After Initial Verbal to Northwestern, Daniel Matheson Pivots with Verbal to USC

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After initially sending a verbal commitment to Northwestern University, distance specialist Daniel Matheson has re-routed with a commitment change to the University of Southern California. Matheson, a Scholastic All-American, trains club with Scottsdale Aquatic Club and attends Sunrise Mountain High School in Arizona.

Notably, current USC head coach Jeremy Kipp was the head coach of Northwestern when Matheson first committed in March of 2020. Kipp was announced as the replacement for former USC head coach Dave Salo in May of 2020.

After a lot of thought, I have decided to pursue my academic and athletic career at the University Of Southern California! Thank you to my friends, family, and my coaches but a shout out to Bob Platt, Kevin Zacher, and Ryan Kent! #fighton  #swimforryan

TOP TIMES (SCY)

• 50 free – 21.15
• 100 free – 46.01
• 200 free – 1:38.64
• 500 free – 4:23.16
• 1000 free – 9:15.90
• 1650 free – 15:21.53
• 100 fly – 49.02
• 200 fly – 1:45.94
• 200 IM – 1:49.69
• 400 IM – 3:54.19

Since quarantine, Matheson has had breakthroughs in a few events; at an August intrasquad, he broke 1:40 for the first time in the 200 free, broke 50 for the first time in the 100 fly and took over two seconds off of his 200 fly best. He also hit lifetime bests in the 50 and 100 free at that meet.

At the 2019 Arizona HS Division II State Championships, Matheson placed third in the 500 free (4:37.01) and fourth in the 200 IM (1:53.21).

Last year, Matheson would’ve ranked fourth in the 500 free and 1650 free on USC’s young roster. In the 200 fly, he would’ve had his biggest impact on the team; only current junior Alexei Sancov was faster than Matheson last season (1:42.20). Matheson also would’ve been #2 on the roster in the 400 IM behind current sophomore Ivan Puskovitch (3:52.09).

Matheson joins a USC class of 2025 that includes Mateo Parker, Vincent Cheng, Mason Morris, Kevin Sichak and Chris O’Grady.

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