Nathaniel Hartley, whom we reported on last October when he was chosen as a featured athlete in Gatorade’s “Win From Within” series, has verbally committed to attend Duke University in the fall of 2017.
“There are some great schools and swimming programs out there and it was exciting to explore them and meet some wonderful coaches and swimmers. In this case, Duke had the ideal balance between academic excellence and a great swim program. The coaching staff is approachable and open and the swimmers are obviously enthusiastic about the team and their relationships with each other. They made me feel like one of the family right away. I also decided I preferred a school in the Southeast so that I could stay more easily connected with family and friends. For all of these reasons, Duke was the right choice for me and I’m excited to call myself a future Blue Devil.”
Hartley is from Lake Wylie, South Carolina, where he swims for the Rock Hill Rays and is a rising senior at Gaston Day School in Gastonia, North Carolina. As a sophomore, he won the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 1A/2A state championship in the 100 free and 100 back, breaking the meet record in the latter. In his junior year he won the 200 free and 100 back, breaking the record in the first and lowering his own mark in the second. Hartley has made great strides since last October when we wrote about his Gatorade feature. Here are his best events in SCY as of today, compared to where he was eight months ago:
| As of June, 2016 | As of October, 2015 | |
| 200 Back | 1:48.07 | 1:50.89 |
| 100 Back | 49.78 | 51.22 |
| 200 Free | 1:39.00 | 1:41.54 |
| 100 Free | 45.72 | 46.33 |
| 50 Free | 21.42 | 21.47 |
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Congratulations Nathaniel !!!
We’re very proud of you and your accomplishments, even prouder of the person you have become !!