Claire Grover Changes Verbal Commitment from ASU to UCLA

Claire Grover, who swims for Scottsdale Aquatic Club and Boulder Creek High School, has announced that she changed her verbal commitment to the University of California, Los Angeles for 2018-19. (She had originally announced in June that she intended to swim for Arizona State.) Grover will be part of what is turning out to be a very strong UCLA class of 2022; its verbal commits so far include Abriana Howard, Delaney Smith, Emily Lo, Emma Smethurst, Jackie Basham, Jessica Epps, Julia Wright, Kathleen Sulkevich, and Mara Newman.

Grover specializes in sprint free and breast, and won both the 50 free and 100 breast at the 2016 Arizona High School Division 1 Championships, including snapping a 10-year-old high school state record in the 50. She also earned a 5th-place finish at the 2016 Winter Junior Championships in the 100 breast, and qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials in the event as well.

She will join a breaststroke group at UCLA that includes current freshmen Emily Honng, Emma Cain and Maggie Hummel, sophomores Amy Okada, Kenisha Liu, and Isabella Goldsmith, and juniors Emma Schanz and Sarah Kaunitz. Schanz was an A finalist in the 200 breast at 2017 Pac-12 Championships, while Okada scored in the B final of both the 100 breast and 200 breast.

Top SCY times:

  • 100 breast – 1:01.29
  • 200 breast – 2:12.09
  • 50 free – 22.71
  • 100 free – 50.72
  • 200 free – 1:54.06
  • 200 IM – 2:06.07

Though none of her times currently have her in NCAA scoring position, she’s not far off. At the conference level, Grover is right on the cusp of becoming an A-finalist right out of the gate in the breaststrokes, and her 50 free is right in B-final territory. Her sprint abilities should immediately aid the Bruins’ free relays.

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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Jason Schmeltzer
6 years ago

congrats Claire, great seeing the young AD swimmers moving on to great schools.

Swim
6 years ago

Why can’t Arizona hold onto their “home grown” talent?

Mr G
Reply to  Swim
6 years ago

Academically speaking, UCLA is a very very highly ranked school (top three public?), while ASU is quite a ways down there.

Swimmer!
6 years ago

We need to get rid of this “Verbal commitment” stuff. So many coaches basically entrap 17 year old kids by giving them ridiculous ultimatums before the kid has even gone on the rest of their trips. Then it leads to kids retracting their verbals, which people frown upon. The whole “system” is just stupid.

Sophie
6 years ago

Does anyone know if she is Katie Grover’s younger sister? That certainly could have affected her decision. Either way, congratulations. Great recruit for UCLA – they look like they’re really stocking up on some great swimmers this year!

Uberfan
Reply to  Sophie
6 years ago

No she is not

SwimDad
6 years ago

Congratulations! The article was interesting for me since it raised a question. Perhaps someone knowledgeable can help me understand the process: What does a verbal commitment mean (or what is its value) if it can be changed later? Maybe there are some special circumstances for changing a commitment, but I am interested in the general case. Thanks!

O_O
Reply to  SwimDad
6 years ago

A verbal commitment has no actual legal or binding commitment. It can be changed by either party at any time for any reason with no consequence.

SwimDad
Reply to  O_O
6 years ago

The question is then the value of these commitments which can be changed on a weekly basis. In response to “can be changed by either party,” has there been a case that the university changed its commitment to the swimmer or is it usually one-sided?

Pmpolo
Reply to  SwimDad
6 years ago

USC football pulled an offer from a kid that had given them a verbal commitment a few months ago.

Realist
Reply to  SwimDad
6 years ago

My swimmer lost a really good offer because she wanted to wait to take official visits. Offer came in May. Could have verballed and then looked around. We talked about that not really being the right thing to do. The process sucks for coaches and kids.

Go Liberal Arts Not STEM
Reply to  SwimDad
6 years ago

A verbal commitment doesn’t mean a lot apparently. They are changed often. It’s kind of like a 17 yo agreeing to marry their HS sweetheart of a university with zero obligations.

Chase
Reply to  SwimDad
6 years ago

A verbal commitment is like getting engaged while signing is getting married

Alsoswimmom
Reply to  Chase
6 years ago

? considering the often-happened transfers and likely four-year college lives, it is a short-lived marriage at the best.

FormerTexasLonghorn
6 years ago

UCLA is putting together a deep recruiting class! Claire is a big pickup for UCLA and UCLA is a great school. Go Bruins!

SwimmerSam
6 years ago

My coach dislikes verbal commitments. He makes us wait to announce – thinks it causes a lot of hard feelings and disruption.

Upgrade
6 years ago

Go Bruins! Big loss for ASU.

swimmer0410
Reply to  Upgrade
6 years ago

ASU still has Silja Kansakoski though… 100 breast PAC 12 champ, 200 breast runner up. Still only a sophomore.

About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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