Avery Clapp Commits to D3 Johns Hopkins with Multiple NCAA “A Final” Times Already

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Avery Clapp has verbally committed to Johns Hopkins University as a member of the class of 2022. The Cincinnati, Ohio native will become one of the best recruits in program history with times that would already make a national impact at the NCAA Division III level.

Clapp was a finalist at the 2022 Ohio High School State Championship meet in Division I, for the state’s biggest schools. He finished 5th in the 100 back and 4th in the 100 fly at that meet, swimming best times in both events.

Showing what an anomaly his commitment to a D3 program is: the other 7 swimmers in the A-final of that 100 back, all juniors and seniors, have committed to swim a Division I ‘Power 5’ program.

Clapp said that he’s always envisioned a different path for himself, though.

“Growing up, I always admired the academic upper-echelon schools like Johns Hopkins or WashU, universities known around the world for their academic excellence,” Clapp said o his choice to go D3. WashU is another D3 school with a top-tier swimming program. “Since then, I have always seen myself going to one of these elite-level schools to challenge myself academically and in the pool.

“I believe that choosing a D3 school and specifically, Johns Hopkins, was and still is the best choice for me. Not only are they obviously very competitive in D3 with swimming, but that, coupled with the academic stature of the university, made it the perfect choice for me. So when I was offered the spot last July, I took it and haven’t looked back since.”

Clapp’s Best Times in Yards:

• 50 free – 21.05
• 100 free – 45.70
• 100 back – 48.13
• 200 back – 1:45.02
• 100 fly – 47.31
• 200 fly – 1:44.80

Johns Hopkins doesn’t compete in a conference in swimming, but did place 2nd at last year’s NCAA Division III Championships, 88 points behind champions Emory.

Clapp’s best times would have already put him the A-Final in multiple races at last year’s NCAA Division III Championships.

Clapp’s Best Times Compared to 2022 NCAA Championships:

• 200 fly – 2nd
• 200 back – 4th
• 100 fly – 5th
• 100 back – 6th

This projects him to add at least 40 individual points to the Blue Jays’ point total at the NCAA Championships immediately.

What’s more, he’ll help fill the prodigious gap left in the JHU relays by the graduation of swimmers like Max Chen, Jeffrey Vitek, and Nat Davenport, all of whom were on the team’s third-place 400 medley relay at last year’s NCAA Championships.

His best time in the 100 back is a second-and-a-half faster than the team’s best 100 back last season. His best time in the 100 fly is almost two seconds better than the team’s best returning swimmer on a flat start in that event. His times in the 200 fly and 200 back are both already better than the school records, and he is well ahead of the school’s freshman records in all four races.

He joins a breakthrough class at Johns Hopkins that could be enough to return them to the top of the table in Division III. The Blue Jays won three consecutive NCAA titles from 1977 through 1979, but 2022 was their first return to the top two since 2008.

Besides Clapp, JHU has 2022 commitments from Andrew Huang (55.9/2:00.6 breaststroker), Matthew Hartshorn (1:51.0/3:54.4 IMer), Bryce Lloyd (3:58.6 IMer), and Shawn Zhou (45.0/1:40.7 freestyler). Huang’s 200 breast time would have scored at last year’s NCAA Championship meet as well, and several others in that group are not too far off either.

Clapp attends Sycamore High School and trains with the Mason Manta Rays. That is the same high school and club team that counts among its alumni US National Team members Carson Foster and Jake Foster. Clapp’s time in the 200 fly already qualifies him for the 2022 US Summer National Championships.

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