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Clare Hafner has announced her commitment to swim for John Carroll University in Ohio beginning in the fall of 2026.
I am SO excited to announce my commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at John Carroll University!! I would like to give a huge thank you to both of my parents for being not only my biggest supporters, but also the best coaches I could’ve asked for growing up. I would also like to thank all of my club coaches and my high school coaches along with all of my family, friends, and teammates who have encouraged and supported me through this process. Finally, a huge thank you to Coach Mark and Coach Maddie for this amazing opportunity! I can’t wait to be a blue streak!!
The Michigan native is a senior at Mercy Catholic High School and has been a member of the school’s varsity swimming and diving team since her freshman year. She also trains year-round with Pointe Aquatics, where she has swum since age 3. Swimming is a family affair for the Hafners, as her father Kevin serves as head coach and her mother Christine as a junior group coach at the club.
Hafner is very versatile; she’s strong across breaststroke, backstroke, IM, and the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle. In freestyle, she’s been as quick as 24.85, 53.58, and 1:56.66, though those best times are nearly three years old. She broke through in freestyle and sprint breaststroke during late middle school and early high school, but has found her greatest success in the middle-distance stroke events over the past few years.
Her shift in focus has paid off handsomely, as evidenced by her time drops in 2025. She shattered her 200 back best, dropping from 2:09.01 to 2:05.46, improved her 200 breast from 2:27.01 to 2:23.66, dropped three-tenths in the 100 back to 59.37, and finally broke through her three-year-old 100 breast barrier by 17 hundredths with a 1:06.12.
Hafner capped off her high school career in November at the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division II State meet, finishing seventh in both the 200 IM and 100 breast with her current personal bests. She swam the same two events at all three of her state meet appearances, placing seventh in the 100 breast and ninth in the 200 IM as a freshman in 2022, then fifth in the 200 IM and sixth in the 100 breast as a sophomore.
Top SCY Times:
- 50 Freestyle: 24.85
- 100 Freestyle: 53.58
- 200 Freestyle: 1:56.66
- 100 Breaststroke: 1:06.12
- 200 Breaststroke: 2:23.66
- 100 Backstroke: 59.37
- 200 Backstroke: 2:05.46
- 200 IM: 2:08.60
- 400 IM: 4:34.52
A Division III program, John Carroll competes in the North Coast Athletic Conference against the likes of Denison, Kenyon and DePauw. The 2025-2026 season marks JCU’s first year in the NCAC, as the Blue Streaks were previously a member of the Ohio Athletic Conference, with the JCU women winning their ninth consecutive conference championship title last season.
Based on the 2025 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships results, Hafner would have earned ‘A’ final berths in three events, placing seventh in the 200 back and 200 breast and eighth in the 400 IM. Her best times would have also won the ‘B’ finals in the 100 breast, 100 back, and 200 IM, and finished 11th in the 100 free and 12th in the 200 free. The 200 back and 200 breast conflict on the final day of the meet, and since the 100 breast and 400 IM conflict on day two, her schedule will likely consist of both IMs and one of the stroke 200s.
Based on the team’s depth chart over the past two seasons, Hafner would have led the Blue Streaks in both breaststrokes, both IMs, and the 200 back, while ranking second in the 100 back and all three short freestyle events.
She will overlap two years with Audrey Sevald, the team’s best sprint backstroker who has been as quick as 57.09 in the 100 back. In freestyle, Mairin Dalziel has been the team’s go-to sprinter over the past four years, but she is slated to graduate in May. If Hafner can return to her freestyle bests, she will also be the team’s fastest freestyler, though current sophomore Bree Shirkey could also contend for that position if she returns to her pre-college personal bests of 24.04, 53.37, and 1:57.40. With her versatility across backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle, Hafner will give the coaching staff multiple options in constructing relay lineups.
Hafner is the second confirmed commitment for the Blue Streaks’ class of 2030 on the women’s side, joining Claire Murray. Murray specializes in middle-distance freestyle and 100 back, with personal bests of 55.71/2:00.48 in the freestyle events and 1:03.67 in the 100 back.
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Great job!
Good for her!!