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Tanner Nelson of South Jordan, UT has announced his decision to swim at Brigham Young University beginning in the 2021-2022 season. Nelson swims year-round for Utah Valley Aquatics and he is a rising senior at Bingham High School.
“Excited to announce my verbal commitment to Brigham Young University! I would like to thank my friends, family, and coaches in helping me through this process! I can’t wait to be a cougar! GO COUGS!”
In December, Nelson competed at the Speedo West Winter Junior Championships, bringing home personal best time in each of his races. He swam the 500, 1000, and 1650 free, the 100 and 200 breast, and the 200 and 400 IM. Nelson placed 19th in the timed finals of the 1650 (15:33.70) and he time trialed the 1000 free, earning another best time. He placed 72nd in the 100 breast, 58th in the 200 IM, and 43rd in the 200 breast.
Nelson made it back to the B-final in both the 500 free and the 400 IM, touching 11th and 13th, respectively. In finals, he jumped up two spots in each event, taking the top spot of the B-final in the 500 free, and touching 11th in the 400 IM. His final 400 IM time of 3:53.21 qualified him for the Winter US Open.
Nelson is an even strong LCM swimmer. Last summer, he competed at the Speedo Futures Championships in Des Moines, making it back in teh A-final in 4 events, and the B-final in the 400 free. He earned a silver medal in the 1500 free, dropping 22.4 seconds from his previous best time. He placed 6th in the 100 breast (1:06.00) and 10th in the 400 free (4:04.74).
Nelson went into finals as the 6th seed in the 200 breast. He dropped 2.5 seconds from prelims to finals (2:23.05), jumping to third place. He took home the gold medal in the 200 and 400 IM. Nelson out-touched Drew Reiter of Central Iowa Aquatics by 0.59 seconds to win the event. He later came from behind Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club’s Munzy Kabbara to take home the gold medal in the 400 IM. He came into the meet with a best time of 4:35.12.
Nelson earned Winter US Open qualifying times in both the 200 and 400 IM at the meet. He earned the Male High Point Award for his top performances at the meet.
Top SCY & LCM Times:
| Event | SCY | LCM |
| 400 IM | 3:53.21 | 4:27.97 |
| 400/500 free | 4:24.23 | 4:04.25 |
| 200 breast | 2:03.57 | 2:23.05 |
| 200 IM | 1:51.10 | 2:06.39 |
| 1500/1650 free | 15:33.70 | 16:02.44 |
| 800/1000 free | 9:20.30 | 8:36.91 |
Nelson will be a top swimmer for Brigham Young University when he arrives on campus in the fall of 2021. His 1000 free is 2.16 seconds faster than the current school record, while his 500 free is only 1 second off of the record. He will be swimming alongside Tyler Edlefsen — who holds the team’s top time in the 400 IM — and Caleb Gould — a distance swimmer from the incoming freshman class.
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