Coach Guntoro Announces Eight Signings For UNCW Seahawks

Courtesy: UNCW Sports

WILMINGTON, N.C. – UNCW first-year head coach Bobby Guntoro has announced the signings of seven swimmers and a diver for the 2021-22 season.

The class includes student-athletes from five different states, including three from North Carolina and boasts several ranked among the top recruits in their states.

Joining the Seahawks will be Reese Alexander, Molly Braun, Trinity McNall, Katie Knorr, Will Barker, Aidan Duffy, John Martin and Sam O’Brien.

“I am very excited to welcome this strong incoming class,” said Guntoro, who was a member of four Colonial Athletic Association championship teams while swimming for the Seahawks. “This class is very diverse when it comes to their event lists and each of them will bring an immediate impact to our fast-rising program.”

Alexander is a two-time Central Piedmont Conference Swimmer of the Year and three-time program Most Valuable Swimmer. She also was a national qualifier for the YMCA and Speedo Junior National championship meets. Alexander owns career-best times of 24.10 seconds in the 50 Free and 55.19 in the 100 Fly.

Braun enters her senior season at Upper Dublin as the 19th-ranked recruit in the state of Pennsylvania. As a junior, she helped set a state and school record in the 200 Medley Relay at the state championship meet last March. At the same meet, Braun also set career-bests in the 100 Free (52.38) and Fly (55.29).

Knorr is a six-time state finalist at the 1A/2A level in the 200 IM and 100 Backstroke, most recently finishing third in both races in 2020. She won the 100 Backstroke at the Central Regional with a time of 59.19 and later posted a career-best time of 58.42 at the State championship meet. At the North Carolina Winter 18&U Championships, she earned personal bests in five events, including 4:22.32 in the 400 IM and 2:00.66 in the 200 Back.

McNall is the lone diver in the group. In 2018, she was the Wisconsin State Champion in the 1-meter board and was named the WISCA Diver of the Year. In her final season (2019) at Creekside High School, McNall broke both dual and championship meet diving records. As a junior in 2020 at Bayside High School, she broke all the program’s diving records and was named team Diver of the Year. At the AAU level, McNall finished third on the 3-meter board and fifth on the 1-meter at the 2020 Summer AAU Nationals. Her career best scores are 363.95 points in the 1-meter and 365.10 in the 3-meter, both nine-dive events.

“In addition to their accolades in the water, I believe these ladies will represent our university at an extremely high level in the classroom. I look forward to the honor of coaching these young ladies and being a part of their college journey.”

Barker was an All-America in 2019 in both the 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle and is a two-time North Carolina State champion in both events. Entering his senior season, Barker is the 12th-ranked recruit in the state. He owns top times of 20.92 in the 50 free and 49.03 in the 100 backstroke.

Duffy is a highly ranked breaststroker, reaching as high as sixth in the state of Virginia and 184th nationally in the class of 2021. Duffy, a three-time USA Swimming Scholastic All-America, won back-to-back Virginia Class 5 State championships in the 100 Breaststroke and in 2020 won the Class 5 200 IM. He also was honored as a second-team All-Metro swimmer by Richmond Times Dispatch. In the 100 and 200 Breaststrokes, he owns top times of 56.44 and 2:01.01, respectively, and in the 200 IM his career-best came in the state championship (1:50.61) at the Jim McKay Natatorium in Fairfax, Va.

Martin is ranked in the top-three in three events in the state of Mississippi. He’s second in the 200 IM (1:54.15) and third in both the 100 (55.52) and 200 (2:03.36) Breaststroke.  Martin is a USA Swimming Scholastic All-America and earned Top 5 Swimmer honors in Mississippi.

O’Brien is another Virginia product in the signing class and is the 14th-ranked recruit in the state. Swimmingly primarily distance events, O’Brien owns top times of 15:45.42 in the 1650 Free, 4:30.46 in the 500, 1:47.96 in the 200 Back. O’Brien was the MVP of the Loudon Valley High school team and is a scholastic All-America.

“Our goal is to bring back the CAA conference team title to Wilmington and develop NCAA qualifiers. This class of men consists of great talents that will help us compete for the CAA title immediately when they arrive on campus. They will raise the quality of our team in the pool and the classroom. I look forward to learning and growing with these young men.”