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Freestyle specialist Blaise VanSlyke has decided to continue his swimming career at The College of William and Mary. VanSlyke hails from Virginia, where he swims for Tide Swimming and competes for Norfolk Academy. He will head to William & Mary in the fall of 2025.
I am excited to announce my verbal commitment to William & Mary. I am extremely grateful for my family, teammates, coaches, and friends who have supported and helped me get to where I am today. I would also like to thank coach Nate and coach Mike for this amazing opportunity. Go Tribe!
The Norfolk swimmer earned a pair of runner-up finishes at the VISAA State Championships in February, finishing 2nd in both the 100 free and 100 fly. He set personal bests in both events, clocking 45.10 in the 100 free and 48.89 in the 100 fly. He really shined in the relays as well, anchoring Norfolk’s winning 200 and 400 free relays with splits of 20.07 and 43.95.
VanSlyke concluded his short course season last month at the VSI SC Senior Championships. He once again helped his team win the two aforementioned relays, this time representing his club, Tide Swimming, with splits of 19.98 and 45.15. His highest individual finishes came in the 100 free (45.86) and 200 fly (1:50.47), where he finished 4th in both finals.
Top SCY Times:
- 50 Freestyle: 20.87
- 100 Freestyle: 45.10
- 200 Freestyle: 1:40.15
- 100 Butterfly: 48.89
- 200 Butterfly: 1:50.47
VanSlyke is a big addition to the William & Mary program, with freestyle times that would have been among the program’s best last season. Last season, he would have ranked in the team’s top four of both the 100 and 200 frees and would have been just outside of the top four in the 50 free. At the 2025 Colonial Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships, where William & Mary competes, he would have finished just outside the scoring range in the 200 free. However, with his current best time, he would have secured a spot in the ‘B’ final of the 100 free.
The William & Mary men placed 5th at this year’s Colonial Athletic Association Conference Championships. They scored a total of 410 points, finishing 75.5 points behind 4th-place Towson University. The team is led by head coach Nate Kellogg, who is entering his seventh season at the helm of the program.
VanSlyke will arrive next fall as a member of the class of 2029 along with Leo O’Keefe, Toby Herzog, Tyler Barritt, and Aiden Grendysz.
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What is this guy doing. Take a year off or two to improve and go to an actual program. No point of swimming at a place this slow, might as well give it up at this point