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Jackson DeBruin, a distance freestyle specialist, has committed to swim at the University of North Carolina for his collegiate career. He hails from Sarasota, Florida, where he swims for the Sarasota Sharks and competes for Riverview High School. He will join the Tar Heels in the fall of 2026.
He publicized the announcement on social media, writing:
I am incredibly excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at UNC Chapel Hill. I would first like to give all the glory to God for making this possible! Secondly, I would to thank my parents and family for always supporting my goals and sacrificing so much for making this all possible. I also would like to thank the Sarasota Sharks coaches and teammates, as well as, Coach Mark and the Carolina coaching staff for this amazing opportunity and their continuous support throughout this process! GO TAR HEELS!!
DeBruin’s first target meet of the 2024-25 season was the Winter Junior Championships in December. At that meet, his highest finish came in the 1650 free, where he touched the wall 23rd in his current best time of 15:32.99. He also took 40th in the 500 free (4:29.47), 86th in the 200 free (1:41.54), 101st in the 100 free (47.23), and 106th in the 400 IM (4:05.66), all of which were a bit outside his personal bests.
He wrapped up his season at the Florida Senior Championships in March, where he hit the wall second in the 1000 free with a best time of 9:07.35. While that event is contested at collegiate dual meets, it is not offered at championship meets.
Beyond the 1000, DeBruin powered to fourth in the 500 free with a best time of 4:25.34. He also grabbed a career best in the 400 IM, clocking 4:02.44 for 14th. While his 200 free fell slightly short of his best at 1:39.76 for 15th, he bounced back later in the meet, blazing a 1:38.65 leadoff leg on the sixth-place 800 free relay for a lifetime best. DeBruin rounded out his individual events by posting 47.03 for 30th in the 100 free and dropping a personal record of 21.67 in the 50 free to finish 40th.
Top SCY Times:
- 200 Freestyle: 1:38.65
- 500 Freestyle: 4:25.34
- 1650 Freestyle: 15:32.99
Under the direction of head coach Mark Gangloff, the Tar Heel men finished fourth out of 15 teams at the 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships. It was a blockbuster year for the squad as they were eighth out of 11 teams in 2024.
The team went on to place 23rd at the NCAA Championships, with IM specialist Louis Dramm (10), breaststroker Ben Delmar (4), and butterflier Patrick Foy (1) accumulating all of their individual points.
According to the team’s 2024–25 depth chart, DeBruin would have ranked third in the 1650 free, fifth in the 500 free, and 12th in the 200 free. Sophomore Keith Williams led the way in the mile with a time of 15:16.22, while graduate student Patrick Hussey topped both the 200 and 500 free rankings with marks of 1:31.68 and 4:15.32, respectively.
The conference meet offers ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’ finals, and it took times of 1:34.41 and 4:20.80 to make the top 24 and score last season. In the mile, which is contested as a timed final, his best time would have earned him 21st and scored four points for the Tar Heels.
DeBruin joins Blake Hill, Isaac Carsel and Evan Gluck as UNC’s only publicized commits in the 2030 recruiting class.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
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So much for academics…
So much for originality – you post this snide comment repeatedly on UNC commitment announcements. Seems UNC gets the swimmers, and you get the comments section.