Austin Ryan of Tide Swimming Gives Verbal Commitment to Penn

Austin Ryan of Tide Swimming has verbally committed to the University of Pennsylvania class of 2019.*

“When I visited Penn on my official visit, I immediately knew that it was the place where I could see myself spending the next four years of my life. The combination of Wharton, the exceptional coaching staff, and the team atmosphere made my decision much easier. Penn’s swim team has a bright future and I can’t wait to be a part of it!”

Ryan is a versatile swimmer, specializing mostly in the front end of the freestyle distances for now. He is 6’3” and, according to Tide Coach Josh Fulton, “has a frame to put on muscle and get much faster.” Penn has done a great job with its mid-distance and distance freestylers, so it can’t be ruled out that Ryan will improve the longer end of the freestyle spectrum once he arrives in Philadelphia.

As it is, he has made some pretty impressive progress in his top events over the last few seasons:

As of now, only Ryan’s 200 free would have scored at 2014 Ivy League Championships, but he has some time to figure out where he will best help the Quakers in the 2015-16 season. Ryan’s verbal adds to a recruit class that also includes Colin McHugh and Stephen Marcin.

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*DISCLAIMER: Ryan has not yet been officially accepted to Penn. As is true with all Ivy League schools, Penn’s Admission Office will not send its acceptance letter until the beginning of December, along with those of all Early Action candidates. The procedure for a recruited athlete like Ryan is for Admissions to review his transcript and SAT scores, “support (his) application for admissions in the fall,” issue a Likely Letter, then offer him acceptance into the class of 2019.