#19 Ranked Emily Brown Sends Verbal to Tennessee (2024)

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Summer Juniors finalist Emily Brown has announced her verbal commitment to the Tennessee Vols. Brown is currently a junior at Coffman High School in Dublin, Ohio. She currently swims year-round with the Dublin Community Swim Team. 

Brown was ranked #19 on SwimSwam’s “Way Too Early Recruit Ranks” for the class of 2024. As with many others in this high school class, Brown is extremely versatile. She has sprint speed that is paired with endurance and stroke versatility, making her a potential impact swimmer across the board. With two years left to develop, it is hard to say where her focus will be when she arrives in Knoxville in 2024. 

Top Times SCY: 

• 50 free – 23.11
• 100 free – 49.70
• 200 free – 1:46.91
• 500 free – 4:45.47
• 200 back – 1:56.08
• 200 IM – 1:57.96
• 400 IM – 4:18.01

Brown competed most recently at Speedo Junior Nationals held in August. She had a busy schedule, competing in seven individual events and advancing to finals in five of them. Brown’s highest finish was 2nd in the 200 IM, where she dropped almost a second for a new best time of 2:14.93. She also took 6th in the 400 IM, clocking in at 4:50.28, which was just off her best time of 4:48.83.

Brown’s 200 IM performance at Summer Juniors moves her from 54th to 37th on USA Swimming’s All-Time top 100 list for 15-16 LCM 200 IM, with her previous best time being from the Cleveland Sectionals held in July. Additionally, Brown is ranked 51st for the SCY 15-16 200 IM. At 15, Brown is at the bottom of the 15-16 age group, making her one of the youngest swimmers in the high school class of 2024. 

At the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) Division I State Championship in February, Brown took home state titles in the 200 free and 500 free, with both being new personal bests. Overall, Brown saw massive time drops across multiple events last short course season: she dropped over five seconds in the 200 IM (1:57.96), eight in the 400 IM (4:18.01), and seven in the 500 free (4:45.47). 

Brown’s current best times would have put her just inside the B-final in the 200 IM, 500 free, and 200 back at last year’s SECs. Her 400 IM and 200 free would also land her just inside the C-final. It is doubtful that Brown would swim both the 200 IM and 500 free with them being back-to-back, but she still is left with many other potential scoring events. 

Tennessee’s IM group was led by Ellen Walshe last year, who holds best times of 1:52.97 and 4:01.53 in the 200 and 400 IM. It is questionable if Brown will overlap with Walshe due to the uncertainty surrounding when or if Walshe returns to the Vols. Walshe is reported to be spending time at home in Ireland this fall for “personal health” reasons. Regardless, Brown should definitely overlap with current sophomores Summer Smith and Sara Stotler, who hold best times of 4:09.97 and 1:56.36 in their respective IM events. 

Although Tennessee’s current freshman class is thin on IMers, their class of 2027 is strong in the event. Molly Blanchard, who was featured in the “Best of the Rest” section of SwimSwam’s rankings for the class of 2023, holds best times of 2:01.24 and 4:16.44 in the IM events. She is joined by New Zealand record holder Laura Littlejohn, who has a converted best time of 1:57.66 in the 200 IM.

Brown joins “Best of the Rest” sprinter Josie Connelly, and Cayman Islands Olympian Jillian Crooks in Tennessee’s class of 2028. Connelly and Crooks currently both hold best times that are just outside of SEC scoring range in the sprint freestyles, but will look to add depth to Tennessee’s sprint freestyle group. 

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