five of her events (50/100/200 free and 100/200 back).
Smith is the fourth ECA swimmer to swim for the Cavs in the last 12 years. She follows Meredith Perdue, All-American Matt Houser, and Olympic Gold Medalist Lauren Perdue. Smith will head to Charlottesville in the fall of 2022 with fellow class of 2026 commits Carly Novelline, Claire Tuggle, Emma Weber, Izzy Bradley, Sophia Knapp, and Zoe Skirboll.
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Congrats Madeline!
7 commits and October isn’t even over…Congrats
Ha ha and they told my female swimmer that they “only had one spot left”…3 commitments ago. Classy guys. Glad she’ll go elsewhere.
Best of luck to your daughter. Be aware that 1) these announcements are sometimes delayed; and 2) some of these recruits may not be receiving scholarships. There is frequently room for preferred walk-ons.
nonrevhoofan is correct.
There are two factors in play with the timing of announcements:
1) The resources we have available to cover (though we almost always get to top-50 type recruits quickly)
2) The delay between when they tell their team yes and when they announce publicly.
2 can be for a lot of reasons. They might be waiting to get their shirt to take a good picture. They have to call the other programs to tell them no. They’re not 100% confident in their choice yet.
It’s not uncommon for us to catch wind of a recruit making a decision a week or two prior to their actual announcement. We tend to wait on those so that they… Read more »