After spending three seasons with the Duke Blue Devils, elite sprinter James Peek will exhaust his final season of eligibility as a grad student at the University of Michigan. Peek comes from the UK, and was a program leader for Duke during his time in North Carolina. He holds Blue Devil records in three events– the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 backstroke. He doesn’t currently appear on either team’s roster as he will sit out this season from competition, but a Michigan press release on November 15th announced Peek’s addition for next fall.
TOP TIMES
- 50y free – 19.54
- 100y free – 43.53
- 100y back – 47.94
Last season, Peek finished 5th in the 50 free and 12th in the 100 free at the 2016 ACC Championships. He also had relay bests of 19.27 and 43.25 (with flying starts) at those champs. At the 2016 NCAA Championships, Peek would touch 28th in the 50 free and 46th in the 100 free. He anchored both of Duke’s medley relays at NCAAs, with his 19.08 on the end of the 14th place 200 medley relay proving to be his most impressive performance of that weekend.
Michigan just graduated Anders Nielsen, their #1 100 freestyler last season, and their #2 50 freestyler last year, Jason Chen, no longer appears on the Wolverines’ roster. Meanwhile, relay piece Vinny Tafuto will lose eligibility after this current season. Peek will come at a time when Michigan will desperately need sprinters to build around B1G 50 free record holder Paul Powers, who is currently a junior in Ann Arbor. Peek would’ve been Michigan’s #2 50 freestyler last season, and would’ve touched 3rd in the 50 free at 2016 B1G’s. He will likely be an immediate contributor to Wolverine relays (as well as individually) if he can match or improve upon his best times during his season with Michigan.
Yes. I’ve been wondering about Aaron Whitaker and Jason Chen as well.
What happened to Chen or the Whitaker kid. Are they no longer on the team???He was the top backstroker for MI last yr???
Huge pick up.
It seems like Mike Bottom loves his transfera. This seems almost identical to the Zach Turk transfer 4 years ago…..