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Rollins College, a Division II school located in Winter Park, Florida, has gained a pair of commitments for 2021, with Chance Ricca and Payden Knettles both choosing to swim for the team.
Chance Ricca
Ricca will be joining the team from Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he swims with Pikes Peak Athletics and Discovery Canyon High School. At Rollins, he intends to study computer science while continuing his athletic career.
A freestyle specialist with a range that stretches from the 50 free to 1650, Ricca finished in the top-20 of all of his primary events at the 2020 Colorado Senior Short Course Championships last spring. His best finish came in the 100 free where, with altitude adjustment, he touched in 48.75. That meet also featured long course swimming, where he finished with the second-fastest time in the 400 free. In that race, he stopped the clock at 4:22.96.
Top SCY Times
- 50 free – 22.01
- 100 free – 47.31
- 200 free – 1:43.22
- 500 free – 4:37.05
- 1650 free – 16:16.51
Ricca will be a big pickup for Rollins, who compete in the Sunshine Conference. His biggest impact will come in the distance events, where he would have held the program’s second-best time in the 1650 and third-best in the 500 during the 2019-2020 season.
Payden Knettles
Unlike Ricca, who will be traveling across the country to swim at Rollins, Knettles will be heading less than 100 miles south to swim for the Tars. He is from Ocala, Florida, where he swims with the Central Florida Marlins and for Trinity Catholic High School.
While the pair come from different parts of the country, they will likely compete in the same events, as Knettles best races are the distance freestyle events. Last November, Knettles competed in both the 500 free and 200 IM at the Florida High School 1A State Championships, making the B-final in the IM and narrowly missing it in the 500 free. In the finals of the IM, he finished 13th in 1:58.06, will he was 17th in prelims of the 500 (4:48.51).
Similar to Ricca, Knettles will immediately provide depth in his events after arriving on the Rollins campus this fall. In both the 200 and 400 IM, he would have held the program’s third-fastest time during the 2019-2020 season. He would have also provided depth in the distance freestyle races.
Top SCY Times
- 200 free – 1:45.38
- 500 free – 4:44.97
- 1000 free – 9:51.11
- 1650 free – 16:45.45
- 200 IM – 1:57.95
- 400 IM – 4:14.93
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