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Itay Goldfaden, who won a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke at the 2014 European Junior Championship, will join the University of South Carolina. Goldfaden’s times make him a potential NCAA qualifier from the start in Columbia:
- 50 breaststroke SCM: 27.56 (24.82 SCY Conversion)
- 100 breaststroke SCM: 59.95 (54.00 SCY Conversion)
- 50 freestyle SCM 23.10 (20.81 SCY Conversion)
Goldfaden’s times on long course compare even more favorably; he has gone 28.0 and 1:02.0 in both breaststroke races. Goldfaden trains at Hapoel Emek Hefer, the same club team as Israeli swimming star Amit Ivry.
In addition to his international exploits as a junior, Goldfaden is also a two-time Israeli national champion in the 50 breaststroke (LCM) and has numerous national age group records in the country.
Despite all he has accomplished, Goldfaden will face immediate competition at South Carolina. Sophomore Nils Wich-Glasen split 24.0 on their 200 Medley Relay and went 53.11 in the 100 breaststroke at the 2015 SEC Championships.
However, Goldfaden will bolster their breaststroke corp regardless and on the basis of his short course conversion would have made a B-Final in the 100 breaststroke. With some added scoring power South Carolina could start to make up the gap to 6th place Missouri in the SEC.
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Looks like gamecocks signed a very good swimmer !