Ryan Sebastian has verbally committed to the University of Michigan.
Sebastian comes from Scarlet Aquatics, the Rutgers-based club team, where he swims for Tom Speedling: the man who among others coached National Teamers Bobby Savulich (another Michigan man), Ashley Steenvoorden, and Rebecca Soni.
“Michigan has the perfect mixture of academics and athletics in my mind,” said Sebastian, who is a two-time Scholastic All-American. “I felt right at home with the coaching staff and team. I look forward to being a part of the team in the fall.”
Sebastian is primarily an IM’er, with yards bests of 1:52.43 and 3:58.56, and is solid through all four strokes.
Over the summer, he suffered a bad knee injury on his birthday (that included getting 50 stitches) just four weeks out from Junior Nationals. The long course performance he put up at that meet despite the time away from the pool and heavy training says that he’s probably ready for a big pop as a senior. Those times include a 56.2/2:05.6 in the 100 and 200 meter flys; a 58.3 in the 100 meter back, and 1:07.4/2:23.6 in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes.
He also attended the 2012 National Select Camp alongside names like Mick Litherland, Brock Turner, Stuart Hennessey, Ryan Harty, Blake Pieroni, and Ed Kim.
Sebastian is on the younger end of the class (he didn’t turn 17 until July), and in boys especially that can make a marked difference. He’s a high-potential guy for the Michigan coaching staff, and a bit under-the-radar, which is a classification that they’ve had a lot of success with in the last 2 years.
That’s my brother