Jake Magahey is a competitive swimmer that represents the United States internationally. He first appeared in SwimSwam in May of 2017 after posting a 4:01.76 in the 400m freestyle at age 15, making a 5.7 second drop to do so.
Magahey continued to improve at a fast rate, giving him the #3 rank on SwimSwam’s Way Too Early NCAA Recruit Ranks: Boys’ Class of 2020 list. When the official rankings did come out, Magahey sat at #5. On April 2, 2019, Magahey announced his verbal commitment to swim at the University of Georgia.
National/International Competition
2018 Summer Nationals
At nationals in Irvine, Magahey, 16, won the D-final of the 400 free in a time of 3:51.38. That put him 2nd all-time in the 15-16 age group, and also earned him a spot on the Junior Pan Pacific Championship team.
2018 Junior Pan Pacific Championships
On Day 1 in Fiji, Magahey earned his first international medal, touching for 2nd in the 200 free behind American Drew Kibler in a time of 1:48.67. On Day 2, Magahey won his first gold, leading off Team USA in the 4×200 free relay (1:49.40) to help the US touch 1st.
On Day 3, Magahey finished 10th in the 400 free, touching 2nd in the B heat behind teammate Dare Rose in a time of 3:54.13. On the final day, Magahey added to his medal haul, scoring a bronze in the 800 free with a time of 8:06.16.
2018 Winter Junior National Championships – East
Magahey ended 2018 with another stellar meet, this time in Greensboro, North Carolina. In his first event of the meet, Magahey took the 500 free title, winning in a new personal best of 4:14.61. The next day, Magahey took 4th in the 200 free in 1:35.64. On the final day, he took the title in the 1,650, touching 1st in 14:51.54.
Oldest High School Record in the Books
At the 2019 Georgia 6A/7A State Championships, Jake Magahey broke the oldest high school record in the books, clocking a 4:15.63 in the 500 free. That broke Jeff Kostoff’s public high school record of 4:16.39 done in 1983. Magahey also won the 200 free at that meet in 1:35.62.
2019 National Championships
At the 2019 nationals in Palo Alto, Magahey finished 9th in the 400 free (3:50.70), 13th in the 200 free (1:48.81), and 25th in the 100 free (49.20). This qualified him to swim the 100/400 free individually at the 2019 World Junior Championships, as well as on the 4×200 free relay.
2019 World Junior Championships
On Day 1, Magahey swam on the 4×100 free relay in finals, where he split 49.51 on the 1st leg to help break the world junior record in a time of 3:15.80. Magahey continued his relay heroics in the 4×200 free relay, leading off in 1:48.11 to help the US team take down another world junior record, this time by over 2.5 seconds to touch for gold in 7:08.37.
