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Devin Rothman of Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, has made a verbal commitment to swim and study at Drexel University, starting in the fall of 2026, as the program’s first publicized commit for the class of 2030. He trains year-round with Northern Dutchess Aquatic Club and attends Cornwall Central High School.
Rothman confirmed the news in an email to SwimSwam, writing:
I’m extremely excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Drexel University! I want to give a special thanks to my current coaches, Coach Porto and Coach Pryne, as well as my former coaches, Coach Sherri and Coach Mance, for always believing in me. I’d also like to thank the Drexel coaching staff for giving me this incredible opportunity. I’m beyond grateful to my family, teammates, and friends for their endless support. GO DRAGONS!!!
Rothman is a backstroke specialist who is also strong across the 100 and 200 freestyle events. While we consider him mostly a middle-distance swimmer, his strongest event is arguably the 100 back, which gives him the flexibility to further develop either up or down in range.
The future Dragon kicked off his season with several personal bests at the Syracuse Chargers CNY Invitational in December. He won all three backstroke events, logging times of 25.00, 50.89, and 1:53.44, with his 100 back time obliterating his previous best of 52.28 by nearly a second and a half. In the 200, his former best was 1:53.88 from a few months prior.
Outside of the backstrokes, he touched the wall fourth in the 100 free in 48.54, his second-fastest time ever behind the 48.51 he produced in prelims to break 49 seconds for the first time. He also swam on two relays, both of which won—he split 21.98 on the 200 free relay and led off the 200 medley relay with a PB of 24.71.
At the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Championships in March, Rothman recorded his current best time of 50.62 in the 100 back. He swam 50.73 in prelims, slicing 16 hundredths off his lifetime best, before lowering that mark to take fifth in the final. It was a sizable improvement from his 53.08 and 18th-place finish a year prior.
Rothman headed to Speedo Sectionals at the end of the month, where he clocked 51.36 for 14th in the 100 back and notched a best time of 1:52.52 for 21st in the 200 back. He contributed to four relays, splitting 1:44.14 on the 800 free relay that finished 13th, 22.99 on the fly leg of the 200 medley relay that placed 15th, 46.69 on the 400 free relay that took 26th, and 53.02 on the 400 medley relay that stopped the clock in 32nd.
Top SCY Times:
- 100 Backstroke: 50.62
- 200 Backstroke: 1:52.52
- 100 Freestyle: 48.51
- 200 Freestyle: 1:46.86
Drexel is led by head coach Nathan Lavery, who enters his sixth season at the helm of the program. Last season, the Dragons finished third out of six teams at the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Conference Championships.
The conference meet scores ‘A’ and ‘B’ finals, and it took times of 49.86 in the 100 back, 1:49.42 in the 200 back, 45.18 in the 100 free, and 1:39.06 in the 200 free to score in 2025. Rothman’s best time in the 100 back is only 76 hundredths outside of scoring range, and with a full season remaining before he arrives on campus, he’s poised to make an immediate impact.
On the team’s 2024-25 depth chart, Rothman would have ranked fifth in the 200 back, sixth in the 100 back, 11th in the 200 free, and 15th in the 100 free. The team’s best backstroker is Theo Andreopoulos, who owns bests of 46.85 and 1:42.58; he will overlap with Rothman for one season.
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].
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