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Avery Cunneen of St. Louis, Missouri has announced her commitment to swim and study at Boston College, starting in the fall of 2026. She trains year-round with the CSP Tideriders and attends Saint Joseph’s Academy.
Cunneen confirmed the news in an email to SwimSwam, writing:
I am so excited and honored to announce my verbal commitment to continue my athletic and academic careers at Boston College!! I want to thank my family, coaches, and teammates for supporting me and helping me get to where I am today. I would also like to thank Coach Dara and Coach Bruno for this amazing opportunity. GO EAGLES!!!
Cunneen, a 100/200 freestyle and backstroke specialist, headed to the Speedo Winter Junior Championships West in December. She touched the wall with best times in both backstroke events, logging 54.88 for 31st in the 100 and 2:00.07 for 35th in the 200, dropping a quarter-second in both races. She competed on three relays, posting a personal-best 52.01 opening up the 28th-place 400 free relay, clocking her fastest-ever 50 back time of 25.69 leading off the 200 medley relay, and contributing a 23.91 split on the 200 free relay that came in 32nd.
For the first time, she represented her high school during the season at the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) State Championships, helping guide her school to its first Missouri Class 1 State Swimming title since 1983. She walked away as a two-time individual champion, notching her current 100 back best of 54.63 and slicing 0.39 off her former 100 free mark to win in 51.62. She also swam on two winning relays that broke Class 1 state records, leading off the 400 free relay in 52.46 and logging 26.12 on the 200 medley relay.
Cunneen concluded her season at the Speedo Sectionals in March, where she broke two minutes for the first time in the 200 back. She hit the wall at 1:59.95 in prelims before chopping another three-tenths off in 1:59.63 to take fifth in the final. She also took fifth in the 50 back with a lifetime-best 25.66, notched 55.27 for sixth in the 100 back, and produced a personal best of 1:52.19 en route to touching eighth in the 200 free. Beyond her top-eight performances, she clocked 52.76 to rank 18th in the 100 free and posted a career-best 24.39 to finish 35th in the 50 free.
Top SCY Times:
- 100 Backstroke: 54.63
- 200 Backstroke: 1:59.63
- 100 Freestyle: 51.62
- 200 Freestyle: 1:52.19
The Boston College women, led by head coach Dara Torres, finished 15th out of 15 teams at the 2025 ACC Championships. ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’ finals are offered at the meet, and it took times of 53.18 and 1:56.25 in the backstrokes and 48.72 and 1:46.56 in the freestyles to score.
Cunneen will have an immediate impact once she arrives on campus, as she would have ranked second in both backstrokes and the 100 free and third in the 200 free last season. Freshman Lauren Lee led the way in the 100 and 200 free with times of 50.59 and 1:49.30 and will overlap with Cunneen for two seasons, making for a valuable training partner. The now-graduated Samantha Smith was the team’s fastest backstroker at 54.17 and 1:57.51, so Cunneen could enter as the team’s top backstroker, depending on how those currently on the roster develop.
Cunneen joins 24.1/52.0 freestyle sprinter Carley Kaplan as the university’s only publicized recruits from the high school class of 2026.
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Congratulations Avery! BC is getting a strong student-athlete! 💚