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Brazilian swimmer Stephan Steverink, who won world junior silver in the 400 IM in 2022, has announced his commitment to the university of Kentucky. He currently swims for Clube de Regatas do Flamengo in Brazil.
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Steverink is the 2022 World Junior Championships gold medalist in the 400 free, posting a 3:48.27 to take the win. He also won silver in the 400 IM in a time of 4:17.68, also contributing a 1:49.02 leadoff for the 4th-place 4×200 free relay.
Kentucky did have a Brazilian on their roster last season in NCAA qualifier Fernanda Goiej. She qualified for the NCAA Championships last season in the 400 IM, clocking a 4:09.43 before placing 44th in a time of 4:18.57.
Steverink has previously been more of an IM specialist, but threw down some monster best times in freestyle at the Brazilian Championships earlier this year. His 200 freestyle time of 1:46.32 is faster than any swimmer in the NCAA this season other than Henry McFadden (1:45.13) and Rex Maurer (1:45.22).
He set lifetime bests there of 1:46.32 in the 200 free, 3:45.26 in the 400 free, 7:51.55 in the 800 free, and 15:14.46 in the 1500 free. He also posted a season best time of 4:16.10 in the 400 IM, off his PB of 4:14.97 from December 2024.
He ranks 12th in the world this season in the 400 free, and 24th in the 800 free.
2025-2026 LCM Men 400 FREE
SHORT
3:40.67
| 2 | Zhang Zhanshuo | CHN | 3:41.55 | 03/21 |
| 3 | Lukas Märtens | GER | 3:41.76 | 04/23 |
| 4 | Oliver Klemet | GER | 3:43.14 | 04/09 |
| 5 | Ryan ERISMAN | USA | 3:44.03 | 05/24 |
| 6 | James GUY | GBR | 3:44.04 | 04/14 |
| 7 | Elijah Winnington | AUS | 3:44.17 | 06/08 |
| 8 | Johannes Liebmann | GER | 3:44.59 | 04/09 |
| 9 | Lucas HENVEAUX | BEL | 3:44.61 | 04/09 |
| 10 | Leon Marchand | FRA | 3:44.70 | 12/04 |
| 11 | Luka Mijatovic | USA | 3:45.20 | 05/22 |
| 12 | Stephan STEVERIK | BRA | 3:45.26 | 05/18 |
Steverink comes in with a strong international resume. He placed 16th in the 400 IM at the 2022 World Championships, two months before his medal-winning exploits at the World Junior Championships. He was 16th again in the event at the 2023 World Championships, then placed 6th in the 400 IM, 5th in the 400 free, and 13th in the 1500 free at the 2023 Pan American Games.
He swam both the 400 IM (4:20.71) and 400 free (3:47.93) at the 2025 World Championships, placing 22nd and 18th in the two events. He was on the podium at the Juegos Panamericanos Junior last August, winning the 200 free (1:47.23), 400 free (3:$6.71), 800 free (7:54.49) and 400 IM (4:16.06). He also took silver in the 200 IM (2:01.83).
Steverink’s versatility in the mid-distance events will be a boon for a Kentucky squad that is relatively thin there. Levi Sandidge and Carson Hick swam the 500 free at NCAAs last season, but Kentucky had no other swimmers qualify in any of Steverink’s main events.
The program at Kentucky has been coming on in leaps and bounds in recent years. Recently-graduated Levi Sandidge won the SEC title in the mile in his sophomore year in 2024 to kickstart their recent success, and Carson Hick had a similar second-year breakout in the 2024/2025 season.
In the 2025/2026 season it was the turn of the sprinters to show out, with Lysander Osman and Falemana tufuui setting new program records and leading the men’s 200 medley relay to an 8th-place finish at NCAAs. Tuufui split a sizzling 17.91 on that relay, the fastest split in history by a freshman.
Steverink comes in ready to play a big part in championships season already, and should be a major points scorer at SECs. He has choices to make for his three events, with his best four of the 200 free, 500 free, 200 IM, and 400 IM all coming on days 2 and 3. The mile is an option, as he set a lifetime best of 15:14.46 in May.
Lifetime Bests
| Event | LCM time | SCY conversion |
| 200 freestyle | 1:46.32 | 1:32.90 |
| 400 freestyle (500 yard freestyle) | 3:45.26 | 4:12.39 |
| 800 freestyle (1000 yard freestyle) | 7:51.55 | 8:48.34 |
| 1500 freestyle (1650 freestyle) | 15:14.46 | 14:56.52 |
| 200 butterfly | 2:01.31 | 1:46.76 |
| 200 IM | 2:00.11 | 1:45.32 |
| 400 IM | 4:14.97 | 3:43.93 |
He would have placed 12th in the heats with that 400 IM converted time at the SEC Championships last season, while his 500 free conversion would have placed him 6th.
With Steverink’s commitment, Kentucky look to be building on last season’s success. They graduate 1650 free ‘A’ finalist Levi Sandidge, but will return Carson Hick, Lysander Osman, Devin Naoroz, and Falemana Tuufui.
Steverink will be join a fellow world junior champion in what is a small incoming class for the Wildcats. Italian Filippo Bertoni won gold on the men’s 4×200 free relay in 2022, and won bronze in the 200 free in 2022 and the 400 free in 2023. Estonia’s Siim Keskula, a freestyle specialist, and Latvia’s Nikolass Deicmans, a backstroke specialist, are the only other incoming swimmers for the men’s team thus far.
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How many years of eligibility would he have? He got to be going towards mid 20s. Either way a great pick and will help the sport since a facility like Kentucky needs world class swimmers to make the investment worthwhile!
Huge pickup for UK, congrats