Blaise Snowberg of Golden, Colorado has verbally committed to swim for the University of the Cumberlands for 2017-18. Snowberg is co-captain of Lakewood High School swim team; he also swims for Flatiron Athletic Club under coach Wolfgang Dittrich. His strengths are distance and mid-distance freestyle and backstroke, and he competed in both the 200/500 freestyles at the 2016 Colorado Boys 5A State Championships.
“After more than two years of research and visits, I’m beyond excited to announce that I have committed to swim for the University of the Cumberlands. I chose UC for many reasons such as the incredibly dedicated coaching staff, and because of the diversity of the team members (many international student-athletes). I knew as soon as I stepped on the campus of UC that it was going to be the one for me. The smaller sized campus and classes seemed comfortable and very personable. The hospitality of all of the faculty and students; swimmers and non-swimmers, made me feel as though I was welcomed and already accepted. The team and coaches were the overall deciding factors for me. I felt the coaches were invested in every athlete achieving their goals, and they seemed to really value a balance between athletics and academics which is very important to me. I can’t see myself on any other college team and am extremely excited to have Coach Skelly and Coach Spanjers to help me achieve my swimming (and academic) goals over the next four years. Patriot Pride!”
In club swimming this summer, Snowberg improved in every single one of his best events, earning PBs in the 50/100/200/400/800/1500m free and 100/200m back, as well as in off-events such as 100m breast, 100m fly, and 200/400m IM. His best SCY times are:
- 1650 free – 16:32.68
- 1000 free – 9:59.02
- 500 free – 4:48.41
- 200 free – 1:48.45
- 200 back – 1:59.78
- 100 back – 55.87
Both the men’s and women’s teams of the Williamsburg, Kentucky-based UC Patriots placed fifth at the 2016 NAIA Nationals, a first in program history. Snowberg will be an asset from Day 1, as he would have scored in the top 6, thus earning All-American honors, in the 1650 free at the NAIA national meet last winter. He would have been a B finalist in the 200 free, and not too far out of scoring position in the 100/200 backstrokes.
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