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Austin Lathrop is opting to stay local and continue his athletic and academic career at the University of California – San Diego (UCSD) next fall. He is finishing up his senior year at Classical Academy High School, and swims club year-round with Rancho San Dieguito Swim Team in Solana Beach, California.
“I’m so thrilled to announce my commitment to continue my athletic and academic career at UCSD! I want to thank all my friends, teammates, and coaches who have helped me along the way. Special thanks to Coach Joe and Coach Brandon for being amazing mentors, and to Coach Marko for believing in my potential. But above all I want to thank my family for always supporting me on my journey. Go Tritons!”
Lathrop swims fly and backstroke, and has steadily been improving over the course of this season. In December at Winter Juniors – West, Lathrop clocked a personal best time of 48.92 in the 100 fly to record his highest finish of the meet at 33rd.
Earlier this month at Speedo Sectionals, he brought his 100 fly down event further to a 48.81. His 200 fly is a similar story–he set a best time of 1:49.24 at Winter Juniors, then later in March shaved another second off to end at 1:48.54.
His backstroke has also seen improvements this year. He’s dropped nearly 2 seconds in his 100 backstroke in the span of seven months. In the 200 backstroke, Lathrop has also come down by 2 seconds since March of 2022.
Top SCY Times:
- 100 back – 50.40
- 200 back – 1:50.86
- 100 fly – 48.78
- 200 fly – 1:48.54
The UCSD men recently finished 5th out of 8 teams at the 2023 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships. It took a 49.07 to advance to the B-final in the 100 fly and a 1:48.84 to advance to the A-final in the 200 fly, meaning Lathrop should be able to make an immediate impact at the conference level.
The Tritons were led by Chad Morrison in the 100 fly, who clocked a season best time of 48.55 to finish 11th at conference. In the 200 fly, Morrison finished 13th with a 1:52.07, while his teammate, Devin Esser, was right behind in 14th (1:52.57). Lathrop will overlap with both Morrison and Esser for a year.
Lathrop is joined by fellow Californian Zach Elian and Wisconsin native Adrian Bellido in UCSD’s class of 2027. Elian focuses on freestyle and IM, while Bellido is a breaststroker.
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