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Cade Hickson, a breaststroke and IM specialist from Tennessee, has announced his verbal commitment to swim and study at Queens University of Charlotte. Hickson is entering his senior year of high school, and is set to arrive in Charlotte in time for the 2023-2024 season.
I am beyond excited to announce my verbal commitment to Queens University of Charlotte. I couldn’t be happier to continue my academics and athletic career here! Go Royals!!
Hickson attends Merrol Hyde Magnet School in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He also trains and competes with the Nashville Aquatic Club outside of high school season. Primarily a breaststroke and IM specialist, he holds multiple Futures qualifying times as well as qualifying for Winter Junior Nationals in the 100 LCM breaststroke.
Best Times SCY:
- 50 free- 21.33
- 100 breast- 56.40
- 200 IM- 1:52.39
- 400 IM- 4:06.22
At the 2022 TISCA State Championships, Hickson competed in the 100 breast and 200 IM, qualifying for the A-final in both. In the 100 breast, he finished 5th in prelims with a 57.87. In finals, he dropped over a second from his prelims time, posting a 56.84 and finishing in 2nd place. About a month later, he dropped another .44 seconds, making his personal best 56.40.
In prelims of the 200 IM, Hickson came in 6th place with a 1:54.21. He moved up in finals, ultimately finishing 4th with a time of 1:52.39, a new best time by .32 seconds.
Queens University of Charlotte is currently a Division II school that competes as part of the Bluegrass Mountain Conference, or BMC. However, it was just recently announced that Queens began the transitional period into Division I on July 1st. They have accepted an invitation to join the ASUN conference, which does not sponsor swimming and diving.
The swim team will compete as part of the Coast Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) conference. With the move expected to be complete by the 2026-2027 season, Queens will still be allowed to vie for conference titles but will not be able to compete at NCAAs during the transitional period. Prior to beginning this transition, the Royals have won the last seven consecutive men’s NCAA Division II championships.
If everything goes according to plan, Queens will have finished their transition and be able to 20compete at NCAA’s by Hickson’s senior season. Hickson appears to be the Royals’ first commitment from the class of 2023.
Queens has already had success competing against Division I opponents, having topped both Davidson and Duke last season and narrowly lost to North Carolina and South Carolina.
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].
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