Lars Kuljus has announced he will transfer to Yale for the upcoming 2025-2026 school year. Kuljus spent this past season at Arizona.
Kuljus arrived this past fall from Estonia. At the NC State midseason meet, Kuljus was highlighted by a 5th place finish in the 200 freestyle touching in a 1:34.57. That was the highest finish for Arizona at the meet. In December, Kuljus represented Estonia at Short Course Worlds. There he swam a 48.66 for 47th in the 100 free.
He scored 38 individual points at Big-12s, making him the 13th highest individual scorer for Arizona. He made the ‘A’ final of the 200 free, finishing 7th in a 1:34.76. He also was 13th in the 100 back (47.90) and 24th in the 100 free (44.19). He was one of three ‘A’ finalists for Arizona in the 200 free at Big 12s and went on to swim in the team’s 800 free relay at the 2025 NCAA Championships.
At NCAAs, Kuljus split a 1:34.94 on the 3rd leg of the team’s 800 free relay. That relay finished 21st.
Kuljus’s Best SCY Times:
- 100 free: 43.57
- 200 free: 1:34.55
- 100 back: 47.64
The Yale men finished 3rd at the 2025 Ivy League Championships and went on to finish 21st at 2025 NCAAs. The team was led by Noah Millard who won Ivy League titles in the 500 free (4:07.68) and 1650 free (14:34.72). Millard was also 2nd in the 200 free in a 1:31.86.
Based on his best times, Kuljus is a huge addition to the team. His best time in the 200 free would have been 5th at the Ivy League Championships. Millard was the only ‘A’ finalist in the event so Kuljus has the potential to join Millard in the ‘A’ final. His best times in the 100 free and 100 back would have made the Ivy League ‘B’ final.
In addition to Kuljus as a transfer, the team is set to welcome a pair of 1:35 freestylers as freshman this fall. Henry Webb (1:35.72) arrives from Minnesota while Ethan Guo (1:35.74) arrives from Massachusetts.
Big mistake from him. No one actually gets much faster under Jim Henry’s leadership. He’s good at recruiting fast kids but if you look at the women’s and men’s team there isn’t much improvement throughout college.
https://www.swimcloud.com/results/310388/team/376/
https://www.swimcloud.com/results/310374/team/376/
These are pretty average numbers
Wow is this Cat Swim comment unfair (sour grapes maybe?) – have been following the Yale program for a long time and many, many have gone faster, including some very close who had 2 sec improvement in 100 breast and 4 sec in the 200 IM who made OTs big time under Jim Henry’s guidance — Bottom line is that Lars will add a lot to a strong men’s team that was ranked in Top 20 at year end last year. Welcome to New Haven, Lars — enjoy the pizza!!
Smart kid
Yale diploma is worth more than Zona.
At the past Ivy League champ Yale lost to Princeton in 800 free relay by 0.2. With this kid in the lineup for the next champ, Yale is going to win that relay.
He might not even be on that relay. His time is only faster than Egelend who split 135. Princeton returns its whole relay and their swims this summer suggests Balva, Schott, and Dinu will all be faster than last year. It took at 613.7 to win the relay last year. Next year could take sub 612. It will be a great race for the top 2 spots. Top 3 team race will also be super competitive.
Charles Egeland will be a 1:31 next season. Please correct your comment to reflect this.
Out of curiosity, I know the ivy’s don’t offer sports scholarships but do they do a good job of hunting down financial support for athletes outside of what a typical student would receive?
Ivy League schools in general have robust financial aid programs. I don’t know if the athletics department is directly involved in that, or what kind of hunting might happen, but calculating financial need and providing aid is part of the admissions process.
In the end, Yale is a school I would go into debt to go to.
The schools offer need based aid only. They will match but not outbid a financial aid package from another Ivy if you can prove you were being recruited by them.
Saddle up, here come the Bulldogs!
From Harvard of the west to Yale
Very surprised. HYP RARELY accept transfers, even if they are star athletes.
Yale enrolls an average of 15 transfer students each fall. Definitely a small number, but it’s not unheard of.
Yes, most of whom are community college transfers or ex-military. Source: just finished up at Yale