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A qualifier for both summer and winter Juniors, Thomas Xiao of Alpharetta, Georgia has announced his commitment to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for this fall. Xiao recently finished his high school career at Alpharetta High School and is an eagle scout and all-state saxophone player outside of the pool.
Back in January, Xiao competed at the 2023 GHSA (Georgia high school) 6A Swimming and Diving State Championships. During prelims, he finished as the top seed in both the 100 breast (56.26) and 200 IM (1:53.38). In finals of the 100 breast, he was slightly faster, touching in 56.24 but falling to second behind Auburn commit Britton Spann. He was disqualified in the 200 IM during finals.
More recently, he hit multiple lifetime bests while racing at the Southern Premier meet. In the 100 breast, he dipped below 56.0 for the first time in his career during finals, winning the B-final in 55.79. He also picked up a new best time in the 400 IM during prelims, touching in 4:03.48.
Top SCY Times
- 100 breast – 55.79
- 200 breast – 2:01.15
- 200 IM – 1:52.47
- 400 IM – 4:03.48
When he arrives on campus this fall, Xiao will immediately give the Tartan’s breaststroke and IM groups a huge boost. Last season, he would have been among the program’s best swimmers in all of his primary events. In the breaststroke races, he’ll have three years of overlap with Max Kulbida, who led the team last season. Kulbida qualified for the NCAA Championships in both breaststrokes and swam the breaststroke leg on CMU’s 200 medley relay that finished eleventh at the NCAA Championships.
Competing in one of the toughest Division III conferences, Carnegie Mellon took fourth in 2023 at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Swimming and Diving Conference Championships. The team was led by senior Aleksander Tarczynski, who was a finalist in both butterfly events as well as the 200 IM.
With his lifetime bests, Xiao is already poised to score in multiple events as a freshman at the UAA Championships. Last season, he would have scored in the A-final of both breaststrokes and B-final of both IM’s with his lifetime bests.
Xiao will be joined in the class of 2027 by Aaron Lee, Harrison Quach, Paul Dynega, Staten Rector, and Shivansh Singhal.
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