Kettering, Ohio native Kevin Leibold will elect to stay close to home next year as he has committed to swim for the University of Cincinnati. He will join the Bearcats in the fall of 2019 alongside Noah Smith.
Leibold hails from the Dayton Raider Swim Club coached by Kevin Weldon – he’s a versatile swimmer specializing in anything that’s a 200 or above. Last summer, he broke out onto the junior national scene by securing finals appearances in both the 200 fly and 400 free at the Speedo Summer Junior National Championships. He earned personal bests in those two events as well as the 200 back and 200 IM.
Building off of his long course success, Leibold updated his best yards times in the 500 free, 200 back/fly, and the 200/400 IMs at the Speedo Winter Junior Championships East. His highest recorded finish at the meet was in the 200 fly, where his 1:48.19 netted him 8th place.
Leibold’s best times include:
- 200 Fly: 1:48.19/2:02.69
- 200 Back: 1:48.71/2:06.05
- 200 IM: 1:51.97/2:08.03
- 400 IM: 3:59.26/4:35.86
- 500 Free: 4:26.06/3:59.88
- 1000 Free: 9:32.93
- 1650 Free 15:54.67
The Cincinnati men’s team has had a historically strong distance program. The Bearcats went 1-2-3 in the men’s mile at the 2018 American Conference Championship, lead by distance ace Christopher Bready, who was four spots away from qualifying for NCAAs in the mile last season. Leibold is poised to have an immediate impact as a freshman – especially considering his latest time drops – as his 200 fly/back and 500 free times would have easily made the A-Final at last year’s conference meet.
CONGRATULATIONS to #DaytonRaiders swimmer,
Kevin Leibold on his verbal commitment to the University of Cincinnati – where he will continue his hard work as a Student Athlete!
GREAT JOB KEVIN!#LoveTheProcess 💚🖤#USASwimming pic.twitter.com/GQrEL6WQKO— Dayton Raiders (@DaytonRaider) October 3, 2018
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