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Jeffrey Hou has announced his verbal commitment to the University of Pennsylvania, beginning in the fall of 2024. Hou, a two-time USA Swimming Scholastic All-American, is currently a junior at Hinsdale Central High School, located in Hinsdale, Illinois.
He shared his commitment on Instagram:
Hou trains and competes year-round with FMC Aquatic Club, and specializes in butterfly, breaststroke, and IM events. Hou is in the midst of an outstanding short course season, and most recently raced at the NCSA Spring Championships.
He earned his highest finish in the 100 breaststroke at 7th, clocking a best time of 54.80 in finals. His swim marked a half second drop from early March, but is nearly a second faster than he was at this meet a year ago. He also hit a two-second best time in the in the 200 fly, recording 1:46.81 to finish 11th. Rounding out his top 20 finishes was the 100 fly (47.83, 10th), 50 fly (21.89, 8th), and 50 backstroke (23.00, 18th).
Prior to NCSAs, Hou competed at the Illinois High School Boys State Championship. He took home the state title in the 200 IM with a final time of 1:47.49, good for a best time by two seconds. Additionally, he earned runner-up in the 100 fly with a 47.83 in finals. He contributed to two of Hinsdale Central’s winning relays, splitting a 44.90 as the 2nd leg of the 400 freestyle relay, and a 21.40 on fly of the 200 medley relay.
Top SCY Times:
- 100 breast – 54.80
- 200 breast – 2:01.65
- 100 fly – 47.46
- 200 fly – 1:46.81
- 200 IM – 1:47.49
- 400 IM – 4:03.15
The Quakers are coming off of a 6th place finish at the 2023 Ivy League Championships. Hou is poised to make an immediate impact at the conference level, as his best times in the 200 IM, 100 fly, and 200 fly would have qualified for the B-final at this season’s conference meet.
Ben Feldman was the top finisher for Penn in the 100 fly with a time of 47.23 to finish 7th overall at conference. Andrew Dai took the top spot at 11th in the 200 fly (1:46.44), while Neil Simpson was the highest finisher in the 200 IM at 13th (1:47.79). This group will have turned over by the time Hou arrives, making his arrival key as Penn looks to fill the gaps left behind.
Joining Hou in Penn’s class of 2028 is fellow Illinois native Colin Zhang and Watson Nguyen from Texas. This class is breaststroke heavy so far, with Zhang and Nguyen also focusing on breast events. Zhang owns best times of 54.36/1:57.33, while Nguyen has been as fast as 53.51/1:56.24.
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Great swimmer. Penn did well with this boy.