Reading, Pennsylvania’s Oliver Knabb has committed to swim for The Ohio State University starting in the 2015-16 season. Knabb is a 2014 graduate of Exeter Township High School who took year off after high school in order to focus on training. Having come to competitive swimming relatively late, he felt he had some work to do.
“I took a gap year, or ‘training year,’ to increase my options in the college scene and it paid dividends. I started swimming at the age of 16 so I had a lot of catching up to do. Lancaster Aquatic Club has gotten me where I need to be heading into college and I couldn’t be more thankful of what coach Casey Coble has done for me. I am also grateful to my high school coach, Chris Breedy, for getting me into the sport of swimming.”
Knabb’s work has, indeed, paid off. Over the last 12 months, he has dropped 5.2 seconds in the 200y breast, 1.7 in the 100y breast; 19 seconds in the 400 IM and 5.5 in the 200y IM; 14.6 in the 200y fly and 1.1 in the 100y fly. In the previous long course season, he improved 20 seconds in the 200m breast and 9 in the 100m breast. Knabb has yet to compete in LCM in the current season.
At the moment, Knapp has qualified for Winter Nationals in the 200 breast, and his best times are:
200y breast – 2:07.17
100y breast – 57.34
400y IM – 4:11.90
200y IM – 1:55.95
“Environment means a lot to me especially in the college decision, so when I visited Ohio State I knew this is where I needed to be to reach the goals I have. It has the resources, coaching staff, and mindset of a team that is set to do big things in the future.”
