2026 NCAA relay swimmer James Allison has announced he will transfer to USC for the upcoming 2026-2027 season. Allison spent the 2024-2025 season at Auburn but did not compete for the Tigers and then transferred to Pitt for the 2025-2026 season.
“Super excited and grateful for the opportunity to continue my academic and athletic career at the University of Southern California.
I would like to take a moment to thank University of Pittsburgh and everyone involved in getting me to where I am today.
Excited to see what’s next.”
Allison entered the transfer portal before it was announced that Pitt’s head coach Chase Kreitler resigned from his position.
The rising sophomore finished his freshman season at the 2026 NCAA Championships where he swam on Pitt’s 400 free and 800 free relays at the 2026 NCAA Championships. The 400 free relay finished 10th while the 800 free relay was 14th. He split a 42.34 on the 400 free relay and a 1:34.28 in the 800 free relay.
The Cayman Islands native went three for three in best times at the 2026 ACC Championships and was highlighted by a 13th place finish in the 200 free with a 1:33.45. He also was 42nd in the 100 free (43.36) and 48th in the 50 free (20.09).
Allison’s Best SCY Times Are:
- 200 free: 1:33.45
- 100 free: 43.36
- 50 free: 20.09
The USC men finished 7th out of nine teams at the 2026 Big Ten Championships and went on to finish 14th at 2026 NCAAs. Diver Moritz Wesemann led the team at NCAAs.
Allison will make the move to the Big Ten where he would have been 14th in the 200 free and 21st in the 100 free at the 2026 Big Ten Championships. The team’s top 200 freestyler this past season was Oliver Sogaard-Andersen who led USC’s 800 free relay off in a 1:31.85 at NCAAs. That relay was 13th overall, just one spot ahead of Pitt. Sogaard-Andersen just finished his sophomore season so the two will overlap for at least two seasons.
Cayman🔥🔥🔥😏
133.45 for 13th at conference champs is so wild
Transferring was the only choice he had to train and compete with the best.
“Allison entered the transfer portal before it was announced that Pitt’s head coach Chase Kreitler resigned from his position.”
Key word being “announced” … surely the word was out within the team long before it hit the airwaves.
He and Koch and Leech as well as others entered the portal BEFORE Kreitler met with AD. By his own admission, Kreitler quit immediately.
Good luck James.