Virginia Freshman Claire Tuggle Has Entered the NCAA Transfer Portal

by Spencer Penland 106

March 20th, 2023 College, News, Transfers

Virginia freshman Claire Tuggle is now in the NCAA transfer portal, signaling her intention to potentially leave the Cavaliers after her first season with the program. Before we get into it, as always, it’s very important to note that an athlete entering the transfer portal does not mean they must transfer schools, it only means that they have opened up communication with different schools and coaches.

That being said, it does look like Tuggle intends to leave Virginia, who just yesterday won their third-consecutive women’s NCAA Championship title. SwimSwam reached out to Tuggle about her name appearing in the portal, to which she replied “I’ve really been happy with my swimming experience at UVA and I love the coaches and team, but due to some personal issues it’s time for me to transfer. I’m excited for the next chapter and will forever be thankful for UVA.”

Tuggle’s appearance in the portal comes after she was at NCAAs this weekend alone rather than with UVA. Tuggle notably swam fast enough to qualify for NCAAs this season, however, she was left off UVA’s 17-athlete roster for the meet due to roster limits for the meet.

Though it seems like Tuggle’s time at Virginia is coming to an end, this season has been a pivotal one in her career. Tuggle burst onto the scene when she was very young, blowing the minds of those throughout the swimming community when she clocked a 1:44.96 200 free and 4:41.36 500 free at just 13 years old. Unfortunately, Tuggle would hit a plateau with her swimming shortly thereafter, one which lasted for a long time. When she arrived at UVA this fall, Tuggle’s personal best times in the 200 free and 500 were still those performances from March of 2018, when she was 13 years old.

After years of seeing no improvement in those events, Tuggle quickly saw a change of pace at Virginia, swimming a lifetime best of 1:44.81 in the 200 free in early February at the Cavalier Invitational. The swim marked her first personal best in the event in nearly five years. She also swam personal bests of 23.64 in the 50 free and 48.99 in the 100 free at the Cavalier invite. Tuggle went on to clock another pair of lifetime bests at the ACC Championships, swimming a 4:40.41 in the 500 free and 16:15.91 in the 1650 free.

Here is a table showing Tuggle’s personal bests in the freestyle events before she came to UVA versus after one season with the team:

EVENT PRE-UVA AT UVA
50 Free 24.00 23.64
100 Free 49.43 48.99
200 Free 1:44.96 1:44.81
500 Free 4:41.36 4:40.41
1000 Free 9:41.96 9:41.96
1650 Free 17:41.17 16:15.91

As for where Tuggle may be looking to go, it’s anybody’s guess. Anything we could put forward is simply wild speculation, however, it’s worth noting that Tuggle is from California, so perhaps she’ll be looking to transfer to somewhere closer to home.

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Derek H
10 months ago

Transferred to USC

Meathead
11 months ago

Can’t imagine how hard it would be to peak at 13 and not break those times till college

Impressed she never quit

anonymous
Reply to  Meathead
11 months ago

It happens all the time, luckily she remained in the sport.

Meathead
Reply to  anonymous
11 months ago

13 yo’s don’t go 4:41 all the time

Vaswammer
11 months ago

Although she didn’t swim for Virginia, it looks like she was with her teammates in Nashville.

She’s at the very top of the first photo.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp-LYRxOZlV/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

HOO love
Reply to  Vaswammer
11 months ago

knoxville not nashville lol

Swimfan
11 months ago

Going to Florida maybe?

Admin
Reply to  Swimfan
11 months ago

I’d bet on somewhere closer to home. USC is my guess.

Sherry Smit
Reply to  Braden Keith
11 months ago

I get the feeling either USC or Cal/Stanford.

Derek H
Reply to  Braden Keith
10 months ago

The correct guess

Taa
11 months ago

My guess is she de-prioritizes swimming with her next school.

swimfan
Reply to  Taa
11 months ago

You kind of have to do that leaving UVA in recent years.

Last edited 11 months ago by swimfan
Eli
11 months ago

Tuggle gone and Donohoe, distance free is looking really bad for UVA. Cavan Gormsen is coming in which is a plus, but idk if she’ll defer.

Hoos4ever
Reply to  Eli
11 months ago

Cavan just did the top time in the NCAA !

Snarky
Reply to  Hoos4ever
11 months ago

Except she’s not yet.

Just sayin'
Reply to  Hoos4ever
11 months ago

With respect to distance, 9 girls in the NCAA went under 935 either in dual meets or in the1000 split of their split… Cavan’s fastest mile would be 13th or 14th fastest if you compared to NCAAs… what are you talking about?

Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
Reply to  Eli
11 months ago

Defer?

Cavan Gormsen may be a top five recruit however Cavan Gormsen is not in the same realm as Katie Grimes.

Eli
Reply to  Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
11 months ago

Didn’t Lilly Nordmann defer?

Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
Reply to  Eli
11 months ago

Lilly Nordman still has not matched her long course times (200 FL, 200 FR) from calendar year 2019 while at Stanford University.

Last edited 11 months ago by Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
jeff
Reply to  Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
11 months ago

..? No one said she was?

JimSwim22
Reply to  Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
11 months ago

Did you make the same repeated, tiresome comments for Katie Ledecky’s final two years of High School as have been made about Katie Grimes? We all get it that Grimes is one of the best distance swimmers around. But a lot of other swimmers are amazing and winning events at their Championship meets. It’s been 11 years since anyone besides Ledecky could claim to be the best distance swimmer. But they still get to be All Americans, podium finishers, etc.

Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
Reply to  JimSwim22
11 months ago

Todd DeSorbo actually develops his swimmers unlike someone on the West Coast.

Weinstein-Smith-Ledecky-Sims
11 months ago

All the leaves are brown
And the sky is gray

https://youtu.be/N-aK6JnyFmk

Old Bruin
11 months ago

Today’s friendly reminder, Claire owes none of us anything.