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Charlie Zollinger has committed to swim and study at the University of Idaho, nearly 1,000 miles from her home in Waxhaw, N.C. No stranger to big moves, her mom’s job relocated the family to their current home from San Diego, Calif., when Zollinger was eight.
Now, as senior at Cuthbertson High School and a member of the Mecklenburg Swim Association, she has informed SwimSwam:
I am so excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at the University of Idaho. Thank you to my amazing coaches, wonderful family and best friends who have helped me get to this point. I am so so grateful for this opportunity! Go Vandals!
Zollinger capped off her 2022-2023 season in July at the North Carolina Swimming Long Course Senior Championships in Greensboro, N.C. She placed 6th in the 200 fly (2:27.52) and dropped a second off her previous best time (2:28.54).
She also dropped seven-tenths in the 100 fly (1:06.45) to finish in 21st place.
Early in December at the short course ATOM Winter Invite, Zollinger took 3rd place in the 200 fly and reset her PR with a time of 2:06.96.
Her training also paid off in the 400 IM (4:46.36), dropping nearly 18 seconds to go under – way under – the five-minute mark for the first time.
Top SCY Times
- 50 free – 26.14
- 100 free – 55.81
- 200 free – 1:59.59
- 500 free – 5:17.84
- 100 fly – 59.37
- 200 fly – 2:06.96
- 200 IM – 2:16.19
- 400 IM – 4:46.36
The University of Idaho is a Division I school and member of the Western Athletic Conference. The program is led by Dr. Mark Sowa, who is in his 14th season as head coach for the Vandals.
Zollinger is projected to be especially valuable to her new team in the 200 fly, where her best time of 2:06.96 is already fast enough to have qualified for the ‘B’ final at the 2023 WAC Championships alongside two other Vandals swimmers: sophomore Taylor Wassel, who took 12th (2:04.42), and junior Ani Husaby, who placed 15th (2:06.28). Wassel and Husaby posted the fastest times on the roster last season.
The team’s 2023-2024 season-to-date top times for the 200 fly have come from freshman Ginger Kiefer (2:04.13), senior Zoe Froh (2:04.70), and sophomore Grace Ruble (2:05.16).
So far, Zollinger is the only swimmer in the program’s 2024 recruiting class who specializes in the 200 fly.
She will be joined in Moscow, Idaho, by future teammates Holly Lenarz (free/IM), Kaitlyn Hafer (breast), Andie Wieber (free/back), Adelaide McRoberts (IM/free/fly), Sienna Lefeber (free/back), Marie Mason (free/IM), Jaidan Engle (free/back), Rylie Moxham (breast), Courtney Crawford (breast/IM), and Caleigh Stoddard (breast).
Zollinger is the lone commit from the Eastern Zone, as the rest of her incoming class is from the Western and Central Zones.
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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