Suriname’s Zuhayr Pigot Commits To Tar Heels

Zuhayr Pigot, a senior at St. Brendan High School in Miami, Florida, has verbally committed to swim for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He will join the Tar Heels’ roster next fall, for the 2015-2016 season.

Pigot represents Miami Swimming, specializing in sprint-freestyle and sprint-butterfly. He also represents his native Suriname in international competition. His sister, Chinyere Pigot, represented Suriname at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. His brother, Diguan Pigot, also represented Suriname at the 2012 Olympics. Zuhayr may be carrying on the Pigot legacy at the 2016 Olympics.

As a junior, Pigot placed 2nd in the 100 Fly, behind Caeleb Dressel, at the Florida State 2A High School Championships. At the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, Pigot placed 24th in the 50 Free, 30th in the 100 Free, 17th in the 50 Fly, and 14th in the 100 Fly (after advancing to semifinals). At the 2014 South American Games, Pigot placed 9th in the 100 Fly.

Pigot’s Best Times

(SCY/LCM)

50 Free: 21.48/23.61

100 Free: 47.12/51.59

50 Fly: 23.11/24.88

100 Fly: 48.88/54.85

Pigot Had A Great Summer 

Pigot went best times in the 100 Free, 50 Fly, and 100 Fly this summer and had a great junior season (short course was relatively quiet compared to long course). He improved his short course 100 Fly by a second from his sophomore season. He is likely to have another year of improvement before joining the Tar Heels. Although Pigot’s times are not quite at the scoring level at the ACC Championships, he could be a contributor to the Tar Heels’ 200 and 400 Free relays, as well as the 200 and 400 Medley relay if he is able to continue developing his speed. He is just out of scoring position in the 100 Fly at ACC Championships, but that may change, as he has one more year to improve before making his collegiate debut. Perhaps Pigot will also join his siblings at the next Olympics in 2016.