Canadian WJR Record-holder Ruslan Gaziev Gives Verbal to Ohio State

Ruslan Gaziev, a sprint freestyle, butterfly and backstroke specialist out of Toronto, Canada, has verbally committed to The Ohio State University for 2018-19.

“Thrilled to announce my verbal commitment to The Ohio State University for the fall of 2018. I couldn’t be more excited to start studying at such a great school and be apart of an awesome team. Go Buckeyes!” [sic]

Gaziev swims out of Markham Aquatic Club under coach Rob Novak. He represented Canada at 6th FINA World Junior Championships in Indianapolis this summer, competing in the 50/100 free, 100 back, and 100 fly. His highest finish was sixth in the 50 free. He also swam on the gold medal-winning 4×100 mixed relay and 4×100 free relay, the latter of which broke the World Junior Record. He had a particularly strong performance as the anchor of the medley relay, taking the Canadians from 5th place at the 300 to first place at the 400 with a split of 49.30.

At the 2017 Canadian Junior Championships, Gaziev earned a silver medal in the 50 free and a bronze in the 100 free. He will be representing Canada at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in April.

LCM best times (converted to SCY):

• 50 free: 22.46 (19.51)
• 100 free: 49.99 (43.59)
• 100 fly: 54.28 (47.63)
• 100 back: 57.39 (50.62)

Gaziev will join fellow verbal commits Benjamin Kuriger, Hudson McDaniel, Jason Mathews, Josef Pohlmann, Lain Weaver, RJ Kondalski, and Stefano Batista in the Buckeyes’ class of 2022.

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].