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Ella Martinez, a senior at Saint Andrew’s School in Florida, has verbally committed to the application process at Cornell University. In addition to swimming for the school’s team, she also swims club for Saint Andrew’s Aquatics.
“I am so excited to announce my verbal commitment to swim and study at Cornell University! I have been truly blessed to have worked with so many amazing coaches who have helped me get to where I am today. From Seattle to St. Petersburg and now Boca Raton, I have had the privilege of being part of many teams and I want to thank every coach, teammate, and competitor who pushed me to be my best and made me laugh during even the toughest sets. I want to thank my family for their support, especially my brother Ricardo, who made me want to be just like him. I also owe a special thanks to Cornell coaches Patrick Gallagher and Carolyn Meier for offering me this great opportunity. I can’t wait to continue my swimming and education at such an amazing place. GO BIG RED!”
Martinez is the recipient of three Scholastic All-American awards, and over the course of her time as a swimmer, she’s broken two Florida LSC backstroke records. She’s also earned U.S. Open, Junior National, and/or Winter Junior cuts in the 200 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 individual medley, and 400 individual medley.
Her best short course times are:
- 100 backstroke: 56.13
- 200 freestyle: 1:50.20
- 200 backstroke: 2:00.42
- 200 individual medley: 2:03.55
- 400 individual medley: 4:24.77
At the 2020 1A Florida state championships, for high schools with between 100 and 600 students, Martinez placed third in the 100 backstroke and 200 individual medley. At the 2021 NCSA Summer Swimming Championships, she placed eleventh in the 200 meter freestyle, fifteenth in the 200 meter individual medley, sixteenth in the 200 meter butterfly, seventeenth in the 100 meter backstroke, and eighteenth in the 200 meter backstroke.
Cornell University is a member of the Ivy League. At the 2019-2020 women’s championships, Cornell placed eighth out of eight teams. At that meet, Martinez would have made top-24 in the 100 backstroke and 200 individual medley. With her best times, she would have the third-fastest 200 backstroke on the team of all time, along with the fourth-fasted 200 individual medley and 200 freestyle, sixth-fastest 100 backstroke, and eighth-fastest 400 individual medley.
Martinez’s brother, Ricardo, is currently a senior swimming at Cornell.
*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.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
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