Winter Juniors Finalist Kiara Xanthos Commits to BYU for Fall 2023

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Kiara Xanthos from Prosper, Texas has announced her commitment to continue her academic and athletic careers at Brigham Young University (BYU) beginning in the 2023-2024 school year. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CX14i7CPp76/

“I am so beyond excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my athletic and academic career at Brigham Young University!!! I want to thank my family, friends, teammates, and all of my coaches that have helped me along the way. Go Cougs💙🤍 #big12 #byu #byucougars #gocougs #committedsw

She also told SwimSwam “As soon as I walked onto campus I felt like I was at home and already a part of the team.

Xanthos swims for Lakeside Aquatic Club out of Flower Mound, Texas. Back in 2018 at Winter Juniors West, she earned a fifth place finish in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:01.34. 

She also swims for Rock Hill High School out of Frisco, TX. In March 2021, she swam at the University Interscholastic League (UIL) 5A (small schools) State Championships. There she earned a second place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.31). 

Most recently at the beginning of December, she swam to times of 1:04.07 in the 100 breaststroke and 2:21.57 in the 200 breaststroke. 

Her short course best times are:

  • 100 breaststroke: 1:01.34
  • 200 breaststroke: 2:17.24
  • 200 IM: 2:07.83

BYU is a private university located in Provo, Utah. The team will be moving to the Big 12 Conference the year that Xanthos arrives.

Based on her best times, Xanthos has the potential to make a huge impact at the conference level. Her 100 breaststroke time would have earned her a third place finish, and her 200 breaststroke would have earned her a seventh place finish at the 2021 Big 12 Championships (Note: The results from 2021 do not include BYU or any of the other two women’s programs that will be joining the Big 12 when Xanthos is a sophomore, but they do include Texas which will be leaving the Big 12 by July 2025). 

Xanthos also has the potential to make the top 5 in school history. Her best time in the 100 breaststroke would already put her third in school history. The school record is a time of 1:00.01.

Her best times would also put her first on the roster already this year in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. She will arrive on campus just in time as the team’s current fastest primary breaststroker, Katie McBratney, will graduate the summer before Xanthos arrives (they will overlap one year if McBratney elects to take her COVID-19 fifth year). 

Xanthos will arrive on campus in fall 2023 as a member of the class of 2027.

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].

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Ava Whit
2 years ago

yayyyyy kiarrrraaaaa

Stan Crump
2 years ago

Congrats Kiara! Great choice…..just like Mom!

About Anya Pelshaw

Anya Pelshaw

Anya has been with SwimSwam since June 2021 as both a writer and social media coordinator. She was in attendance at the 2022 and 2023 Women's NCAA Championships writing and doing social media for SwimSwam. Currently, Anya is pursuing her B.A. in Economics and a minor in Government & Law at …

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