Thomas Heilman (16yo) and Maximus Williamson (17yo) are the top-2 swimming recruits in the class of 2025. They both just had monster performances at the Winter Jr Championships, where Heilman broke 15-16 National Age Group records in the 200 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and 200 Fly while Williamson broke 17-18 NAGs in the 200 free and 200 IM.
We discussed all of their swims from the Jr Championships as well as how they both ended up choosing Virginia for their continued swimming and education.
Potential “Uh-oh” quote at 28:28 by Mr. Williamson!
Attending UVA is contingent on how the Olympic year plays out. If they do extremely well, they may decide to go pro right away.
Ok
Will they do well at UVA? Probably, yeah- their times SCY as juniors are already within striking distance of A finals at NCAAs, and their LCM times (Heilman in particular) are already at the level of being relevant in any LCM meet on the planet. Will they approach their potential ceiling while training at UVA? If history of their male development is any indicator, most likely not.
Desorbo has only been there since 2017 lol. You must be upset they went to UVA and not your school.
A really, really bad take on the men’s development and the literal Busch era grave the UVA men had to climb out of. Truth is this, Desorbo and co will soon be claiming titles on both men’s and women’s sides. Take it on the chin and enjoy the show.
Is UVA an Arena sponsored team? Wouldn’t there be a conflict of interest if they’re Speedo sponsored (for example)?
I think most contracts have contemplated these conflicts when they exist. Like they wear one suit during college competition and one suit during international, for example.
(But Virginia is an Arena program. KD is an Arena athlete as well).
Jack Aikins is Mizuno. He wears Arena for NCAA meets, Mizuno everywhere else. Same with Curzan/Arena.
Makes sense. I just remember reading in an article yesterday that you cannot take a NIL deal that conflicts with school-related sponsorship. The example they gave was if your school has a deal with Dasani, then you likely cannot represent any sort of drink.
https://swimswam.com/nil-dos-and-donts-for-student-athletes-three-things-to-watch-for/
I butchered the example, but I am referencing the last portion of this article.
Hearing the two of them talk about being prepared for Trials is making it so surreal how good they are at their young age. Can’t believe that even after Trials, they’ll have another year before joining UVA. Pumped to see the two of them wreak havoc on the NCAAs.
Spot on!
Wonder why Speedo didn’t go after Heilman harder?
It’s gotta be the UVA connection right, Heilman is from the area/his brother goes there/he’s committed there/etc. I think we’ll see more and more companies trying to pair up both the schools and individual athletes as a package deal.
Just saw Thomas signed with arena through Paris. Think we kinda know the answer but imagine if these NIL opportunities have been around for longer than they currently have been.
Absolutely saves the decision to “go pro” ,,, I often see people discuss that different swimmers are “going pro”, but honestly I do not really know what that means anymore, with no ISL and the fact that swimmers can take the amount of prize money that covers travel from meets & national team stipends.
They dont NEED to go pro for the money, they can get the big deals in HS and college (seeing this also in one of the other big olympic sports, womens gymnastics, they would have never had multiple olympic gold medalists in the 2022 season without NIL).
Well, like you said, swimmers can ONLY take the amount of prize money that covers travel + national team stipends. For most swimmers that’s great, but for the select few who do “go pro”, they probably have much more lucrative opportunities.
College and college swimming isn’t for everyone, especially at age 18-22. You can always go back and get an education. You can’t always go back and cash in on your swimming ability.
Totally fair, I guess I am thinking from the perspective of the big names in USAS who get can the big deals with Speedo/Tyr/Arena + multiple other opps. That would be worthwhile even without getting that prize money from meets and still preserving NCAA eligibility before an olympics, and one does not need to decide at 14/15 to do so. A huge part of that decision is eliminated now which is great, people dont need to go pro to make money as a swimmer with NIL.
Katie Ledecky obviously comes to mind as someone who could have benefitted as a high schooler, although I think she may have still only done a few years of college even with NIL… Read more »
Unless there’s a loophole*.
(There’s often a loophole)
(colleges paying athletes thru collectives to offset lost income from prize money)
Also paying prize money out through Olympic Committees. That’s why USA Swimming now has so many more “operation gold meets” that are essentially passthroughs to qualify as “money paid by Olympic committees.”
I think the truth of ‘why they stay for NCAA’ has just come out!
Thank you!
When you’re right, you’re right. This thread just became too bureaucratic for me
Coleman: (My brain hurts)
I don’t think that’s totally true. In the past amateurs have been able to receive all prize money if it went through operation gold first. It’s a weird loophole, but because the federation was giving it to them it wasn’t still looked at as prize money at that point.
I think there are very few swimmers (and Hellman may be one) who may be better off avoiding college and instead swimming straight professional. But for the overwhelming majority, college is where swimmers develop into the best version of themselves.
I think on a “training for training” level, I can understand the argument for skipping college.
But this country just doesn’t have a great track record in those scenarios. I think a lot of it is the challenge of your friends all moving on to this super fun college athlete lifestyle while you stay behind. I think maybe a pro group like the one at Arizona State could make the difference though – which is not an endorsement of Arizona State specifically, but more the sense that the pros really feel like they’re part of a team and are doing something great.
I think this is a uniquely-American problem because of the way we culturally invest in ‘team’ and college… Read more »
I’m interested in how this new NIL era will play out at a macro-level for NCAA performances in the future. My hypothesis is that as more swimmers start signing NIL deals, there is less of an incentive to give up eligibility meaning improved NCAA times as a result of fast swimmers doing all 4 years.
One factor I think could play a huge role is the control that an athlete would have over their training schedule as pro vs NCAA athlete. Will this become less of a concern as more money begins to flow.
One impact I believe this will have as Covid kinda had an impact with this is more talented swimmers not going to a D1 school. The reason for this being is because yes you can still have a focus on swimming but it’s also not the only important thing getting an education is extremely important. Andrew Wilson showed us what can happen when it’s done right still have a focus on a swim career while also prioritizing a professional career too. Yes the best swimmers in the country are likely going to go to a division 1 school when that’s offered but I wouldn’t be shocked if there is more talented swimmers who decide to go the non D1 route… Read more »