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Aiden Hammer of Fox Island, WA, announced his verbal commitment to continue his academic and swimming journey at the University of California, Berkeley. Hammer is just one of 11 swimmers in his class to go under 1:38 in the 200 free.
I am incredibly excited to announce that I will be furthering my development as an athlete and as a student at the University of California, Berkeley. I thank God for leading me to this decision and thank my family, friends, coaches, and competitors for helping me achieve this. Thank you to the Cal coaches for allowing me this opportunity. Much love to all, Go Bears!!
Hammer put up an impressive performance at the Washington Senior SC Champs back in December, where he set several best times. He swam personal bests in the 200 free (1:37.95), 1650 free (15:16.15), 200 back (1:49.50), 200 fly (1:49.34), and 100 free (46.03) on a relay leadoff. His times in the 200 and 1650 free are among the best for the class of 2026.
At the 2023 WIAA Boys 3A State Championships, Hammer won both the 200 free (1:39.58) and 500 free (4:28.63), and participated in both the 200 and 400 free relays, guiding Gig Harbor High School to a 5th-place finish overall.
While representing King Aquatic Club, Hammer qualified for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 400, 800, and 1500 free. He went 8:01.23 in the 800 free, a personal best, and earned 15th place.
Hammer also competed at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships back in August, where he won bronze in the 400 free in a time of 3:52.06. He swam the 800 free (8:05.22) and 1500 free (15:40.60) as well, earning 7th in both events, and led off the 800 free relay with a split of 1:50.44, a personal best 200 free time.
We ranked Hammer as the #15 recruit in our initial round of rankings for the high school class of 2026, thanks to his exceptionally strong times in the 200, 500, and 1650 free, among the best in his class.
BEST SCY TIMES:
- 200 Free: 1:37.95
- 500 Free: 4:23.24
- 1000 Free: 9:06.92
- 1650 Free: 15:16.15
Hammer will join a Bears team that achieved great success in its 2023-2024 season, earning 2nd place in the 2024 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, behind Arizona State. The men have a stacked roster with some of the fastest swimmers in the nation, including Björn Seeliger, Jack Alexy, and Destin Lasco. Hammer is among the first in the high school class of 2026 to commit to Cal, and will be a valuable asset to the team in a highly competitive ACC.
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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Congrats Aiden!!
Congrats! 👏 👏 👏
This guy is so slow my grandma could swim faster without arms.
Has the 200 Fr gotten slower or plateaud across the nation? Don’t get me wrong, a 1:37.9 is a good time but only 11 in the class have gone sub 1:38? About 10 years ago there were 5 swimmers in the final at the local section championship meet that broke 1:38.
10 years ago, the number of 16 & Under swimmers that broke 1:38 in USA Swimming was 9
Cal saw Texas this past week and said, “Get the checkbook out, now!”
Cal and Texas version of “get the checkbook out” means free pens and notebooks for four years. Congrats, top recruit, come here!
Probably one of those guys Durden will throw at the end of lane of European ring chasing mercenary mid D freers and then cal fans will be head over heels when he drops .2 in a 200 free after 4 years at Cal
Kid just went a 351 in the 400 free at junior pan pacs. What an L take. Hammer is a legit stud.
They literally had all of two internationals on their NCAA team last year who combined for 31 out of their ~450 points. Not much for so called “mercenaries”
Right. And Bjorn, who scored most (all?) of those points, is the furthest thing from a mercenary. Dude is the epitome of a 4+ year student athlete.
…. in Andrew’s world a negative is a positive…. pls help boost his self-esteem by offering additional down-votes
It’s just fun to talk crap about Cal. W take
It never ceases to amaze me your presence in the comment section of Cal articles.