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Isaac Carsel has announced his commitment to continue both his education and swimming career at the University of North Carolina, where he will join the team in the fall of 2026. He is from Sacramento, California, where he attends Davis Senior High School and trains year-round with DART Swimming.
Carsel, ranked in SwimSwam’s “Best of the Rest” category for the high school class of 2026, confirmed the commitment via email and provided the following quote:
I’m grateful and honored to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and swimming career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill! I want to express my gratitude to my family, friends, and coaches for their unwavering support. Additionally, I want to express my gratitude to Coach Mark, Coach Kirk and the UNC coaching staff for this amazing opportunity! Go Heels!
Li competed at the Winter Junior Championships in December, where he swam the 100 breast, 200 IM, and 50 free, in addition to a plethora of relays. His highest individual finish came in the 200 breast, where he touched 13th in 1:58.88. He also captured 18th in the 100 breast (54.92), 64th in the 200 IM (1:51.04), and 117th in the 50 free (21.32).
On relays, he split 20.66 on the 10th-place 200 free relay, 45.68 on the 400 free relay that secured 17th, and 27.23 on the breast leg of the 200 medley relay that also took 10th.
The future Tar Heel’s two target meets of the past high school season were the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Sac-Joaquin Sectional Championships and the CIF State Championships.
At Sectionals, Li produced times of 54.18 and 1:48.84 in the 100 breast and 200 IM, went a huge best time of 53.44 in prelims of 100 breast personal bests in both events that earned him runner-up finishes. He also contributed a lifetime-best 20.85 leading off Davis’ silver medal winning 200 free relay and logged 44.94 on the 400 free relay that hit the wall third.
Fast forward to State, held just over a week later, he anchored the bronze medal winning 200 medley relay in 20.16 and led off the fourth-place 400 free relay in a career-best time of 45.16. He also notched 54.05 for third in the 100 breast after going a slightly quicker 54.03 in prelims.
Top SCY Times:
- 100 Breaststroke: 53.44
- 200 Breaststroke: 1:58.88
- 200 IM: 1:48.84
Under the direction of head coach Mark Gangloff, the Tar Heel men finished fourth out of 15 teams at the 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships. It was a blockbuster year for the squad as they were 8th out of 11 teams in 2024.
The team went on to place 23rd at the NCAA Championships, with IM specialist Louis Dramm (10), breaststroker Ben Delmar (4), and butterflier Patrick Foy (1) accumulating all of their individual points.
According to the team’s 2024–25 depth chart, Carsel’s personal best in the 100 breast would have situated him third on the team, while his 200 breast and 200 IM times would have put him fourth and 13th. Delmar notched 51.44 and 1:50.51 to lead the way in the breaststrokes, while Dramm produced 1:40.92 to dominate the 200 IM standings.
The conference meet offers ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’ finals, and it took times of 53.12, 1:55.80, and 1:44.70 to make the top 24 in the 100 breast, 200 breast, and 200 IM, respectively.
Carsel joins Blake Hill and Evan Gluck as UNC’s only publicized commits in the 2030 recruiting class.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
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So much for academics guy is late