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Paige Stepanoff of Toronto, Canada has announced her commitment to swim and study at the University of South Carolina, starting in the fall of 2027. She trains year-round with Toronto Swim Club, where she trains under the guidance of head coach Bill O’Toole.
Stepanoff publicized the news on Instagram, writing:
I am extremely excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at the University of South Carolina! I want to give a huge thank you to my family, friends, teammates, Coach Bill, and everyone who has helped me along the way. I also want to thank Coach Jeff and all the Coach’s from South Carolina for this amazing opportunity! GO GAMECOCKS!
Stepanoff is a freestyle specialist who specializes in the 200, 400, 800, and 1500. Her first target meet of the 2024-25 season was the Luxembourg Euro meet in February, where she came in fourth in the 800 (9:07.54), eighth in the 400 (4:24.77), and notched a career-best 2:04.06 in the 200 free, good enough for 13th. She was 3.24 seconds shy of her 4:20.65 personal record in the 400, while she missed her 9:03.46 800 best by just over four seconds.
She was only getting started on her European schedule of meets, with her breakthrough coming six weeks later at the Edinburgh International. There, she produced her current best times in the 400 and 800 free. Her highest placement came in the 800, where she touched seventh and cut 8.41 seconds off her previous best with an 8:59.13. She went on to chop 3.24 seconds off her former 400 free best, logging 4:17.41 and placing 10th.
While Stepanoff’s didn’t set best times in the other distances, she clocked 17:26.76 to finish 10th in the 1500 free and 2:04.97 to take 20th in the 200 free. Her best time in the 1500 free (17:16.58) stems from the 2024 Canadian Summer Championships.
She qualified and competed at the Canadian Trials in June, where she swam the 400 free and touched 19th in 4:28.23.
Stepanoff returned to competition last week, taking part in her first meet since August at the Toronto leg of the World Cup circuit, held in a 25-meter short course pool. She posted times of 2:03.97 in the 200 free and 4:28.60 in the 400 free, which placed her 28th in both distances.
- 200 Freestyle: 2:04.06 (1:48.89)
- 400 Freestyle: 4:17.41 (4:48.41)
- 800 Freestyle: 8:59.13 (10:04.06)
- 1500 Freestyle: 17:16.58 (16:56.25)
South Carolina, guided by head coach Jeff Poppell, delivered a strong showing at the 2025 SEC Championships, finishing fifth in a competitive 13-team field.
The Gamecocks carried that momentum into the NCAA Championships, where they placed 24th overall with 28 team points. Senior Greta Pelzek led the way with 11 points from an eighth-place finish in the 200 fly, while junior Amy Riordan added two points with a 15th-place result in the 200 back. Junior diver Sophie Verzyl accounted for the final 15 points on the boards, earning ninth in the 1-meter and 11th in the 3-meter events.
At the SEC Championships, where the ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’ finals are scored, it took times of 1:46.68, 4:44.88, and 16:26.40 to make the top 24 in 2025. While her converted times fall slightly short of those benchmarks, she still has two full years to improve before arriving on campus, and the conversions are only estimates.
Stepanoff joins Maryellen Lewis, Madeline Ryan, Emmie Lewis, Ella Cooper, and Libby Helmer in committing to South Carolina’s class of 2031.
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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