Derek Toomey, the first Big Ten man under 19 seconds in the 50 free, will join the Trojan Swim Club out of Southern California to continue his professional career.
Toomey had a wildly-successful career with the University of Minnesota, breaking the Big Ten record in the 50 free with an 18.95, earning 15 All-America honors and most recently being awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor. He graduated this spring and will now head to Los Angeles to continue training.
“I’m looking forward to working with Dave Salo,” Toomey said of the University of Southern California and Trojan Swim Club coach. “I really like his training philosophy and I think it’ll be a great fit for me.”
“I’m also excited about having the opportunity to train and race against some of the best sprinters in the world.”
Certainly one of the sprinters Toomey has in mind is Russia’s Vlad Morozov, a former USC standout who still does much of his training in Southern California.
Trojan has become a hotbed for post-graduate and professional swimmers as of late, particularly with sprint breaststrokers like Jessica Hardy and Mike Alexandrov. Toomey will join UW-Milwaukee grad Emily McClellan in the program this fall – both trained with Minnesota Aquatics over the summer.
Like McClellan, Toomey really blossomed over his college career. Just 20.5 in the 50 free out of high school, Toomey rose to become one of the best collegiate sprinters in the nation at Minnesota, finishing 3rd at NCAAs in the 50 free and qualifying to represent the U.S. at the 2013 World University Games in the 50 and 100.
Awesome. I’m sure Dave Salo will help him go faster.
My favorite part of the article is when Jared says, “just 20.5 in the 50 free out of high school”…geez, I wish I was just 20.5 in the 50 free out of high school. LOL