World Junior Champion Lynsey Bowen, #9 In Class of 2025, Commits To Florida

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The University of Florida has kicked off its 2025 recruiting class with a big splash, as Lynsey Bowen, the #9 ranked recruit in the girls’ high school class of 2025, announced her verbal commitment to the Gators on Monday morning.

I’m super excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my athletic and academic career at the University of Florida! Thank you to my family, teammates, and coaches who have supported me along the way!! Go Gators!!!💙🧡🐊

Bowen marks the third swimmer ranked inside SwimSwam’s top 10 in the class to commit within 10 days of the first class of 2025 commitment on September 8, with #1 Alex Shackell and #3 Claire Weinstein both committing to Cal last week.

Bowen is a teammate of Shackell’s at Carmel Swim Club in Carmel, Indiana, where she also features prominently on the Carmel High School girls team that’s been a dominant force for decades. Last season, Carmel won its 37th straight Indiana State title, earning them USA Today’s Girls’ Team of the Year.

Bowen won the 500 IHSAA free state title as a freshman in 2022, and last season, swept the 200 and 500 free during her sophomore year.

Bowen kicks off Florida’s 2025 class by giving them someone who can instantly make an impact at the national level, as she’s already fast enough to be an NCAA scorer in the 500 free (4:40.69), which is an event that saw three Gators score last season and they now have the odds-on favorite for the national title this year in freshman Bella Sims.

Bowen projects to also swim the 200 free (1:45.30) and 1650 free (16:19.60) in college, and despite the fact she’s only raced the mile once thus far in her career, that time is less than six seconds shy of the 2023 NCAA cut line (16:13.73).

And for how good she is in short course, Bowen is arguably an even better long course swimmer at present, coming off a very impressive summer that saw her qualify for the World Junior Championships and win gold on the U.S. girls’ 800 free relay (1:59.00 split).

The 16-year-old placed 6th individually in the 800 free in Netanya after winning the U.S. Junior National title in a personal best time of 8:33.71, and back in May, she set two other notable PBs in the 200 free (1:59.82) and 400 free (4:11.97) at the Indy Spring Cup.

Bowen’s Best Times In Yards, Meters

The Florida women’s team has been on a path back to the upper echelon of the NCAA over the past few seasons, and things really came to a head in 2022-23 when the Gators won the SEC title for the first time since 2009.

That victory came after some key additions to the team, perhaps most notably Emma Weyant, one of the top 500 freestylers in the nation, and Florida’s upward trajectory figures to continue this season with Sims and Cal transfer Isabel Ivey entering the lineup.

Although these swimmers will already be heading into their junior years once Bowen arrives, the Gators will be welcoming an absolutely loaded group of recruits this season, led by top-ranked Sims, but there are four others who rank inside the top 20 joining the team this year, with #12 Michaela Mattes joining Sims as a distance freestyler.

We also can’t overlook the fact that the best distance freestyle swimmer of all-time, Katie Ledecky, trains out of the University of Florida, as does one of the best on the planet on the men’s side in Bobby Finke.

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