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Rockwall, Texas’ Amelia Lester has declared her intention to swim for the United States Military Academy at West Point’s class of 2029. Lester, a current senior at Heath High School, swims club for the City of Richardson Swim Team.
I am thrilled to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at the United States Military Academy. I’m grateful for all the opportunities I’ve been given, and for all the people who have helped me along the way(love you mom). I can’t wait to be apart of the long gray line. GO ARMY BEAT NAVY!
Heath High School is classified in the 6A division in Texas*, and at the 2024 UIL 6A State Championships, Lester helped Heath to a 12th place finish out of 105 teams. She swam a best time in the 500 free, swimming a 4:56.69 to place runner up in the consolation final. She also competed in the 200 free, where she swam a 1:54.45 for 21st. On Heath’s relays, Lester contributed a 54.32 split on the 400 free relay and a 26.73 butterfly leg in the 200 medley relay to help Heath place 7th.
A month later, Lester swam at the NCSA Spring Championships. There, she hit best times in the 400 free (4:26.58), 800 free (9:03.85), and 1500 free (17:25.23) to place 25th, 4th, and 10th, respectively.
Lester continued her long course success at the NT SMU Texas Senior Circuit, where she swam 6 personal bests en route to 5 top 8 finishes. Her best times came in the 200 free (2:07.27), 200 back (2:26.70), 100 fly (1:04.41), 400 IM (5:09.59), 400 free (4:23.83), and 200 fly (2:16.86). In the 400 free and 200 fly, Lester placed 1st overall, with her 200 fly good for her first US Open cut.
Best Times:
- 200 fly – 2:03.13
- 200 free – 1:52.55
- 500 free – 4:56.69
- 1000 free – 10:13.81
- 1650 free – 17:10.66
At the 2024 Patriots League Championships, the Army women were 2nd only to their rivals, the Naval Academy, despite winning 2 more events. Current junior Molly Webber led the Black Knights with 3 individual wins. Webber, similarly to Lester, is a fly/distance free specialist and has PBs of 1:46.88/4:46.38/16:44.67 in the 200/500/1650 free, and a 1:59.81 200 fly.
Lester will add some needed depth to Army’s roster, as her 500 free would have ranked 4th on their 2023-24 roster, while her 1650 would have ranked 2nd, behind only Webber. Lester’s bests are already score-worthy, as at the 2024 Patriot League Championships, her 17:10.66 in the 1650 would have placed 10th and her 500 free best would have qualified for the championship final. Lester’s 3rd event would likely come in the 200 fly, where she would have qualified for the consolation final—making her a potential 3x finalist.
While Webber swept 200-500-1650 frees, Navy’s depth beat out Army’s starpower. In the 200 free, Navy outscored Army 83-59, and in the 500 free Navy beat Army 93-79. Only in the 1650 free was the narrative flipped, as Army outscored Navy 80-69. Lester, along with fellow (high school) class of 2025 recruit April Chun, a distance freestyler with PBs of 4:59.17/17:15.44 in the 500/1650 frees, will look to further strengthen Army’s distance group.
Army will look to bridge the gap with Navy with their class of 2029 by adding depth. In addition to Lester, the Black Knights will welcome another Texan in Elle Burke (back), Abby Reich (back), Elayna Ling (IM), April Chun (distance free/IM), and Eden Chuang (breast/IM).
*A 6A classification in Texas means the school has 2275+ students, and is the division for Texas’ biggest high schools.
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