Fitter and Faster Swim Camps is the proud sponsor of SwimSwam’s College Recruiting Channel and all commitment news. For many, swimming in college is a lifelong dream that is pursued with dedication and determination. Fitter and Faster is proud to honor these athletes and those who supported them on their journey.
Ohio State has scored a commitment from freestyler and Texas All-state finalist Josh Bedford for their class of 2027.
“I am extremely humbled and honored to announce that I will be continuing my academic and athletic career at The Ohio State University! I would like to thank my family, friends, parents, and all my past and present coaches! I would also like to thank Coach Bill, Coach Mike, and Coach Brian for giving me this amazing opportunity! Go Bucks!!🌰⭕️”
Bedford is from Austin, Texas, where he swims year-round for Austin Swim Club. He is also in his senior year at Vandegrift High School where he has set three program records so far this season. He is almost exclusively a freestyler with his best events being the 100/200/500/1650 freestyles. Arguably he is a stronger long-course swimmer, with most of his Winter Junior National qualifying times being achieved in meters while being just short of qualifying in yards.
Best Times SCY:
- 100 free – 45.82
- 200 free – 1:38.60
- 500 free – 4:28.38
- 1000 free – 9:30.54
- 1650 free – 15:37.86
- 100 fly – 49.99
Most of Bedford’s short-course best times are from Speedo Sectionals – College Station in March 2022. In finals, he touched 10th in both the 500-yard free(4:28.38) and the mile (15:45.20). He also hit a best time in the 200-yard free as the lead-off on Austin Swim Club’s 4×200 free relay with a time of 1:38.60. His only best time in his primary freestyle events not from 2022 is his 100-yard freestyle(45.82) from 2021 Speedo Winter Junior National Championships.
With his current best times, Bedford would be just on the brink of finaling in all of his best events. He would have placed 27th in 500-yard free, with the Buckeyes having a solid field of 4 swimmers, and current junior Charles Clark placing 3rd (4:13.77). Bedford’s 200-free best time would have landed him 24th in prelims, just scraping into finals. Another current junior, Ruslan Gaziev, was Ohio State’s highest scorer in that event placing 4th (1:33.25).
Though Bedford has a Summer Juniors cut in his 100-meter free, his 100-yard free best time would have been pretty far out of finals range at Big 10s. Instead, he’ll likely swim the mile, where he would’ve placed 19th, with Charles Clark winning the event in 14:36.02.
Ohio State had a very tight loss to Indiana at the 2022 Big 10 Conference Championships, with the final score being 1499.5-1406.5. They lost some significant freestyle point scorers after this last season with Olympian Hunter Armstrong going pro and 2xNCAA relay swimmer Sam Andreis graduating, but a lot of Ohio State’s top scorers in the longer freestyle events at last year’s Big 10’s are now juniors. The 2022 freshman class is also heavy on freestyle freshmen with the likes of Alex Axon, Mason Edmund on the distance side and Tomas Navikonis, and Carson Smith more so on the sprint side.
The class of 2027 will be made up mostly of freestylers as well; commits Henry Amar, Evan Blazer, and Cornelius Jahn are all primary freestylers with Eli Stoll being the only addition whose best times are all in stroke events.
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].
About the Fitter and Faster Swim Tour
Fitter & Faster Swim Camps feature the most innovative teaching platforms for competitive swimmers of all levels. Camps are produced year-round throughout the USA and Canada. All camps are led by elite swimmers and coaches. Visit fitterandfaster.com to find or request a swim camp near you.
FFT SOCIAL
Instagram – @fitterandfasterswimtour
Facebook – @fitterandfastertour
Twitter – @fitterandfaster
FFT is a SwimSwam partner.
He is going to get faster! He works hard!
only in ohio
A great kid in and out of the water, I’m excited to follow his journey with the Buckeyes!
Boom! Nothing will ever lessen the sting of Mark Seidman spurning the Buckeyes, but this should help.