The Tennessee men have picked up a pair of new commitments, with Sarasota’s Matthew Garcia and SwimAtlanta’s Jared Clance verbally committing to join the Volunteers next fall.
Garcia is primarily a backstroker, though he shows some budding talent in the middle-distance freestyles as well. He swam to 3rd place at the 2014 Florida High School 1A State Championships in the 100 back. While the state meet doesn’t have the 200 back option, he did grab another top 8 finish in the 200 free, where he was 7th with a personal best 1:41.85.
Garcia’s Top Times:
| Event | Time |
| 100 back | 48.86 |
| 200 back | 1:45.67 |
| 200 free | 1:41.85 |
| 500 free | 4:46.77 |
| 200 fly | 1:50.59 |
When he joins the SEC next fall, Garcia will come in with times that are close to what it took to score last year at the conference meet. His 1:45.67 is just shy of the 1:45.54 it took to get 24th last season. His personal best 48.86 in the 100 back is also within striking range of the 48.31 it took to score at that meet.
Clance, on the other hand, is primarily a breaststroker. His 100 breast, where he holds a 56.96, is arguably his best yards event. However, he was a finalist in the 200 distance at the 2015 Speedo Junior National Championships this summer, placing 21st overall with a 2:20.58.
Clance’s Top Times:
| Event | Time |
| 100 breast | 56.96 |
| 200 breast | 2:01.08 |
| 500 free | 4:44.53 |
| 200 IM | 1:57.96 |
Clance’s top time of 2:01.08 in the 200 breast would have placed 25th at last year’s SEC meet, just one place off of a scoring swim. He’d need to drop about a second and a half to score in the 100 breast, which took a 55.51 to make finals.
