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Kevin Raghunathan of Palo Alto, California, has announced his commitment to continue his swimming career at Washington University in St. Louis in the fall of 2025. Raghunathan trains year-round with Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics and attended Junipero Serra High School, where he graduated last month.
Raghunathan provided the following quote regarding his decision:
I am thrilled to announce my commitment to WashU! Huge thanks to my family, friends and coaches for guiding and supporting me throughout my journey. Special shoutout to Coach Brad for giving me this amazing opportunity. GO BEARS!!
The future Bear is a breaststroke specialist who also dabbles in the IM and sprint freestyle events.
He wrapped up his final high school season this past May at the CIF State Championships, where he checked in at 32nd in the 200 IM in 1:54.42, and helped Junipero Serra to 21st in the 200 medley relay splitting 25.27 on the breast leg.
He peaked a week prior at the Central Coast Sectionals, splitting 25.10 in the prelims of the medley relay before logging 25.13 to help the squad earn 6th in the final. He also notched a lifetime-best 55.38 in the prelims of the 100 breast before adding a second to finish 4th at 56.24 in the championship final. It was a similar story in the 200 IM where he recorded a personal best of 1:51.20 in prelims before hitting the wall in 5th at 1:52.48 in the final.
Outside of those two events, he also swims the 200 breast, an event offered at the club and collegiate level but not available in the high school scene. His best of 2:01.30 stems from Speedo Sectionals in Oceanside this past March, where he touched 5th in a hotly contested ‘A’ final. He was also 5th in the 100 breast at that meet, swimming his two best times of 55.63 (prelims) and 55.62 (final) before recording the aforementioned 55.38 in May.
Top SCY Times:
- 100 Breaststroke: 55.38
- 200 Breaststroke: 2:01.30
- 200 IM: 1:51.20
- 100 Freestyle: 46.54
- 200 Freestyle: 1:41.52
Under the direction of long-time head coach Brad Shively, the WashU men finished 5th out of 8 teams at the 2025 University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships.
Raghunathan’s career bests in the 100 and 200 breast would have earned him a ticket into the ‘A’ final at the UAA conference meet this past season, while his 200 IM would have slid him into the ‘B’ heat, assuming he was able to match his best times at that meet. This means he enters as a freshman as an immediate impact on the individual level at the conference level.
On the team itself, Raghunathan would have topped the team’s depth chart this past season in the 100 breast as freshman Ben Scott led the way with a time of 56.04. He would have situated 2nd behind Scott’s 2:00.14 in the 200 breast, which was notched at the NCAA Championship prelims where he went on to place 16th in the final in 2:00.86.
In the 200 IM, Raghunathan would have slotted in at 4th based on his best time, with sophomore Marco Minai (1:48.31), junior Ethan Feng (1:49.24), and Scott (1:50.86) topping the rankings in that event.
With his commitment, Raghunathan joins Parker Chan, Hunter Hua, Alex Nguyen, Parker Chan, Eli Wichman, Gavin Coggan, Ethan Nus, Jackson Heether, and Aara Parseghian in WashU’s class of 2029.
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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Congratulations Kevin!! Super proud of you!!
Congratulations Kevin! Go Bears!
Nice pickup Shives
Go Bears 🐻