52.9 Backstroker Hannah Whiteley Transferring from Louisville to OSU

Ohio native Hannah Whiteley is returning to her home state after her freshman year with the University of Louisville. She will join the Ohio State Buckeyes for the upcoming season, and have three years of eligibility left in Columbus.

Whiteley was a promising recruit to Louisville, and was part of the U.S. NCSA junior contingent that competed at the 2015 Irish Spring Nationals. An alumna of Springboro High School in western Ohio, Whiteley was an Ohio state champ in the 100 back her junior and senior year. She still holds the 100 back state record.

TOP TIMES

• 50y back 24.95
• 100y back 52.92
• 200y back 1:57.49
• 100y fly 54.68
• 50y free 23.21
• 100y free 50.84

Whiteley’s best times all come from high school. She did not swim at ACCs, with her last meet being the Ohio State Winter Invite a few days before ACCs– there, she finished at 56.30 and 2:00.54 in the backstroke. Her season best in the 100 was a 54.73 from Louisville’s home mid-season invite in November of 2016.

Whitley has been training with the OSU group on campus this summer and taking classes there, as well. If she can return to her high school form, she will be a fantastic addition to the Buckeyes roster. Her best times would’ve been good for 7th in the 100 back at 2017 Big Tens and 21st in the 200 back, which is big considering OSU had no A-finalists at Big Tens last year in the 100 back. She would also be a huge upgrade on their medley relays, as she is faster than OSU’s medley lead-offs were at Big Tens (25.35 and 54.10) by a solid margin, especially in the 100.

She joins 15 other incoming freshmen and transfers this upcoming season for OSU, which recently became a combined men’s and women’s program under previous women’s coach Bill Dorenkott. Among the newcomers should be a great training partner for Whiteley in Kristen Romano of the Long Island Aquatic Club. Romano is an excellent backstroker (25.4/53.3/1:53.9) who is right with Whiteley in the 50 and 100.