Scottish age-grouper Jack Szaranek is following in his brothers footsteps and heading to the United States to pursue a collegiate swimming career, giving his verbal to the University of Florida for the 2015-2016 season.
There, Szaranek will be joining his brother Mark who is currently a freshman at Florida specializing in the backstroke and freestyles. Another Scottish star, Dan Wallace, is currently on the Florida roster however he is currently swimming in his senior year.
Szaranek is a sprinter and has had most of his success either swimming on relays or in the sprint freestyles. His best event is arguably the splash-and-dash 50m freestyle where he’s posted some very steady times including a 25.37 at the age of 15 at the 2013 Scottish age-group nationals in order to pick up a fifth place finish.
His sprinting talents pour over to the 100. Szaranek anchored the 4x100m medley relay which broke the previous junior national record in the event.
Szaranek, who currently stands at 6-foot-5, is one of the top swimmers on the Carnegie Swimming Club and has played a crucial role over the years as one of the main forces on their relays. Szaranek captured a gold, silver, and bronze at the British Youth Championships last season for his efforts on the Carnegie relays.
Szaranek is also a finalist at the British Youth Championships and a medallist a medallist at the Scottish Age Group Championships.
Szaranek will train in Scotland for the remainder of this season, and is currently on the 2014/2015 national youth development squad. When he joins his brother in Florida, he’ll bring sprinting talents that are transferable not only to individual events but to relays as well.
Is Gators starting their own Little Britain in Gainesville? How many now?