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A little over a month since Iowa cut its swimming & diving program, Ryan Purdy, Evan Holt and Grace Reeder have announced their transfers to the University of Arizona. They are all 2019 high school graduates, and each of them scored at the 2020 Big Ten Championships individually as freshmen.
We want to thank Iowa for the best freshman year we could have asked for. We are honored to have been a part of the Hawkeye program and it will always be a part of us. With that, we are also excited to announce our commitment to swim for the University of Arizona. Thank you to our coaches, teammates, and family for supporting us through
this difficult time.
RYAN PURDY
Purdy is from Illinois and spent one year with the Hawkeyes, meaning he should have three eligibility years left with Arizona. He will enroll with Arizona in fall 2021.
TOP TIMES (SCY)
- 100 free – 46.18
- 200 free – 1:37.27 *best at Iowa*
- 50 back – 22.75 *best at Iowa*
- 100 back – 48.25 *best at Iowa*
- 200 back – 1:43.83 *best at Iowa*
- 100 fly – 49.01 *best at Iowa*
- 200 IM – 1:47.20 *best at Iowa*
Purdy improved significantly in his one season with Iowa. He hacked over three seconds off of his 200 back time, dropped more than two in the 200 IM and 100 fly, more than one in the 200 free and over seven-tenths in the 100 back.
At the 2020 Big Ten Championships, Purdy scored in the 200 back B-final, going a lifetime best 1:43.83 to place 12th overall.
Purdy would’ve been Arizona’s #2 200 backstroker and #4 100 backstroker last year. The Wildcats are in need of backstroke talent; they just graduated their top backstroker, Thomas Anderson, who went career bests 45.83/1:41.23 while at Arizona.
EVAN HOLT
Holt is from Missouri and just finished his freshman year with Iowa with an assumed three years of eligibility left at Arizona. He plans to enroll at Arizona in fall 2021.
TOP TIMES (SCY)
- 200 free – 1:36.84 *best at Iowa*
- 500 free – 4:23.53 *best at Iowa*
- 1000 free – 9:16.27 *best at Iowa*
- 1650 free – 15:27.23 *best at Iowa*
- 200 fly – 1:50.50 *best at Iowa*
At the 2020 Big Ten Championships, Holt scored in the mile, finishing 23rd with a 15:36.09. At the Minnesota Invitational, a mid-season invite meet, Holt went lifetime bests in the 200, 500 and 1650 free. He took almost three seconds off of his 200 free best from before college, while he also dropped over three seconds in the 500 and over six in the 1650 while at Iowa.
Last year, Holt would’ve ranked #3 on Arizona’s roster in the 500 free and 1650 free. The Wildcats have one season remaining with Brooks Fail, their top distance freestyler. Fail finished third in the 500 free at the 2019 NCAA Championships (4:10.77) and he’s the reigning Pac-12 mile champion.
GRACE REEDER
A native of North Carolina, Reeder just completed her freshman season with Iowa and should have three remaining years of eligibility. She’ll join Arizona in January for the spring semester and beyond.
TOP TIMES (SCY)
- 100 free – 52.34
- 200 free – 1:52.20
- 100 back – 57.68
- 200 back – 2:02.73
- 200 IM – 2:03.61 *best at Iowa*
- 400 IM – 4:19.88
Reeder is best in the IMs, and her 200 IM best is from the 2020 Big Ten Championships, nearly a full second drop from her high school best. At that meet, she made the C-final in the 400 IM, touching 24th overall after going a near-best 4:20.35 in prelims.
Last season, Reeder would’ve been Arizona’s third-best 400 IMer. The Wildcats just graduated their top 400 IMer, Hannah Cox, so Reeder should have an immediate impact on the IM group.
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FFT is a SwimSwam partner.
Happy that they all found a new home and are still swimming together.
I’m glad they were able to find a great program to call their new home.
Did they break quarantine to get together and take this photo?
Woof, guess I’ll take the L on this one
While I don’t know whether this was the case, they could have had masks on directly before and directly after this photo. To get coronavirus from someone who isn’t shouting in your face or sneezing or coughing on you, you need to be near them for much longer than the time it takes to take a picture.
Welcome and 🐻 Down!!!
Are Ryan and Evan taking a gap year or a red shirt?
For those of us less familiar with the US system, what’s the difference?
Gap year means they won’t be taking classes and are (most likely) not on campus training with the team. Red shirt means they are taking classes and training with the team, but they are not competing in meets
Gap year means you are not enrolled at the university and you cannot practice with the team at all, but you can take classes at a community collegte, for example, up to 9 credits (not full time) or something like that per semester not to lose one year of elligibillity. Also means you can have a gap year and then a redshirt year.