Men’s Class of 2014 Breaks the Ice: Colin Ellington Commits to North Carolina State

After weeks of watching top female recruits fly off of the board, the second highly ranked male in the class of 2014 has publicly committed.

Colin Ellington from the YMCA of the Triangle Area has committed to North Carolina State.

“I grew up a Wolfpack fan all of my life, I know this is where I belong and where I want to be. I’m excited to be a part of one of the top recruiting classes in the country and eager to help the Wolfpack be successful at the ACC and NCAA championships for the next four years.”

Ellington swims for the YMCA of the Triangle Area in Raleigh, where North Carolina State is located, and attends Holly Springs High School about 20 minutes away. His coach is Chad Onken at the YOTA.

Ellington is a versatile sprinter, who specifically has bests of 20.2, 44.8, and 1:38.3 in the 50, 100, and 200 yard freestyles, and that’s even before his senior season. That makes him, at the least, the second-fastest sprint recruit in program history (after sophomore-to-be Simonas Bilis, who qualified for NCAA’s as a freshman last year).

And he’s still got a year to move that status.

Ellington is a part of two National Age Group Record holding relays. He anchored the record-breaking 200 meter free relay (where he split 23.30 in long course on the anchor) and 200 yard relay (where he led off in 20.5).

The Wolfpack had a very young team last year, but half of their sprint free relays (Jonathan Boffa and Matt Thomas) will be gone before Ellington arrives on campus, meaning he will probably be relied on from day 1 to contribute to what has become a formidable NC State program.

Ellington has also been 50.8 in the 100 yard backstroke, and 56.9 in the 100 yard breaststroke as well. As a junior, Ellington broke the North Carolina High School State Record in the men’s 100 free, and just to show off his versatility won the 200 IM State Championship. He was also the YMCA Short Course National Champion in that 200 IM, swimming 1:47.4 in March. That would have been just two-tenths-of-a-second shy of leading North Carolina State last season.