Jake Johnson of New London Township, Pennsylvania has made a verbal commitment to the application process at Harvard University.* Johnson came in at #19 on our list of top 20 boys in the recruiting class of 2018.
“I’m beyond excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and swimming careers at Harvard!
“I chose Harvard for the unparalleled academics and exceptional team atmosphere! From the moment I stepped on campus the team treated me as one of the guys. I’m really excited to become part of the Harvard family! I believe Coach Kevin and Coach Sam will continue to lead the team to greatness! I know I couldn’t have made it this far without the continued support of all my family, friends, teachers and coaches. Go Crimson!!!
“Phil. 4:13.”
Johnson swims for Mount Sophia Academy and Delaware Swim Team, where he specializes primarily in butterfly and IM. He won the 100 fly (49.17) and 100 back (50.82), and contributed to the 15th-place 200 medley relay, at the 2017 Delaware DIAA Swimming & Diving Championships. Johnson had a hand in scoring all 44 points to put Mt. Sophia in 15th place in the boys team rankings. In club swimming he updated his times in each of his LCM events this summer, between U.S. Nationals and Summer Juniors. He was an A finalist in the 200 back (5th), 100 fly (3rd), and 200 fly (7th) in East Meadow, and a B finalist in the 200 IM and 400 IM.
Johnson will inject new blood into the fly group in Cambridge; Harvard graduated all the point scorers in the 200 fly from 2017 Ivy League Championships, and most of the scorers in the 200 back and 200/400 IM. Johnson’s best times would have made the A finals of the 100/200 fly, 200 back, and 400 IM, and the B final of the 200 IM, at last year’s conference meet.
Best SCY times:
- 100 fly – 47.77
- 200 fly – 1:46.78
- 200 back – 1:45.38
- 200 IM – 1:49.13
- 400 IM – 3:51.84
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*IVY LEAGUE DISCLAIMER: A “verbal commitment” by a coach is not an offer of admission, as only the Admissions Office has that authority. An Ivy League coach can only commit his or her support in the admissions process.
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].
I guess he wanted to train with the G.O.A.T Dean Farris
Boy Dean Farris pulling girls and guys to that school with his good looks.
Why does swimswam always do the *Ivy League disclaimer thing? Just seems unnecessarily pretentious. Nobody has been admitted to any school yet.
It’s put there because it’s true and it helps protect the athletes who committed from making a misstep before they’re actually accepted.
So does that mean that everyone who has committed to all the non-Ivy league schools is already guaranteed admission?
And far as I know, if a swimmer visits the school on an official trip, he/she has already gone through a vetting process with the admissions staff and can either get in by themselves or which coaches support.
Anyway, don’t mean to steal the thunder from Jake. I’ve seen him swim at a national meet and he is great. Really smooth, effortless looking dolphin kick. Congrats to him, well-earned.
I worked at an Ivy for 15 years supporting the admissions process. I won’t judge all Ivy’s by experience with 1, but they take their admissions process more seriously than others (or, at least that is what they like to project). I am guessing SwimSwam’s * for Ivy’s is basically complying with the Ivy Leagues request. P,S, The Ivy League can be pretentious – just a smidge : )
harvard’s gathering some good recruits: last year’s #17 michael zarian, #20 corban rawls, and now jake johnson