Norwegian Record-Holder Hvas Won’t Swim For UNC Until Post-2020

Norwegian national teamer Tomoe Zenimoto Hvasthe top recruit for UNC this season, won’t join the NCAA until after the 2020 Olympics, the program says.

Hvas, a Norwegian junior national record-holder in the 100 fly, originally announced his verbal commitment to UNC last summer and was expected to join the freshman class of 2018-2019. But Hvas’s name did not appear with the other freshmen on UNC’s roster. We reached out to the school and were told by a representative that Hvas won’t be joining the roster until after the 2020 season.

That would allow him to remain in Europe training with a long course focus through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Hvas just turned 18 in June but already as a junior has been among Norway’s top athletes. He won the nation’s only medal at Junior Euros this summer, taking silver in the 50 fly in 23.68. This past year, he also set national records in the 50 and 100 butterflys, going 23.59 and 52.71.

Hvas’ Top Times (LCM)

  • 100 fly: 52.71
  • 50 fly: 23.59
  • 50 free: 23.69
  • 100 free: 50.62
  • 200 free: 1:52.21
  • 200 fly: 1:59.11
  • 200 IM: 2:01.78

Hvas’s delayed arrival in the NCAA thins out UNC’s freshman class a bit, but he’ll be a high-impact edition when he arrives in two years. Meters-to-yards time conversions are far from an accurate science, but rough conversions show his 100 fly at 46.2 and his 50 fly at 20.6 in yards.

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Juuly
5 years ago

Well I mean olympics probably came into play so it’s really not surprising from an international swimmer. Will help improve a growing men’s team and what’s gonna be an underrated female team.

Superfan
5 years ago

He will lose a year of eligibility unless he is in the army…..or doing a mission!

Max
5 years ago

Too bad deselm will be gone by then

SQui23
Reply to  Max
5 years ago

Yep that’s the real reason…he wants the school, not the coach

PPKL
Reply to  Max
5 years ago

Is Deselm leaving?

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Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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