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Tualatin Hills Swim Club’s Luca Ignatescu has announced his commitment to the University of Minnesota as a member of the Gophers’ incoming 2026 recruiting class.
Ignatescu wrote the following regarding his commitment.
I’m excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue both my academic and athletic career at the University of Minnesota! I’m incredibly grateful for all the support I’ve received throughout this journey from my family, friends, and coaches who have believed in me from the start. Thank you to Coach Mike for giving me this amazing opportunity, and to Coach Franz and Jody for always being in my corner and helping me grow into the athlete and person I am today. Can’t wait for what’s ahead. Go Gophers!
Ignatescu hails from Portland, Oregon, and represents Sunset High School. This past season, as a senior, he finished in the top 2 in both of his individual events at the OSAA 6A State Championship. His biggest highlight came in the 200 IM, winning the event in 1:49.51. He also raced the 500 free, finishing 2nd in that race in 4:34.73. The year prior, hw won both races, clocking 1:49.01 in the 200 IM and 4:31.62, respectively. He has been faster in both events, with his best 200 IM sitting at 1:48.50 and his best 500 free of 4:29.90.
In general, Ignatescu is a mid-distance/distance swimmer, with his 1650 free time coming in at 15:52.70 from November, while he also holds a 400 IM best from this March’s OSI Senior Championships. Those Senior Championships were a productive one for Ignatescu, as he swam best times in the 200 free (1:39.94), 200 back (1:47.89), and 200 breast (2:03.04).
Best Times SCY:
- 200 IM: 1:48.50
- 400 IM: 3:50.54
- 200 Free: 1:39.94
- 500 Free: 4:29.90
- 1000 Free: 9:27.04
- 1650 Free: 15:52.70
- 200 Fly: 1:47.06
- 200 Back: 1:47.89
- 200 Breast: 2:03.04
The Minnesota men finished 8th out of 9 teams at the 2026 Big Ten Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships last season.
With his best times, Ignatescu would have finished 23rd in the 200 fly, 27th in the 400 IM, and 39th in the 500 free.
Ignatescu is a pure plug-and-play kind of swimmer, with a range of pretty much anything you need at distances of 200 yards and up. He makes for a very utilitarian talent for a Big Ten program looking to get out of the lower end of a highly competitive conference.
He has also notched pretty much all of his major best times over the last nine or so months, which is a positive sign heading into his first year in the NCAA, where college coaching could see him reach new highs early in his career.
Ignatescu joins Emir Batur Albayrak, Dawson Walters, Joey Zelen, Trevor Green, Chase Grisi, and Hudson Huberg in the Gophers’ incoming freshman class.
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