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Palo Alto Stanford Aquatic’s Alexis Schaffer has verbally committed to UCLA for the fall of 2023. She will be joining her older sisters Brooke and Taylor on the Bruins’ swim team, continuing their family legacy which started with their dad, Greg. He also swam for UCLA and was an 8-time All-American and the 1992 NCAA Championships runner-up in the 200 breaststroke.
“I’m beyond excited to announce my verbal commitment to swim and study at UCLA!! A huge thank you to friends, family, and coaches for supporting me along the way. I can’t wait to be a part of this amazing team! Go Bruins!!💙💛”
Alexis Schaffer is a high school senior at Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California. She specializes in freestyle (like Brooke and Taylor who are entering their senior and sophomore years, respectively) as well as butterfly. The Schaffers were one of three pairs of siblings on the UCLA women’s team last season.
At the 2022 CIF State Championships in May, Alexis Schaffer placed 15th in the 100 freestyle final. One week earlier at the California CIF Central Coast Section (CCS) Championship, she placed 6th in the 100 free and 9th in the 50 free.
Schaffer is coming off an eventful Spring short course season where she posted three lifetime best times at the Sectionals in College Station, Texas in March. Those times placed her 19th in the 50 free, 33rd in the 100 free, and 27th in the 100 fly.
Top SCY times:
- 50 free – 23.79
- 100 free – 51.39
- 200 free – 1:52.17
- 100 fly – 56.51
Schaffer achieved her first Futures cut in the 100 fly at the 2021 CIF CCS Championships as a sophomore in high school. She placed 4th in the event with a time of 57.33. Since then, she has lowered her best 100 fly time and added the 200 free as one of her Futures qualifying times.
Her fastest 100 fly time would have placed her 31st at the 2022 Pac-12 Championships with UCLA. Her lifetime best times would have also placed her 46th in the 100 free, 48th in the 200 free, and 52nd in the 50 free.
In light of recent news that UCLA and USC plan to move to the Big Ten Conference as soon as 2024, Schaffer may only have one season in the Pac-12. This move would have the biggest impact on her 50 freestyle since Big Ten swimmers were considerably faster than Pac-12 swimmers in that event at their championship meet last season. While Schaffer’s best times would have ranked her in almost identical places at the 2022 Big Ten Championships as the Pac-12 Championships in the 100 fly, 100 free, and 200 free, if you account for the addition of USC swimmers this future conference will be faster in her other specialties too.
UCLA women are coming off a 4th place finish at the 2022 Pac 12 Conference Championships under head coach Jordan Wolfrum. There, NCAA finalist Claire Grover led the Bruins’ women’s sprint freestyle squad by placing 4th in the 50 free and 6th in the 100 free. She will be returning to UCLA as a fifth year next season. Brooke Schaffer was their highest finisher in the 200 free where she was the first alternate for the ‘C’ final. UCLA then had a strong showing in the 100 fly where rising senior Gabby Dang placed 6th and Sam Baron placed 8th. Baron has since transferred to the University of Virginia.
Alexis Schaffer joins Katy Pacher, Sarah Bennetts, and Elena Dry in the Bruins’ class of 2023 verbal commitments so far.
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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Welcome to the Big Ten Alexis!
This will never sound right for UCLA or USC but good luck to the swimmer