Jack Skarda of Kirkland, Washington, has announced his verbal commitment to swim and study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Skarda, a USA Swimming Scholastic All-American, has a year remaining at O’Dea High School and will arrive in Madison for the 2024-2025 season.
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Skarda trains and competes year-round with the Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic Club (SMAC). He currently holds a 15-16 National Age Group (NAG) record as the breaststroker on SMAC’s 15-16 mixed 200-yard-medley relay (1:36.48) in April of 2022. Individually, he is a U.S. Open qualifier in the 100m breast, as well as a summer Junior Nationals qualifier in the 200 IM, 100 breast, and 200 breast (SCY).
Skarda capped off his 2023 long course season at summer Juniors in Irvine, where he earned as high as 22nd in the 100m breast with a best time of 1:03.33. His 100 breast saw massive improvement this summer, as he entered the year with a time of 1:05.92. He also notched big personal bests in the 200m breaststroke (2:21.60) and 200 IM (2:13.00), dropping over two seconds in both.
This past February, Skarda represented his high school at the Washington 3A Boys High School State Championship. He came away with the state title in both the 100 breast (54.78) and 200 IM (1:48.29), earning him the 2023 Swimmer of the Meet award.
Top SCY Times:
- 100 breast – 54.78
- 200 breast – 1:58.97
- 200 IM – 1:48.29
The Badgers, led by head coach Yuri Suguiyama, finished 4th as a team at the 2023 Big Ten Championships. Skarda is currently inside the Big Ten scoring range in the 200 breast, and is just outside it in the 100 where it took a 54.75 to advance to the C-final.
Wisconsin’s top finisher in the 200 this year was Matthew Segal, who clocked a 1:55.77 at Big Tens for 11th overall. The 100 was a slightly stronger event for Wisconsin, as Will Myhre led the way with a 6th place finish (52.11). Myhre is now graduated, but Skarda will have the opportunity to train with Segal for a year.
Joining Skarda in Wisconsin’s class of 2028 next fall is Landon Kyser, Sam Lorenz, Nate Harris, Andrew Hanson, Conner Hogan, and Aiden Musick.
the new wisconsin pool is so nice