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USA Swimming Scholastic All-American Kailey Simons has announced her commitment to swim and study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) this fall. Simons is wrapping up her senior year at Herricks High School, located in New Hyde Park, New York. She also trains and competes year-round with Long Island Aquatic Club, a Gold Medal club under USA Swimming’s Club Excellence Program.
Simons was recently featured as a “Scholar Athlete” by her local news station for her efforts in and out of the pool. Simons is an all-state violinist and collaborated with a mentor at Stanford on an AI model for skin cancer detection.
“I’m so excited to announce my commitment to swim and study at MIT! Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me and I’m so grateful for this amazing opportunity! Can’t wait for the next 4 years!”
In the pool, Simons swims a mix of freestyle, breaststroke, and backstroke events. She most recently raced at the NCSA Spring Championships, where she earned her highest finish in the 50 free at 29th (23.52). She also advanced to finals in the 50 backstroke, swimming a 26.91 in finals to finish 30th overall.
At the New York High School State Championships in the fall, Simons finished top-eight in both of her individual events. She took runner-up in the 50 freestyle in 23.58, a best time that she lowered further in the season to 23.34. She also finished 3rd in the 100 backstroke, clocking a 55.92 in finals to put her less than a second off her personal best.
Top SCY Times:
- 50 free – 23.34
- 50 back – 25.81
- 100 back – 55.09
- 200 back – 2:02.16
- 100 breast – 1:05.05
MIT is a Division III program that competes in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletics Conference (NEWMAC). The women decisively won this year’s NEWMAC Championships with 1441 points overall. They went to finish 8th at the Division III NCAA Championships, led by sophomore Kate Augustyn who took silver at NCAAs in the 200 back.
Simons is poised to make an immediate impact when she arrives in Cambridge, especially in the 50 free. Her current best time in the event would have made her the team’s top performer, leading freshman Sonia Seliger by a tenth. She would have also been the 2nd-fastest performer in the 100 backstroke this season, with Augustyn leading in 54.23.
With her commitment, Simons joins Katie Kudela, Christina Beggs, and Camila Pierce in MIT’s incoming class of 2027. Simons owns the fastest 50 freestyle of the class so far, with Kudela being next best at 23.93.
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