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Walker Simpson of Greenville, South Carolina, has announced his commitment to swim and study at Xavier University, starting in the fall of 2026. He trains year-round with Team Greenville and attends Saint Joseph’s Catholic School.
Simpson made the announcement on SwimCloud, writing:
I am very excited to announce my commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Xavier University! I would like to thank my amazing parents, coaches, family, and most of all God for supporting me along the way. I can’t wait to be a part of this amazing team and community. Go Musketeers!
Simpson, a butterfly and IM specialist, opened his 2024-25 season at the South Carolina High School League (SCHSL) 3A Championships in October. He got things rolling with a 25.77 breaststroke leg on the bronze medal-winning 200 medley relay before claiming a pair of third-place finishes in his individual events—the 200 IM (1:54.02) and 500 free (4:47.04). The former marked a new lifetime best, while the latter was just over a second off his meet best from a year ago, when he touched second in the same races but with slower times. He capped the day with a 49.04 split on the 400 free relay that secured runner-up honors.
A month later, Simpson competed at the Beach Bash, where he threw down five personal bests. He won both the 100 IM (54.42) and 400 IM (4:10.73), clocked 49.46 for fifth in the 100 free, and posted 54.42 and 1:03.30 for sixth in the 100 fly and 100 breast, respectively.
Just a few weeks later at the Champions Challenge, he kept his momentum going. He broke 1:54 to win the 200 IM (1:53.95), sliced over 12 seconds from his 400 IM time to take second in 3:58.68, and notched 1:53.32 in the 200 fly to hack nearly 11 seconds off his former best from March.
After an extensive winter training period, Simpson wrapped up his season with two meets: a tune-up local meet, Y-Spartaquatics March Madness, and the NCSA Spring Championships. At the tune-up meet, held a week and a half before NCSAs, he swam only the 100 fly, where he obliterated his best by 2.75 seconds to clock 51.67 and win the event.
At NCSAs, Simpson placed highest in the 400 IM, shaving another two seconds off his best to end the season at 3:56.31. He went on to take 34th in the 200 IM (1:53.02) and 39th in the 200 fly (1:51.55)—both best times once again. He also contested the 100 fly (51.71) and 200 breast (2:10.63), coming just 0.04 shy of his standard in the fly and 2.34 off his 200 career best of 2:08.29.
Top SCY Times:
- 100 Butterfly: 51.67
- 200 Butterfly: 1:51.55
- 200 IM: 1:53.02
- 400 IM: 3:56.31
- 200 Breaststroke: 2:08.29
The Musketeers are led by head coach Lindsey Niergarth, who is in her second season at the helm of the program. The men placed third out of five teams at the 2025 Big East Championships, finishing just 21 points shy of second-place Seton Hall.
Simpson will have an immediate impact for Xavier once he arrives on campus. At the 2025 conference meet, where ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’ finals were scored, his current bests would have slotted him into the ‘A’ final of the 400 IM, ‘B’ final of the 200 fly, and ‘C’ finals of the 100 fly, 200 IM, and 200 breast.
On the team’s 2024-25 depth chart, Simpson would have ranked third in the 400 IM, fourth in the 200 fly, sixth in the 200 IM, seventh in the 200 breast, and eighth in the 200 IM. Junior Aiden Leamer led the way in both fly distances with times of 46.52 and 1:43.48, and also topped the 200 IM chart at 1:47.02. Seniors Ethan Saunders (1:56.49) and Nathan Wall (3:53.98) were the Musketeers’ top performers in the 200 breast and 400 IM.
Simpson joins sprint butterfly and backstroke specialists Carter Cox and Rafael Estimo as the university’s only publicized recruits in the class of 2030.
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Atta Boy!!!!