NISCA All-American Andrew Kim (2024) Commits to DIII UChicago with NCAA-Scoring Times

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Andrew Kim, a native of Grafton, Mass., is headed nearly 1,000 miles west to swim and study at the University of Chicago beginning in the fall.

An avid cellist and former member of Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Kim is a co-founder of the Andover Trio at Phillips Academy, in Andover, Mass. He is a boarding student at the highly selective academy, which was founded in 1778 and has sponsored boys swimming since 1912.

I am beyond honored to announce my commitment to pursue my academic and athletic careers at the University of Chicago! I would not have been able to get to this point without the support of my family, friends, teachers, and coaches. I would also like to thank Chicago’s head coach Jason Weber for believing in me and offering this wonderful opportunity. I instantly knew UChicago was the place I could call home, and I cannot wait to represent the Maroons in the fall of 2024!

Kim was a key contributor to Andover’s win at the 2022 New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Division I Championship.

With only three-and-a-half points separating Andover from runner-up Brunswick at the end, every point mattered. Kim rose to the occasion, scoring 27 points in his individual events by taking 5th in the 100 fly (50.77) and 6th in the 200 free (1:44.97).

He also swam the third leg of Andover’s 400 free relay that placed 2nd (3:07.56) at NEPSACs and earned 2021-22 NISCA Boys High School Swimming All-America honors for Kim and his teammates.

Kim capped off 2022-2023 with best times in every event at the End-of-Season Invite (SCY) hosted by Charles River Aquatics in August.

His 1st-place finish in the 200 fly (1:48.58) was three seconds ahead of the field and more than a second and a half faster than his previous best time. He also placed 1st in 100 fly (48.81) and 2nd in 50 free (21.12), dropping over three-tenths of a second in each.

At the same meet, Kim only raced in prelims for the 200 free (1:41.27) and qualified in 2nd place, but swimming it once was enough to lower his PB by nearly eight-tenths of a second.

These performances continued Kim’s steep upward progression over the course of his six years training year-round with Crimson Aquatics under head coach Peter Zeiger.

“Coaching Andrew has always been a pleasure in that he loves to race, is receptive to being coached and implements what he is taught,” said Zeiger. “In addition he is willing to give input into his training and spend additional time on his own working skills to improve his performance.

“Andrew implements this not only in swimming but in academics and his other activities. There is no doubt he is going to have a successful academic experience in the pool and in the classroom.”

Progression & Top SCY Times 

Led by head coach Jason Weber, the Division III University of Chicago Maroons compete in the University Athletic Association (UAA).

The hard-fought 2023 UAA Championship title was decided on the final day, with Emory University narrowly capturing their 24th consecutive conference championship just 25.5 points ahead of the University of Chicago.

If Kim had been on the roster last season, his best time in the 100 fly (48.81) would have placed 4th (26 points) and his 200 fly would have placed 5th (25 points) for a combined contribution of 51 points – exactly doubling the difference between Emory’s 1st and UChicago’s 2nd at the 2023 UAA Championships.

Only junior Jesse Ssengonzi put up faster times at UAAs than Kim’s personal bests, and he is the top flier in Maroon program history. In 2023, in addition to being the conference champion in the 100 and 200 fly, Ssengonzi broke program records in the two events (46.47 and 1:45.32) and contributed to UChicago’s 3rd-place finish at the NCAA DIII Championships by taking 2nd in 100 fly (46.68) and 3rd in 200 fly (1:45.68).

Kim is already in a solid position to make an impact at the national level, too.

His best time in the 200 fly would have placed 14th at the 2023 NCAAs, and Kim’s current best time in the 100 fly is about a half second away from the 48.27 it took to qualify for finals.

All of the Maroon’s NCAA fly finalists will have graduated by the time Kim arrives in the Windy City.

Kim’s ability to make a difference for his team is among the reasons he selected UChicago. He told SwimSwam, “I chose the University of Chicago and the D3 path because of its emphasis on academics and a well-rounded college experience, outside of athletics. It also gives me the opportunity to score more points and become an asset at the conference (UAA) and national (NCAA DIII) levels.”

So far, the rest of Kim’s recruiting class will be similarly valuable, with each of his future teammates bringing in multiple UAA ‘A’ final times as well as a few NCAA ‘B’ final times between them.

The class of 2028 includes Alex Schwartz (free/IM) from Southlake, Texas, Christopher Mo (free/IM/breast) from San Marino, Calif., and John Butler (free/back) from Cedar Falls, Iowa.

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