“I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of Ohio State’s amazing swim program and to be a student at such a prestigious university! I am especially thankful to Coach Jordan and Coach Bill for the chance to join the wonderful team I met this past weekend. I am BEYOND excited to be a Buckeye!”
Laura Banks, a senior at Rocky River High School in Rocky River, Ohio, has made a verbal commitment to The Ohio State University for 2017-18. Banks specializes in breaststroke and sprint free, but she has yet to make swimming her full-time year-round sport because she is also an integral part of the high school’s track team. She is a member of their 4×400 meter relay that set a new school record at the Regional Championship Finals this past spring.
Banks swims for Lakeshore Swim Club when she’s not competing for her high school, and earned USA Swimming Scholastic All-American honors this summer. She has made tremendous progress over the last year, including qualifying for Winter Juniors in the 100m breast in Time Trials at the USA Swimming Futures Championships at the University of Maryland last summer.
Banks’ times are:
| SCY | LCM | |
| 50 breast | 30.80 | 35.13 |
| 100 breast | 1:04.59 | 1:14.17 |
| 200 breast | 2:28.85 | 2:44.28 |
| 50 free | 25.32 | 28.95 |
Banks plans to devote her senior to improving her times, which could make her an even more valuable member of the OSU team when she shows up in Columbus. She will join a Buckeyes’ class of 2021 with the following verbal commits:
Banks is a National Honor Society Officer, Key Club President, Member of Spanish NHS (El Cid), and a National Merit Commended Scholar at Rocky River High School.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email to [email protected].