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Blake Burnley of Suwanee, Georgia, has decided to stay local with his commitment to swim for the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).
I chose Georgia Tech due to its outstanding academic and future career prospects. It not only allows me to stay close to home but also offers the greatest opportunities for academic and athletic development within the state of Georgia.
Burnley recently graduated from North Gwinnett High School located in Suwanee. Representing his school at the Georgia High School Associations 7A State Championships, Burnley finished as the runner-up in the 100 fly with a time of 49.52. In addition to that silver medal, he added a 4th-place finish in the 500 free, touching in 4:37.66. His teammate, Tristan DenBrok, the #19 in the class of 2023 and a Georgia commit, picked up the victory, stopping the clock at 4:20.75.
Together, the two of them added two 1st-place relay medals to their hauls. Burnley led off both the 200 medley and 400 free relays splitting 23.17 (back) and 45.53 respectively. North Gwinnett finished the meet in 2nd place, eight points behind the winner, Walton.
Outside of high school, Burnley represents SwimAtlanta. At the 2022 Winter Junior Championships – East, he finished 12th in the 200 fly clocking 1:48.13 in the final after putting up a PB of 1:47.53 in the heats. He also set a personal best in the 50 free, clocking 21.07.
He also swam on all five of SwimAtlanta’s relays, the highest placing of which was the 800 free relay, which finished in 3rd (6:31.25). In the freestyle relays, he split 20.64, 45.41, and 1:37.39. Burnley swam the fly legs in the medley relays touching the wall with times of 22.20 and 48.70.
Best SCY Times:
- 100 Free – 44.74
- 200 Free – 1:39.88
- 500 Free – 4:37.66
- 100 Fly – 49.40
- 200 Fly – 1:47.53
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets compete under head coach Courtney Shealy Hart in the ACC. At the 2023 ACC Championships, the team finished in 9th out of 12 teams. Burnley is just shy of earning a swim at the conference championships. His closest event is the 200 fly, where it took 1:46.49 to make it back to finals. Georgia Tech put two swimmers into the finals of the 200 fly, where Antonio Romero finished 19th (1:45.60) and David Gapinski finished 24th (1:47.85).
Joining Burnley this fall on campus are fellow domestic recruits: Bennett Parramore, a versatile backstroker/freestyler, and Henry Gibbs, a distance specialist. Also joining are Ricky Balduccini and Vitor Sega, who are both Brazilian freestylers, and Swiss sprinter Robin Yeboah.
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