World Junior Championships Qualifier Eric-Stefan Andries Commits To Alabama For Fall 2026

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World Junior Championships qualifier Eric-Stefan Andries has committed to swim for the University of Alabama beginning in the fall of 2026. He publicized the news via a joint Instagram post with the Crimson Tide:

A Romanian native, Andries trains with Club Sportiv Bogdan Ciubotariu Constanta and specializes in middle-distance freestyle. Being an international recruit, he has never competed in a short course yards pool, having swum exclusively in short course meters and long course meters.

Andries kicked off the 2024-25 season at the Romanian National Championships last April, where he posted then-career bests of 50.55 and 1:50.45 in the 100 and 200 free, big drops from his previous bests of 51.88 and 1:53.24. Official placements are unavailable, but he was the fastest junior in the 200 free.

Andries went on to represent Romania at the European Junior Championships in July, where he finished 11th in the 200 free (1:49.88) and 23rd in the 100 free (50.82), updating his PBs in both. He also helped Romania place sixth in the 400 free relay with a split of 49.71.

A few weeks later at the World Junior Championships, Andries improved his lifetime bests once more, placing 11th in the 200 free (1:49.29) and 26th in the 100 free (50.36). He again contributed to Romania’s 400 free relay, anchoring the squad with a split of 48.75, more than a second and a half faster than his flat-start time.

Andries closed out his season at the European Short Course Championships in December, where he clocked all of his current SCM personal bests. He put up his top finish of the meet in the 400 free, touching 15th in 3:41.61 in just his second career attempt at the event, with his only previous swim being 4:18.59 (long course) at Romanian Nationals.

Beyond the 400, he finished 32nd in the 200 free (1:44.04) and 46th in the 100 free (48.02), improving his year-old SCM marks of 48.63 and 1:45.93.

Best Times

A Division I program, Alabama competes in the Southeastern Conference, with the Crimson Tide taking sixth out of 11 teams at this season’s conference championships. The team went on to send seven swimmers to the NCAA Championships, where the team placed 24th overall.

Based on Andries’ fastest converted times, he would have qualified for the ‘A’ final of the 500 free and the ‘C’ final of the 200 free at the ACC Championships, setting him up to score points right from the start.

Additionally, his 500 free time is less than a second shy of the 4:12.75 it took to score at the NCAA Championships.

On the team’s projected 2026-27 depth chart, factoring in graduations and other incoming recruits, Andries is slated to rank second in the 500 free, fourth in the 200 free, and fourth in the 100 free, adding depth to the roster for both dual meets and the free relays.

Andries will have one season to train alongside current junior Leonardo Alcantara, the team’s middle-distance mainstay who’s been 1:32.67 and 4:10.45 in the 200 and 500 free; he finished fifth in the 500 at ACCs before taking sixth at NCAAs.

Currently set to join Andries in Tuscaloosa in the fall are Bosnia and Herzegovina native Kenan Dracic, a middle-distance freestyler with similar converted times of 43.65/1:33.66/4:17.65, as well as Gunnar Hansen (breast), Carter Wright (sprint free/back), Jack Grimley (distance free/IM), and Bogdan Zverev (fly/IM).

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