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California high school state champion Bella Parker has announced her verbal commitment to swim and study at Northwestern University beginning in the fall of 2027. She publicized the news on SwimCloud, writing:
I am incredibly grateful to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Northwestern University. I want to especially thank my family and friends for their support. As well as Coach Felipe, Coach James, and the rest of the coaches involved in supporting me through this process shaping me into the person I am today. Shoutout to Coach Rachel and NU coaching staff for this amazing opportunity! Go ‘Cats!!
A rising senior at Woodbridge High School in California, Parker has been a member of her school’s varsity swimming and diving team for the past three years and currently swims year-round with Evolution Racing Club. She primarily specializes in sprint freestyle and backstroke.
Parker is coming off a 2025-26 short course season that saw her drop nearly three seconds in the 100 back, two and a half seconds in the 100 free, and seven tenths in the 50 free.
Parker clocked her current career best of 55.12 at an in-season high school meet in April before heading to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Division I Championships a few weeks later. There, she had the best meet of her high school career to date, winning the 100 free (49.75) and grabbing bronze in the 50 free (22.87), in addition to helping Woodbridge to second in the 200 free relay (22.70 anchor) and third in the 400 free relay (49.74 anchor).
At the State Championships, she helped Woodbridge win the 400 free relay (49.45 anchor) and take seventh in the 200 free relay (22.37 anchor), while individually finishing fourth in the 100 free (50.21) and sixth in the 50 free (23.27).
Top SCY Times:
- 50 Freestyle: 22.87
- 100 Freestyle: 49.75
- 100 Backstroke: 55.12
A Division I program, Northwestern competes in the Big Ten Conference, with the women’s team placing ninth out of 14 teams at the conference championships this past season. To earn a second swim at the meet, it took times of 22.54/49.24 in the 50/100 free and 54.05 in the 100 back, putting her a bit outside the cutoffs, though she still has two full seasons of training ahead before swimming at her first conference meet.
Parker joins Lucy Velte, Annabeth Town, Erin Griffis, and Vanya Gojakovic in committing to the Wildcats’ class of 2031 so far.
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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