Division III Claremont-Mudd-Scripps senior Frank Applebaum has entered the NCAA transfer portal seeking to use his 5th year of NCAA eligibility granted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Applebaum recently lowered his own NCAA DIII record in the men’s 200 fly, swimming a 1:43.87 at a dual meet between CMS and Pomona-Pitzer.
Note: An athlete entering the transfer portal does not mean that they HAVE to transfer. Instead, it means that they are now allowed to communicate with other coaches about a potential transfer.
Applebaum is originally from Shaker Heights, OH and has spent all 4 years of his undergrad at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. His first year was the 2020-2021 season, in which the Stags did not compete due to COVID-19. In the 2 full seasons that followed, Applebaum was the NCAA DIII champion in the men’s 200 fly, taking the event with a 1:44.01 in 2022 and 1:43.96 in 2023.
An NCAA DIII First-Team All-American in the 100 fly as well in 2022, Applebaum is sure to garner attention from college coaches all over the NCAA now that he’s in the portal.
Here are Applebaum’s personal bests in yards:
- 100 fly – 47.41
- 200 fly – 1:43.87
- 200 IM – 1:48.74
Fly is by far Applebaum’s best stroke but he has a decent 200 IM to go along with it. His 200 fly, which may still get faster through the rest of this season, is fast enough to score at any DI conference meet. He’s also not far off the 1:42.57 it took to qualify for DI NCAAs in the event last season. In fact, his 1:43.87 currently ranks 32nd this season across all 3 NCAA divisions.
If Applebaum were interested in returning home, Ohio State would be the team that comes to mind, however, we don’t know exactly what he’s looking for. He’s been out in the Los Angeles area for 4 years now and perhaps he’s interested in staying on the west coast. In that scenario, USC comes to mind, as well as Cal and Stanford in northern California. Applebaum has competed under Phoenix Swim Club previously, so perhaps those ties to Phoenix could mean he would have interest in swimming for Arizona State for a year.
Applebaum’s next meet will be at Occidental on January 6th.
Jesse who!!!??
Please do not disrespect Ssengoatzi
Bro got tired of putting the entire team on his back
… Or maybe he just wants to go to grad school somewhere else?
Claremont has very few graduate programs. That’s a good theory.
The AppleBOMB 😤😤
Frank is the most phenomenal swimmer I have ever seen. His technique is first to Phelps.
He learned from watching his incredibly talented younger brother
UIndy❗️❗️❗️
Probably looking for a grad school option like what tanner filion and Liam McDonnell did by going to Notre Dame…. Very interesting!
These D3 kids are smart
If he’s looking for an academic 1 year program, hard to pass up Stanford or any of the Ivies.
Ivies don’t let grad students compete
Would not be shocked if he looked into IU. Remember hearing not too long ago he was initially interested in that.
They will need someone to replace Burns and Frankel.
Fin Brooks is already a 45.4 flyer with a crazy improvement curve and Miroslav Knedla will arrive in immediate 45.0 backstroke form (given his SCM prowess), so IU will be more fine than people think.