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High school junior Bri Deierlein from Sarasota, Florida has verbally committed to the Northwestern class of 2024.
I’m so excited to announce my verbal commitment to further my athletic and academic career at Northwestern University. A huge thank you to my coaches, family, friends, and teammates who supported me along the way. Thank you to Coach Katie and the NU staff for giving me such an incredible opportunity. Go Cats!! 💜🤍
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr1q3GPAfXd/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D
Deirelein trains with the Sarasota Sharks and attends Riverview High School. She lived in Connecticut during the first two years of her high school swimming career before moving to Florida as a junior.
In Connecticut, she was a quartet of LSC titles in 2022: in the 200 free (2:06.12) and 200 back (2:20.16) in long course, and in the 100 back (56.39) and 200 back (2:02.17) in yards.
That led to a runner-up finish in the 100 free and a 5th place finish in the 200 free in long course at the USA Swimming Futures Championships in Geneva.
Now wading into the relatively-deeper waters of Florida, she has continued to excel. She won a 4A District 9 title in the 100 fly last October, and placed 4th in the 200 free (1:51.45) and 6th in the 100 fly (56.40) at the State Championship meet in November. She also split 51.85 on the 2nd leg of the State Championship winning Riverside 400 free relay. All four members of that relay were juniors last season.
Riverside High School is the same school where US Junior National Teamer Gracie Weyant, USC commit Addison Sauickie, and Kentucky commit Bailey O’Reagan all swim. All four are high school juniors, setting up a potentially-massive season for Riverside next year.
The Sarasota Sharks is also the home club of Canadian Summer McIntosh, who set two World Records in April at the Canadian World Championship Trials. McIntosh is the same age as these juniors.
In club competition, Deierlein finaled in four events at Orlando Sectionals, including a 4th-place finish in the 200 free (2:03.54), and finaled in five events at the Florida SCY Senior Championships in March, including a 2nd-place finish in the 200 back (2:01.14).
A very good long course swimmer too, Deierlein’s 2:03.54 in the 200 free ranks her 8th among American 16 & unders so far this season.
Best Times in Yards:
- 50 free – 23.55
- 100 free – 51.19
- 200 free – 1:49.35
- 100 back – 56.39
- 200 back – 2:00.90
- 100 fly – 55.31
She joins a Northwestern team that was 6th at last year’s Big Ten Championships, two years after a high-water mark of 4th place in 2021. The Wildcats had a very young core last season, especially in their free relays.
Deierlein would have been the team’s third-best 200-yard backstroker last season and fourth-best 100-yard butterflier.
She is also well-within striking distance of a relay spot in the 800 free relay as a freshman, with one senior and one junior among the five swimmers ahead of her from last year’s roster.
She joins a high school class of 2024 that includes names like Kate Hurst from New Jersey (a 1:48/4:46.32/9:49/16:30 freestyler) and Grey Davis from Virginia (a 53.5 backstroker/53.0 butterflier). The Wildcats have been reaching far-and-wide around the country for its recruits.
Between their girls’ classes of 2023 and 2024, there is one commit from Illinois and one commit from Michigan, and otherwise, the rest of the recruits are all from the east and west coasts. That’s not totally uncommon for Northwestern, a private school with a national brand. This year, the girls’ team has only one swimmer from Illinois, and the program rarely has had more than a couple of in-state commits on its roster.
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