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Jay Hickman has announced his commitment to swim for West Virginia University beginning in the fall of 2026. He publicized the news on Instagram, writing:
I’m am so stoked to announce my commitment to WVU!. Thank you to my family and coaches for making it happen. LETS GO MOUNTAINEERS!
A senior at Creekside Villa Park High School in Villa Park, California, Hickman has been a member of the Sparta swimming and diving team since his freshman year. In addition to competing for his high school team, he currently trains year-round with the San Clemente Aquatic Team, where his father Todd Hickman, a former NCAA All-American at the University of Arizona (1984-88), serves as Head Age Group Coach.
Hickman is primarily a distance specialist, strong in the 400 IM, 500 free, and the mile, but also has the range to go down and be competitive in the 200s of free and IM. He’s made significant progress in 2025, highlighted by a massive 3.54-second drop in the 400 IM (4:01.32 to 3:57.78), along with improvements in the 1650 free (15:33.82 to 15:32.22), 500 free (4:28.70 to 4:26.89), 200 IM (1:53.80 to 1:52.72), and 200 free (1:40.17 to 1:39.28).
All of Hickman’s current best times were set last month at Winter Junior Championships – West and a local Sectionals meet in Walnut nine days later. At Winter Juniors, his third time qualifying for the meet, Hickman placed 21st in the 1650 free for the second consecutive year, 23rd in the 500 free, and 40th in the 400 IM, all with his current PBs, as well as 74th in the 200 free with a season-best 1:40.40. His 21st-place mile finish in 2024 had been his only scoring performance prior to this year’s meet. At Sectionals, he ripped his best times in the 200 free and 200 IM.
Through his high school career, Hickman has consistently made the top eight at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Division Championships. Last May, when his school was classified as Division 1, he touched third in the 500 free and seventh in the 200 free; a year prior in Division 2, he walked away with the 500 free title as well as sixth in the 200 free; as a freshman he finished fourth in the 500 and 11th in the 200 in D2.
Note: In the CIF, D1 vs. D2 is based on school enrollment size, not competitive level, with schools reclassified on a yearly basis.
Outside of the short course pool, Hickman qualified for Junior Nationals over the summer, finishing 46th in the 1500m free (16:11.74), 57th in the 800m free (8:26.20), and 78th in the 400m free (4:04.54), all in personal bests.
Top SCY Times:
- 200 Freestyle: 1:39.28
- 500 Freestyle: 4:26.89
- 1650 Freestyle: 15:32.22
- 200 IM: 1:52.72
- 400 IM: 3:57.78
A Division I program, West Virginia competes in the Big 12 Conference, with the Mountaineer men placing seventh out of 10 teams at the 2025 Big 12 Conference Championships. The team sent one athlete, Owen Recker, to compete at the NCAA Division I Championships, where he finished 37th in the men’s 10-meter diving and 51st in the 3-meter diving.
To earn a second swim at last season’s conference championship, it took times of 1:36.97/4:26.95 in the 200/500 free and 1:48.08/4:00.10 in the 200/400 IM, putting Hickman in position to score in the 500 free and 400 IM. His best time in the 1650 free would have placed 21st in the timed final, giving him a third opportunity to secure points. On the team itself, he would have ranked second in the 500 free, third in the 400 IM, fourth in the 1650 free, and seventh in both the 200 free and 200 IM last season. With most of those above him upperclassmen, he will slot in to have an immediate impact at both the conference and dual meet level.
The full list of recruits currently set to join Hickman in Morgantown next fall includes fellow distance freestylers and IMers Carter Bradley (4:27.24/15:42.99 distance free, 1:49.90/3:57.57 IM), Rylan Sepulveda (4:34.97/16:04.64 distance free), and Dan Ginaitis (1:48.82/3:50.56 IM), who will give Hickman strong training partners in his primary events. The class also brings Kenneth McGlothen (back), Roman Torres (fly/back), Owen Eisenhofer (sprint free/back/fly), Italian sprint freestyler Jin Rossi, and Turkish distance freestyler and flyer Emre Zeytinoglu.
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Brent making it happen, as expected