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Vestavia Hills High School senior Aiden Tillis will be heading to Cardondale, IL in the fall to study and swim at Southern Illinois University. Tillis is from Vestavia, AL, and competes for Wake Aquatics in Birmingham.
“I’m super excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my athletic and academic journey at Southern Illinois University. I’d like to thank my friends and family for pushing me forward all these years, and my coaches that have helped me get this far. Pumped for the next four! Go Dawgs!” – Aiden Tillis
Tillis is primarily a middle-distance freestyler, with a good 1650 free and 400 IM to boot. At the Southeastern Championships in Huntsville back in February, Tillis came in 3rd in the 1650 (16:02.23), 4th in the 500 free (4:34.35), and 10th in both the 200 free (1:42.18) and 400 IM (4:08.75). At the ASHAA Championships (HS state meet) back in November, Tillis was 2nd in both the 500 free (4:34.51) and 200 free (1:41.97).
Aiden Tillis Career Bests (Yards)
- 200 free – 1:41.97
- 500 free – 4:34.35
- 1650 free – 16:02.23
- 400 IM – 4:08.75
Tillis will be joining a Southern Illinois 2025 men’s class that features only one other recruit, Lubbock, TX’s Kyler Beights. Coincidentally, Beights is also in that mid-distance range primarily, so the Salukis are adding some really nice depth in that area with this small class.
Tillis looks like he could be a scoring swimmer for SIU in his freshman season. Last year, it took a 4:33.55 to qualify for the ‘B’ final in the 500 free at the Men’s Missouri Valley Championships. That puts Tillis within a second of that time based off his career best. Meanwhile, it took a 1:41.01 to make the ‘B’ final of the 200 free, which again puts Tillis within a second of that time. Tillis is already in scoring range in the 1650 free, as it took a 16:25.46 to crack the top 16 at the MVC Championships last season.
Southern Illinois looks like a program on the rise, both with their men and women. Under head coach Geoff Hanson, SIU has produced a steady stream of NCAA qualifiers, both men and women, and has even had a number of NCAA finalists. Most recently, Celia Pulido finished 4th in the 100 back at the Women’s NCAA Championships back in March, while teammate Olivia Herron came in 15th in the 200 breast. At the 2025 Men’s NCAA Championships, Alex Santiago represented SIU.
SIU finished 2nd at the 2025 Men’s MVC Championships.
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