Princeton Secures Verbal from 2022 Midmar Mile Champion Connor Buck for 2023

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Connor Buck, from Durban in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, has announced his verbal commitment to the application process* at Princeton University and will join the class of 2027 with Daniel Li and Parker Lenoce.

“It has always been a goal of mine to attend an Ivy League or a highly ranked institution at some point in my life and I’m super excited that this goal has been made possible with Princeton. I can’t wait to give of my best for the team!”

Buck is a member of South Africa’s Open Water National Team and will be representing his country this summer at both FINA World Championships in Budapest (5km and 10km) at the end of June at FINA World Junior Open Water Championships in Seychelles (10km) in September.

Buck was runner-up in the 5km (59:01) at the 2022 South African Open Water Championships. He won the 49th aQuellé Midmar Mile in February 2022 with 18:18, coming in 1 minute and 20 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. At the 2021 edition, he placed third overall; in 2020 he was seventh. The Midmar Mile is touted as the world’s largest open water swim. While it was at 50% capacity in 2022, it still featured about 6,000 athletes.

In September 2021, he competed at South African Short Course Championships and finished 7th in the SCM 400 free (4:00.44), 8th in the 800 free (8:18.44), 8th in the 1500 free (16:29.93), and 3rd in the 200 fly (2:07.09).

Best LCM times (converted to SCY):

• 1500 free – 15:45.62 (15:27.07)
• 800 free – 8:18.54 (9:18.58)
• 400 free – 3:59.15 (4:27.95)

Buck’s best converted times would have scored in the top-16 of the mile and the top-24 of the 1000 at the 2022 Ivy League Men’s championships. While the Ivy League plans to drop the 1000 free from the women’s conference meet, no changes have yet been announced for the men.

*Note: A verbal commitment between an Ivy League coach and a prospective student-athlete is not an offer of admission, as only the Admission Office has that authority. The coach can only commit his or her support in the admission process. Ivy League Admission Offices do not issue “Likely Letters” before October 1 of the prospective student-athlete’s senior year of high school. The Likely Letter, while issued after an initial read of the student’s application, is not an offer of admission to the university.

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