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William McClelland, a Rhode Island state record holder and Summer Juniors qualifier, has announced his verbal commitment to Dartmouth College. A native of Barrington, Rhode Island, McClelland is set to arrive on campus in Hanover, New Hampshire ahead of the 2023-2024 season.
I am honored to announce my verbal commitment to the application process at Dartmouth College to further my academic and athletic career. I am beyond grateful to my family, my coaches, and my teammates for their constant support. I chose Dartmouth College for its unique academic and athletic opportunities. The culture they are building there is truly something special that I cannot wait to be a part of. The Coaching staff has been super supportive and is ready to take the program to the next level. I cannot thank Coach Socha, and Coach Graber enough for their belief in me and for giving me this opportunity to swim and study at the next level. GO BIG GREEN 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲
McClelland is entering his senior year of high school, currently swimming for Barrington High School and the Gator Swim Club. The 2021-2022 season was only his second season of swimming year-round at the club level since the seventh grade, and it was an immensely successful one. He was named the 2021-22 Rhode Island Male Swimmer of the Year, and also became a Summer Juniors qualifier and Scholastic All-American.
McClelland is the current Rhode Island High School State Record holder in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 20.97. He is also a member of Barrington’s state-record-holding 200 freestyle relay, having joined forces with Alex McClelland, Maximilian Laroche and Lucas Juaregui to post a time of 1:27.75.
Best Times SCY:
- 50 free – 20.91
- 100 free – 45.74
- 100 fly – 49.72
At the 2022 Rhode Island Boys High School State Championships, McClelland competed in the 50 free and 100 fly. In the 50 free, he finished first in a time of 20.97, setting the state record while narrowly missing his lifetime best of 20.91 set in December 2021. In the 100 fly, he finished second with a time of 49.95, just over two-tenths off his PB also set last December.
Recently, McClelland competed at Speedo Junior National Championships (LCM) in the 100 free and 100 fly, and was also a member of four Gators Swim Club relays. Leading off the 200 free relay, he set a new personal best time of 24.26, taking .11 seconds off his previous PB. In the 100 free, he finished 119th with a 53.10 (.61 slower than his best) and in the 100 fly he came in 102nd with 56.69 (.87 away from his best).
At the 2022 Ivy League Championships, the Dartmouth men finished eighth out of eight teams. In early 2021, the Dartmouth swim programs were cut, then subsequently reinstated.
Former Dartmouth assistant coach, Milana Socha, will be taking over the program for the 2022-2023 season. Former head coach, Jesse Moore, led the program for only one year.
With a year of high school to go, McClelland’s best 50 free time would have put him 35th overall and third among the Big Green at last year’s championships. In the 100 free, he would have placed 31st overall, this time coming fifth for Dartmouth.
Joining McClelland in 2023 will be Logan Pack of Katy Aquatics in Texas. He is also a sprint freestyler, whose times of 20.78 in the 50 and 45.29 in the 100 would have placed 33rd and 29th, respectively, at the 2022 Ivy League Championships.
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