2x Futures Champ Arthur Balva (2023) Announces Verbal Commitment to Princeton

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Arthur Balva from Palo Alto, California, has announced his verbal commitment to the application process* at Princeton University.

“I’m super honored to announce my commitment to the application process at Princeton University! I am more than grateful to my family, friends, coaches, and mentors for all the support and opportunities. I can’t wait to be apart of the Princeton family. Go Tigers! 🐅”

Balva is a senior at Palo Alto High School who does his club swimming at Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics. He swims on both teams with fellow Princeton class of 2027 commit Ethan Harrington. Balva focuses mainly on fly and IM. At the 2022 CIF-Central Coast Section Championships, he won the 200 IM (1:49.90) and 100 fly (48.72), picking up lifetime bests in both events.

This summer, he went best times in all his events at Santa Clara Futures, including the 200 free (1:57.08), 100 fly (55.12), 200 fly (2:00.47), 200 IM (2:05.48), and 400 IM (4:29.45). He won the 200 fly and 200 IM and placed third in the 100 fly and 400 IM. He then competed in the 100/200 fly at Speedo Junior Nationals.

In SCY, Balva made vast improvement during his junior year of high school. He dropped 2 seconds in the 50 free, 2.2 in the 100 free, 4.2 in the 200 free, 17.7 in the 500 free, 45.4 in the 1650 free, 4.6 in the 100 back, 7.1 in the 200 back, 2.1 in the 100 fly, 5.0 in the 200 fly, 4.7 in the 200 IM, and 14.0 in the 400 IM. His 200 fly time is now within 1 second of what it took to score in the A final at 2022 Ivy League Men’s Championships.

His best SCY times include:

• 200 fly – 1:46.50
• 100 fly – 48.72
• 200 IM – 1:49.90
• 400 IM – 3:56.53
• 100 back – 51.60

He will join the Princeton class of 2027 with Harrington, Connor Buck, Daniel Li, Noah Sech, and Parker Lenoce next fall.

*Note: A verbal commitment between an Ivy League coach and a prospective student-athlete is not an offer of admission, as only the Admission Office has that authority. The coach can only commit his or her support in the admission process. Ivy League Admission Offices do not issue “Likely Letters” before October 1 of the prospective student-athlete’s senior year of high school. The Likely Letter, while issued after an initial read of the student’s application, is not an offer of admission to the university.

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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