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Allegheny North Swim Club’s Claire Bacu has verbally committed to Brown University. The North Allegheny Sr High School senior out of Pittsburgh will arrive in Providence next fall and add to Brown’s mid-distance freestyle group.
Bacu was a two-time runner up at the Pennsylvanian 3A State Championships, leading North Allegheny to a 4th place finish in a field of 114 teams. She recorded best times of 4:52.24 in the 500 free and 1:49.15 in the 200 free, along with splits of 50.89/23.36 in the 400 free relay and 200 free relay, respectively. Those splits helped her North Allegheny to 5th place finishes in both events.
To wrap up her long course season, Bacu headed to Greensboro for Futures. There, she set 5 personal bests, two of which came from time trials: she swam a 2:08.05 in a 200 free and a 1:05.47 in a 100 fly. She also competed in the 50 fly (28.84), 100 free (59.03), and 400 free where she swam a 4:27.81 for 29th overall—shaving over 3 seconds off her previous best of 4:30.86.
Best times (SCY):
- 50 free: 24.31
- 100 free: 52.01
- 200 free: 1:49.15
- 500 free: 4:52.24
Brown was 4th at the Ivy League Championships in 2025, matching their finish from both 2023 and 2024. Brown’s freestyle relays were the star of their performances this past season, as they finished 2nd in both the 800 free relay and 400 free relay. As a sprint freestyler, Bacu will be able to contribute to both, but it’ll be her 200 free that is the most valuable when she arrives on campus. She would have ranked 5th on their roster this past season, but 3 of those ranked ahead will have graduated by fall 2026.
Individually, Bacu is quick enough to make an immediate impact at Ivys as well: she would have qualified for the B-final in the 200 free and been on the cusp of making the A-final in the 500, as her PB would have placed 9th. Her 3rd event will likely be the 100 free, and although she does not project to score in it yet, as it took a 51.25 to qualify for a second swim, Bacu’s rolling split of 50.89 on North Allegheny’s relay indicates that she can be faster than 52.
Joining Bacu next fall will be Angelina So and Alegra Teixidor-Salerno. So, a Hong Kong native, is a breaststroker while Teixidor-Salerno, a New Yorker, swims breast/IM.
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