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Doug Sims of Potomac, Md., has announced his verbal commitment to continue his swimming career at Emory University as a member of the class of 2030. He confirmed the news in an email to SwimSwam, writing:
I am proud to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and swimming career at Emory University! Many thanks to Coach Howell for this tremendous opportunity. I would like to thank Coach Bruce and the rest of the NCAP staff, my teammates, friends, and, most importantly my family, for all their support.
Sims is currently a senior at Winston Churchill High School and trains year-round with Nation’s Capital Swim Club under the guidance of Bruce Gemmell. He specializes primarily in the 200 and upper-distance freestyle races as well as the 200 butterfly.
Over the past year, Sims has dropped loads of time in his primary events: he improved from 1:41.76 to 1:39.15 in the 200 free, 4:39.34 to 4:28.34 in the 500 free, 16:31.11 to 15:56.09 in the 1650 free, and 1:53.32 to 1:50.72 in the 200 fly.
Sims is a two-time qualifier for the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSAA) State meet, with a chance to make it three in February. At the 2025 meet, he qualified individually for the first time, finishing third in the 200 free (1:40.24) and fourth in the 500 free (4:32.87), both personal bests at the time.
All of his current lifetime bests were set at local club meets in March and November, and with a large winter training block before MPSSAA State and Speedo Sectionals this year, further improvements could be on the horizon.
Top SCY Times:
- 200 Freestyle: 1:39.15
- 500 Freestyle: 4:28.34
- 1650 Freestyle: 15:56.09
- 200 Butterfly: 1:50.72
Emory is led by head coach Jon Howell, who has been at the helm of the program since 1998. Last spring, the team claimed its 26th consecutive University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship title and then finished fourth at the NCAA Division III Championships, following three straight national titles..
Sims could make an immediate impact for the Eagles at the conference meet. Last season, his times would have placed him in the ‘A’ finals of both the 200 free (sixth) and 500 free (fourth), and 11th in both the 200 fly and mile.
On the team’s 2024-25 depth charts, Sims would have ranked second in the mile, third in the 500, fifth in the 200 free, and seventh in the 200 fly. With graduations, Sims will likely slot onto the team’s 800 free relay team as a freshman.
Sims joins Jared Goldstein, Vincent Gookin, Zach Geller, Johnathan Feiro, and Cole Radnay in committing to the Eagles’ class of 2030.
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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