Ian Heysen (2026) Commits to Virginia to Help Shore Up Cavalier Breaststroke Group

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The Virginia men, who have signed one of the strongest high school classes of 2025 in history, have begun digging in to their class of 2026, which will be inevitably smaller, but that still continues their momentum on the recruiting trails. The latest commitment is Floridian Ian Heysen, a Florida High School State Champion who had a huge breakout in 2024.

Quote: “I am blessed to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at the University of Virginia. First, I want to give all glory and thanks to God for guiding me through this process. I also want to thank my parents, brother, and sister for supporting me from the beginning. Thank you to Coach Joe (Auer), Coach Kim (Burke), and my teammates for providing me with a great environment to get better. Finally, special thanks to Coach Todd and Tyler for giving me this opportunity! GO HOOS! “

Heysen, a junior at Winter Park High School outside of Orlando, won Florida 4A State Championships in November in the 100 breaststroke (53.95) and 200 IM (1:46.61). A year earlier, he was 4th in the 100 breast in 56.48 and 5th in the 200 IM in 1:50.69.

Racing at Winter Juniors – East for the WinterPark Blue Dolfins, he had three A-finals, including a 4th-place finish in the 200 breaststroke in 1:55.23.

Time Progression:

The Virginia men’s team currently lacks a clear identity and will be undergoing a near-complete overhaul of talent in the next two years. Virginia put a male breaststroker Noah Nichols into the A-Final at the Olympic Trials (5th in the 100), but Nichols stepped away from swimming during the holiday break. That leaves sophomore Jay Gerloff and his 53.40 (.01 better than Heysen) as the team’s leader this season.

Virginia hit the class of 2025 hard early, with five top 13 recruits (and some other ranked recruits) in the class. While there were some swimmers in that group who could swim breaststroke, none of them specialized in breaststroke events (though Virginia has a knack for turning non-breaststrokers into breaststrokers on the women’s side).

They’ve shored up that part of the roster in the early part of the year; besides Heysen, they also earned a commitment from South African breaststroker Chris Smith for the class of 2025. Smith has short course meters times that convert to 51.45 and 2:00.63 in yards in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, respectively.

While Heysen has lived and trained in Florida since 2022, he is originally from Peru and is a member of their National Team. In October at the South American Championships, he swam his first international meet. There, he raced the breaststroke leg of the mixed 400 medley relay, splitting 1:03.55 as part of a National Record-setting 3:58.29 for a bronze medal; and the men’s 400 free relay, as part of a National Record-setting 3:25.08.

He also earned a bronze medal individually in the 400 IM in 4:39.47

At the Futures Championships in Austin over the summer, he also swam 1:03.07 in the 100 breaststroke in long course, knocking .73 seconds off the Peruvian Record.

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