#8 Maxwell Stanislaus Announces Verbal Commitment to Stanford for 2026-27

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Maxwell Stanislaus from Keller, Texas, has announced his intention to swim and study at Stanford University beginning in the fall of 2026.

“I’m pleased to finally announce my commitment to continue both my academic and athletic careers with @stanfordmswim. My Faith, family, and friends are what have allowed me to succeed thus far, thank you all for your constant support and belief in me. Thank you @lakesideaquatic for providing an environment where I’m able to chase my dream. Excited for the next 4, GO CARD!!!🌲🌲🌲”

Stanislaus is a rising senior at Keller High School. He swims year-round at Lakeside Aquatic Club and has rocketed to the #8 position on our most recent ranking of top boys recruits from the high school class of 2026, thanks in no small part to his huge improvements in mid-distance freestyle over the last year.

In February 2024, the 10th-grader Stanislaus notched a PB of 1:37.22 with his 5th-place finish in the 200 free at the Texas UIL 6A State Swimming and Diving Championships. He also swam the 500 free and came in 7th (4:27.86). A year later, he was runner-up in both events with 1:35.40/4:20.40.

Between the two high school seasons, he had unleashed a torrent of best times at Winter Juniors West in December 2024. There, was runner-up in the 200 free with a PB of 1:34.97 and 5th in the 500 free with a PB of 4:18.89 in prelims. He also swam to a lifetime best in prelims of the 200 fly (1:46.86) and in the 100 free (43.66) leading off the LAC 400 free relay. At Justin Sectionals in March, he added new times in the 50 free (20.49), 200 back (1:51.62), 100 fly (47.22), and 200 fly (1:45.65), and finaled in the 50 free (4th), 100 free (2nd), 100 fly (2nd), and 200 fly (2nd).

This summer, he hit times of 23.86/51.63/1:51.50 in the 100/200 free at USA Swimming National Championships in June, finaling in the 200 free (31st), 50 fly (28th), and 100 fly (31st). He lowered his 50 free time to 23.83 and wrapped up the 2025 long course season at Summer Junior Nationals, where he clocked a 100 fly PB of 54.20 with his 9th-place finish.

Best SCY times:

• 50 free – 19.66
• 100 free – 43.66
• 200 free – 1:34.97
• 500 free – 4:18.89
• 100 fly – 47.22
• 200 fly – 1:45.65

Stanislaus finished the 2025-26 season with the #1 200 free time in the cohort. He also ranks 3rd in the 500 free, thanks to a 6-second improvement year-over-year, and he’s in the top 10 in the 100. He is the Cardinal’s first public verbal commitment for the men’s team for 2026-27. That timing lines up with what we have seen in past years (the Stanford Admission office has tended to wait until the summer after junior year to do their pre-reads) when we would get a rash of Stanford verbals in August and September. And yet, this year, several 2026 swimmers announced their verbal pledges to the women’s team in the spring; at the time, we surmised the timing was changing on The Farm, but maybe not.

The Stanford men finished 2nd to Cal at their inaugural ACC Swimming and Diving Championships. Stanislaus would already score in the 500 free at the conference level, and he is already very close to scoring in his other events. It took 19.41/42.78/1:34.41/4:20.80 in freestyle and 46.21/1:44.27 in butterfly to get second swims at 2025 ACCs.

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