Versatile Darby Goodwin of Florida Makes Verbal Commitment to Villanova

Darby Goodwin, an All-American & Academic All-American from The Pine School & Saint Andrew’s Swimming, has verbally committed to Villanova University.

“I am so excited to be able to join Coach Rick Simpson and the entire family of Villanova Swimming. The team was so warm and the campus is just beautiful. After my visit there I just knew it was the perfect place for me!”

Goodwin is proficient in just about everything but has had the most success in back and fly. She placed third in the 50m back and seventh in the 50m fly at this past summer’s NCSA Summer Swimming Championships. She also finaled in the 100 back and 100 fly, and led off St Andrews’ 200 free relay in 27.01.

At the 2013 Florida High School Class 1A Championships last fall, Goodwin finished third in the 200 IM (2:04.24) and second in the 100 back (55.82), and put up a 25.74 leadoff 50 backstroke on Pine School’s 200 medley relay. Her top times over the last two seasons include:

Goodwin will be able to take on any number of roles for the Wildcats. She will be an important addition to their relays, as well. The Villanova women won Big Easts last year by 152 points, and were particularly strong in backstroke. That said, Goodwin’s 55.25 100 back and 2:00.03 200 back would have each won a conference title. And yet she is versatile enough to fill in where the Wildcats were less stacked in finals, such as the 100 fly.

Goodwin’s coach at Saint Andrew’s, Sid Cassidy, told SwimSwam, “Darby is an extremely disciplined and positive leader for our Saint Andrew’s team and is known to be a great relay performer. She spends a great deal of time commuting from her Martin County School to our campus 52 miles each way.”

An interesting note is that Goodwin’s mother Maureen grew up in the Philadelphia area and swam for LaSalle University, just about 15 minutes from Villanova. She was one of the first female lifeguards on the same historic Ocean City (NJ) Beach Patrol where Coach Sid Cassidy honed his open water swimming skills.