Talia Bates of Gainesville, Florida has announced via social media that she has committed to swim for the University of Florida beginning in the fall of 2019. Kathleen Golding has also announced her intention to swim for the Gators in the class of 2023.
“So proud to announce that I have committed to the University of Florida! There is no place else that I would rather swim and study! Thank you to my family, coaches, and teammates for helping me make this dream a reality! ? #gogators”
Both of Bates’ parents are former Gators; her father James Bates was a linebacker while her mother, Tina Bates, swam at Florida. Bates is a junior at F. W. Buchholz High School, where she is coached by her mother, the 2016 National High School Coaches Association’s National High School Girls’ Swimming Coach of the Year. At the recent 2017 FHSAA Class 4A State Championships in November she won the 50 free (22.67) and the 100 fly (53.28), the latter with a new Florida state record. She led off Buchholz’s winning 200 free relay (23.05) and anchored their first-place 400 free relay (49.97); both relays broke state records.
Bates does her club swimming with Gator Swim Club in Gainesville. She finished 6th in the 50 free, 6th in the 100 free, 14th in the 100 back, 6th in the 100 fly, and 32nd in the 200 fly at 2017 Winter Juniors East, and logged personal bests in the 500/200 free, 100 back, 100/200 fly, and 200 IM. She also split a 22.14 on the end of GSC’s 4×50 free relay, 49.65 anchoring the 4×100 free, a 23.75 butterfly on the 4×50 medley, and a 53.08 fly on the 4×100 medley.
Bates’s best times would already place her in the B final of the 100 fly, which would have made her Florida’s top scorer in the event at 2017 SEC Championships. She also would have scored at conference in the B finals of the 50 free and 200 back, and the C final of the 200 free.
Top SCY times:
- 50 free – 22.64
- 100 free – 49.56
- 200 free – 1:47.99
- 50 back – 25.51
- 100 back – 54.43
- 200 back – 1:56.87
- 100 fly – 53.09
- 200 IM – 2:01.24
So proud to announce that I have committed to the University of Florida! There is no place else that I would rather swim and study! Thank you to my family, coaches, and teammates for helping me make this dream a reality! 🐊 #gogators @GatorsSwimDv @swimswamnews @FlaSwimNetwork pic.twitter.com/tRhMe0rPiA
— Talia Bates (@taliab8s) December 16, 2017
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].
still pretty early but at least we’re almost halfway done. will be a good sprint get for florida.