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Catherine Eland of Great Britain has announced that she will be headed to Rice University this fall to swim and study. Eland swims with Poole Swimming Club, located in southern England.
She shared her commitment on Instagram:
Eland’s primary events are sprint fly and free, with the occasional backstroke event thrown in the mix. This spring, she represented Swim England at the Middle East Open and Junior Championships (LCM) where she earned her highest finish in the 100 fly at 3rd (1:02.72). She also took top-8 in the 50 fly (28.30, 4th), as well as top-16 in the 100 free (1:00.68, 13th) and 50 free (27.22, 16th).
Eland capped off her short course season (SCM) this year at the Swim England National Winter Championships in December, where she finished as high as 7th in the 50 fly (27.66). She also earned 14th in the 100 fly, stopping the clock at 1:01.70
Top LCM Times (Converted SCY):
- 50m free – 26.95 (23.55)
- 100m free – 59.48 (52.14)
- 50m fly – 27.98 (24.57)
- 100m fly – 1:00.99 (53.68)
Rice University, located in Houston, Texas, competes in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). The Owls finished fourth out of nine team’s at this year’s AAC Championships. Arielle Hayon led the team’s butterfly group, as she won both fly events at AACs this year. She logged a 52.01 in the 100, followed by a 1:56.26 in the 200. Hayon went on to compete at the NCAA Division I Championships in both events, where she finished 39th in the 100 (52.78) and 50th in the 200 (1:59.38). Hayon is only a sophomore and will overlap with Eland for two years.
Rice has a history of recruiting international athletes, and currently has eight on their roster. Three of them are from England specifically, including freshman Ella Dyson, and juniors Imogen Meers and Lauren Brantley.
With her commitment, Eland joins Logan Betkey, Michaela Koltz, Sami Johnson, Neta Ussishkin, and Lizzie Zadel in Rice’s incoming class of 2027. Zadel, Johnson, and Koltz are all from Texas, while Betkey is a Maryland native and Ussishkin is from Israel.
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Congrats Catherine! So well deserved