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Academy Bullets Swim Club’s Ruby Esparza has signed to further her academic and athletic careers at the University of Houston as a member of the Cougar women’s 2026 recruiting class.
Esparza wrote the following regarding her commitment.
I’m so excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at the University of Houston!
Thank you to all my club coaches, teammates, and family for always supporting me and helping me navigate every step of this journey.
I especially want to thank the coaching staff at the University of Houston for giving me this opportunity! I’m excited for what’s ahead! Go Coogs 🐾❤️
Esparza hails from Rockford, Ill., and competed at the Speedo Winter Junior Championships in December, competing in three events. Her top finish came in the 100 breast, touching 45th in 1:03.75. She also competed in both the 50 free and 100 free, touching in 24.13 (123rd) and 52.59 (119th), respectively.
This past March, Esparza swam to several lifetime bests at the NCSA Spring Championships, including a trio of finals in all three breaststroke distances. Her top finish came in the 50 breast, touching 13th in 29.12. In the 100 breast, Esparza clocked 1:02.55 in the finals to finish 14th, though she swam faster in the prelims in 1:02.41. Her 200 breast was also a big lifetime best. After swimming her fastest-ever time in prelims of 2:18.56, Esparza demolished that time in finals, clocking 2:15.32 and finishing 25th overall. In addition to her breaststroke skill, she also swam a best time in the 100 free at this meet, finishing 42nd overall in 51.86.
Best Times SCY:
- 100 Breast: 1:02.41
- 200 Breast: 2:15.32
- 50 Free: 24.13
- 100 Free: 51.86
- 200 Free: 1:55.71
- 200 IM: 2:09.46
The Houston women finished 3rd out of 10 teams at the 2026 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships last season, totaling 1194.5 points as a team.
Esparza’s best times would have finished 20th in the 200 breast, 21st in the 100 breast, and 42nd in the 100 free at those championships.
Houston performed well in breaststroke events at the Big 12 Championships last season, bringing in 42 points in the 100 breast (4th-most of any team) and another 54 in the 200 breast (3rd-most at the meet).
She will have one year with Evelyn Entrekin, who finished in the top eight in both breaststroke events last season (4th in the 100 in 59.83 and 8th in the 200 in 2:18.92) and helped bring in 70 points for the Cougars.
The ceiling is already high. Having previously committed to Illinois State back in November, the switch to Houston will provide Power 4 competition in a conference that already projects her as a scoring piece.
Esparza joins Carly Mauldin and Dominika Kralka in the incoming Cougars freshman class.
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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