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Cole Radnay of Tampa, Florida, has announced his commitment to swim and study at Emory University. He is set to graduate from Berkeley Preparatory School next spring, and will arrive in Atlanta for the 2025-2026 season.
Radnay, who trains year-round with Saint Petersburg Aquatics, confirmed the commitment in an email to SwimSwam. He provided the following quote:
I am honored and thrilled to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Emory University! I want to thank Coach Jon for this truly amazing opportunity. I also want to thank Coach Fred, Coach Kevin, as well as all of my family and friends who have supported me throughout this entire journey. Go Eagles🦅🦅!!
The future Eagle is a versatile middle-distance specialist, strong across the 200 and 500 freestyle, 200 backstroke, and both IM events.
Radnay’s major meet of this past high school season was the Florida High School Athletic Association 1A State Championships last November. He touched eighth in the 200 IM and 16th in the 500 free, producing personal bests of 1:53.09 and 4:39.43, which remain his current career records. He was a key member of the 16th-place 200 medley relay, where he led off in 25.04, and the 400 free relay, where he got the team off to a strong start with a PB split of 48.03.
He closed out the short course season at the Florida Senior Championships in mid-March representing Saint Petersburg, where he produced four lifetime bests. His best finish came in the 400 IM, where he popped a best time of 3:56.74 to take seventh. He added an eighth-place showing in the 200 back (1:53.03), 24th in the 200 IM (1:43.22), 24th in the 200 free (1:40.56), 44th in the 100 free (47.45), and 51st in the 500 free (4:41.22), with his swims in the 100 free, 200 free, and 200 back registering as new career bests.
Top SCY Times:
- 200 Freestyle: 1:40.56
- 500 Freestyle: 4:39.43
- 200 Backstroke: 1:51.36
- 200 IM: 1:53.05
- 400 IM: 3:56.74
Emory is led by head coach Jon Howell, who has been at the helm of the program since 1998. Last spring, the team claimed its 26th consecutive University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship title and then finished fourth at the NCAA Division III Championships, following three straight national titles.
At the conference meet, where ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’ finals are scored, Radnay’s bests would have slotted him fifth out of prelims and into the ‘A’ final in the 400 IM last season, while he would have been 15th and into the ‘B’ heat in the 200 free and 200 back. His best in the 200 IM would have put him 25th and 0.05 outside of the ‘C’ final, while 0.87 out of that heat for the 500 free.
On the team’s 2024-25 depth chart, Radnay would have ranked second in the 400 IM, ninth in the 200 IM, 200 free, and 200 back, and 10th in the 500 free. In the 400 IM, arguably Radnay’s best event, Emory was led by senior Crow Thorsen (3:49.21), the 2024 NCAA champion.
Radnay is joined by Doug Sims and Johnathan Feiro as the publicized recruits in Emory’s class of 2030.
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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