Silas Crosby Changes Commitment from Army West Point to UNC Wilmington for 2021

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IM and free specialist Silas Crosby has committed to swim at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. He was previously committed to Army West Point. Crosby swims club at Team Greenville and he is a senior at Saint Joseph’s Catholic School.

After further consideration, I’m proud to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington! I want to thank my family, friends, coaches, and anyone else who contributed to my progress and allowed me to reach this point in my career. I also want to thank the coaches at UNCW for giving me this incredible opportunity. Go Seahawks 🦅🦅
Crosby is a six-time South Carolina High School 3A State champion. In October of 2020, the Saint Joseph’s Catholic School senior swam the 200 and 500 free, dominating both events. He won the 200 free in a time of 1:43.85, touching 7.4 seconds ahead of the next swimmer, and he won the 500 (4:40.20) by 18.4 seconds.
Junior year, Crosby won the 500 free by 10 seconds and he touched second in the 200 free. As a sophomore, he was the champion in both the 200 and 500, and freshman year he touched first in the 500 and swam the 100 breast, where he touched 3rd.
Crosby most recently competed at the NCSA Junior National Championships. He swam the 200, 500, 1000, and 1650 free, the 200 breast, and the 200 and 400 IM. He made it back to finals in all events except the 200 free, and he finished 8th in the 1000 and 9th in the 1650. He ended the meet with personal best times in every one of his races.
Crosby now has 2019 Winter Juniors qualifying times in the 200 and 400 IM, the 200 breast, and the 1000 and 1650 free.

Top SCY Times:

  • 200 IM – 1:50.45
  • 400 IM – 3:55.39
  • 200 breast – 2:02.71
  • 200 free – 1:40.04
  • 1000 free – 9:21.91
  • 1650 free – 15:38.72

The UNC-Wilmington men’s team will welcome Crosby to the team beginning in the fall of 2021. His times will make him a top recruit, especially as his best times are close to the school records. His 400 IM time is 0.28 slower than the current record, which was set by William Ryan in 2016. Additionally, he is about 4 seconds off of the school record in the 1650 and 0.17 seconds off in the 1000, both of which were set by Luke Murphy in 2009.

Crosby would have earned a silver medal in the 1650 free at the 2020 Colonial Athletic Association Championships. He also would have earned a spot in the A-finals of the 200 and 400 IM.

The Seahawks have had strong recruiting season, picking up verbals from Will Barker, Sam O’Brien, Noah Sipowski, Jacob Duracinsky, Ethan Womble, and Aidan Duffy for its class of 2025.

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Yup
3 years ago

Exactly what I was thinking too

SWIMGUY12345
3 years ago

That’s…quite the switch. Would be super curious to hear what swayed his decision.

Swimhawk
Reply to  SWIMGUY12345
3 years ago

Probably Guntoro. That incoming class is legit.

Penguin
Reply to  Swimhawk
3 years ago

Yeah but like…. if you’re committing to West Point you’re not just going there for the swim coach lol. Congrats though! 200 breast / 200 free is a rare combo.

Dr Deluxe
Reply to  Penguin
3 years ago

Even if you say you have committed to West Point, doesn’t that mean you have gone through all the “HOOPS” (which are many, difficult and time consuming )
to get into that service academy? Obviously not as focused on the military
culture as he was earlier! He has , however , chosen an up and coming program with Bobby at UNC-W. Good luck to this young man .

Anonymous
Reply to  Dr Deluxe
3 years ago

I don’t think that’s necessarily the case that you’ve jumped through all the hoops, but I could be wrong. Again, something could have changed and he could have wanted to stay closer to home. Glad he decided now rather than August or September when the choices are more limited.

PFA
Reply to  SWIMGUY12345
3 years ago

I’m my opinion this is a bigger deal than switching your verbal commitment from Michigan to Texas. I don’t want to make any assumptions for Silas but it could be a few things.
1. HE decided that the army part of the school wasn’t for him and changed it.
2. Don’t forget a verbal commitment is just well “verbal” and West Point decided not to admit him there. I’m not exactly sure how it works exactly with military academies but I don’t think this is likely what happened. Just a thought.

Anonymous
Reply to  SWIMGUY12345
3 years ago

I know a lot of cadets and athletes that left the school within 2 weeks. I don’t think it’s out of the question to think that he realized West Point is not for him.