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Leah Chin, a World Juniors qualifier, has announced her verbal commitment to compete for Florida State University beginning in the fall of 2027. She confirmed the news on Instagram, writing:
I am extremely blessed and excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my athletic and academic career at Florida State University. I would like to thank my coach from Jamaica ,the coaches from Bolles, my family and friends for their continuous support through my journey. I would also like to say a big thanks to Coach Neal, Coach Zajic and the entire FSU coaching staff for this amazing opportunity. GO NOLES!!!
Chin is currently a junior at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, where she has been a member of the varsity swimming and diving team since her sophomore year. In addition to competing for the Bulldogs, she also swims year-round with The Bolles School Sharks, excelling at sprint freestyle and backstroke.
The future Seminole had a big 2025 season, as she dropped time in all of her primary events. She went from 23.31 to 22.92 in the 50 free, 51.60 to 51.10 in the 100 free, and chopped over a full second off her lifetime best in the 100 back, going from 58.14 to 57.01.
In November, Chin competed at the Florida High School Athletic Association 1A State Championships, helping Bolles win both the 200 medley relay with a 22.78 anchor leg and the 200 free relay with a 23.45 leadoff, her second consecutive year contributing to the 200 free relay title. Individually, she took runner-up in the 50 free for the second straight season with her first-ever sub-23 outing of 22.99 before taking seventh in the 100 back with the 57.01, her first time breaking 58 seconds. The 100 back result was a nice jump from 2024, when she finished 11th in the ‘B’ final.
She capped off year with arguably the best meet of her career at Winter Juniors East, her first time competing at the competition. She placed 14th out of prelims in the 50 free, clocking her current personal best, before taking 16th in finals with a time of 23.14. She also competed in the 100 free, touching the wall in a lifetime-best 51.10 to finish 55th. Chin also proved pivotal for Bolles’ sprint relays, helping the team take fifth in the 200 free relay (22.44 split) and eighth in both the 200 medley and 400 free relays, providing splits of 22.16 and 50.22.
Beyond short course swimming, Chin represented Team Jamaica at the World Junior Championships (LCM) in September, where she competed in five events: the 50 free (26.89, 40th), 100 free (58.25, 41st), 50 back (30.94, 46th), 100 back (1:06.72, 48th), and 50 fly (29.10, 56th). Her times in the 100 free and both backstrokes were career bests at the time, but she has since lowered four of those marks at the ASAJ Christmas Open in Kingston, clocking 26.40 in the 50 free, 58.25 in the 100 free, 30.90 in the 50 back, and 29.01 in the 50 fly.
Top SCY Times:
- 50 Freestyle: 22.92
- 100 Freestyle: 51.10
- 100 Backstroke: 57.01
A Division I program, Florida State competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference against NCAA powerhouses like UVA, Stanford and NC State. At the 2025 ACCs, the Seminoles placed seventh out of 15 teams before sending six athletes to compete at the NCAA Division I Women’s Championship, where they finished 36th overall.
To earn a second swim at the ACCs last season, it took times of 22.41/48.72 in the 50/100 free and 53.18 in the 100 back, putting Chin outside the cutoff in each of her top events. On the team itself, she would currently rank third in the 50 free, sixth in the 100 back, and 12th in the 100 free. She will make an immediate impact in dual meets and brings valuable relay depth as the Seminoles look to rise in the ACC standings.
Chin joins Aidyn Reese, who owns similar bests of 23.49 and 50.97 in the sprint freestyles, as well as 1:03.42/2:15.83 in the breaststrokes, as the only publicized recruits in the Seminoles’ class of 2031.
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Grayson Brewster has also sent her verbal to FSU for ’31. Leah is also a Junior at Bolles not a Senior