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Junior Nationals qualifier Fin McLane has announced his verbal commitment* to swim and study at Yale University beginning in the fall of 2027. He publicized the news on Instagram, writing:
I’m extremely excited to announce my verbal commitment to the admissions process at Yale University! Thank you to my family, friends, and all of my coaches at Commonwealth and Exeter for supporting me throughout this process. I also want to thank Coach Kyle, Joey, Jim, and Dana for this opportunity. Go Bulldogs!!
A junior at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hamsphire, McLane has competed for the school’s swimming and diving team since his freshman year. He also currently trains year-round with Commonwealth Swimming, where he primarily specializes in breaststroke and IM.
McLane is coming off a strong 2025-26 short course season that saw him drop three seconds in the 200 IM, two and a half seconds in the 100 breast, two seconds in the 200 breast, and swim the 400 IM for the first time, an event that has already become one of his best.
McLane had his first substantial drops at Winter Juniors – East in December, his second year qualifying for the meet, where he placed 30th in the 400 IM (3:55.42), 35th in the 200 breast (2:01.39), 46th in the 200 IM (1:49.35), and 48th in the 100 breast (55.96). His time in the 200 breast still stands as his career best, while his times in the other three races were PBs at the time. He went on to lower his 400 IM best to 3:54.08 at a local club meet later that month.
On the high school scene, McLane swept the 100 breast (54.30) and 200 IM (1:48.67) at the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Championships in March, setting personal bests in both events and cracking the top five individually for the first time at the meet.
Beyond the short course pool, McLane qualified for Summer Junior Nationals (LCM) last July; he placed 28th in the 400m IM (4:29.34), 40th in the 200m IM (2:07.93), 60th in the 200m breast (2:21.73), 89th in the 100m breast (1:05.52), and 116th in the 50m breast (30.43). His times in the 50m breast and 400m IM were PBs, while he was a bit off his other marks from earlier in the season.
Top SCY Times:
- 100 Breaststroke: 54.30
- 200 Breaststroke: 2:01.39
- 200 IM: 1:48.67
- 400 IM: 3:54.08
A Division I program, Yale competes in the Ivy League Conference, with the men’s team placing second out of eight teams at this past season’s conference championships. McLane’s current best times would have made the ‘B’ final in the 100 breast and the ‘C’ finals in the 200 breast and 400 IM, while a 1:48.07 was needed to earn a second swim in the 200 IM. With two full seasons of training still ahead before his first conference meet, he is already positioned to be an immediate contributor.
McLane joins Eje Kim, Charles Knoepp, Evan Pan-Wang, and Edward Zhang in committing to the Bulldogs’ class of 2031 so far.
*Note: A verbal commitment between an Ivy League coach and a prospective student-athlete is not an offer of admission, as only the Admission Office has that authority. The coach can only commit his or her support in the admission process. Ivy League Admission Offices do not issue “Likely Letters” before October 1 of the prospective student-athlete’s senior year of high school. The Likely Letter, while issued after an initial read of the student’s application, is not an offer of admission to the university.
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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