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Parker Tanke of Marietta, Georgia, has announced his commitment to swim and study at Bellarmine University this upcoming fall. Tanke is wrapping up his senior year at Lassiter High School, and swims year-round with Chattahoochee Gold Swim Club.
He share his reasons for choosing Bellarmine with SwimSwam:
“Bellarmine University gives me the opportunity to swim with a Division 1 team while obtaining my career goal of being a physical therapist with their 6 year DPT program.”
It’s difficult to point to just one event group that Tanke specializes in, as he swims a mix of freestyle, IM, butterfly, and backstroke. He recently competed at the NCSA Spring Championships, where he earned his highest finish in the 50 backstroke at 96th (25.00). He also knocked as second off his personal best in the 200 IM to take 97th (1:55.45), and swam a 23.76 in the 50 fly to finish 110th overall.
At the Georgia 6A High School State Championship, Tanke posted two top-10 finishes individually and contributed to two top-five relays. He finished 6th in the 200 IM (2:00.97) and 9th in the 100 backstroke (54.22), both just off his best times. He led off his team’s 200 medley relay (25.32) in finals, and split a 21.76 as the anchor of the 200 freestyle relay.
Top SCY Times:
- 200 free – 1:44.28
- 500 free – 4:51.82
- 50 back – 24.39
- 100 back – 52.44
- 100 fly – 52.44
- 200 IM – 1:55.45
Bellarmine University is a Division I mid-major program located in Louisville, Kentucky. The Knights compete in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA), where the men finished 5th this year. Bellarmine is currently led by interim head coach Gord Veldman, as John Brucato announced that he would be stepping down earlier this spring.
Tanke’s current best time in the 100 backstroke would have made him Bellarmine’s 4th-fastest performer last season. Leading the way was freshman Blake Whiteley and junior Kenton Whiteley, both of whom swam sub-51 this season. Junior Keegan Henderson was next fastest with a 52.21 to finish 16th at CCSAs.
Tanke joins Evan Dickson, Reece Pennington, and Evan Jones in Bellarmine’s incoming class. Jones and Pennington are both from Kentucky, while Dickson is an Indiana native.
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