“I visited Princeton last March and knew right away where I wanted to spend the next four years. The coaches, team and facilities are a swimmer’s dream; opportunities in the classroom are second to none.”
Highland Park, Illinois’ Levy Nathan has verbally committed to the application process at Princeton University.* Nathan is a senior at Highland Park High School and an Illinois State Finalist in the 200/500 free. At the 2016 IHSA Boys State Championships, Nathan placed fifth in the 200 free and 12th in the 500 free, and he swam fly on the Highland Park medley relay. His 2016 individual results were somewhat remarkable, given that in 2015 he hadn’t qualified for States in the 200, and had finished 29th in the 500. And it’s worth noting that he dropped 9.5 seconds in the 500 during that year.
Nathan, who swims for Lake Forest Swim Club, had a break-out summer in long course meters, taking his swimming to a whole new level and earning several Junior Nationals and Canadian Olympic Trials cuts. At Austin Futures he place sixth in the 1500m free, second in the 800m free, third in the 400m free, and sixth in the 200m free, all with best times. He dropped 25 seconds year-over-year in the 1500; 22.3 in the 800; 12.1 in the 400; and 5.9 in the 200m free. His top long course times are:
- 200 free – 1:53.96
- 400 free – 4:00.69
- 1500 free – 16:19.52
If he has a similar trajectory in his short course times, Nathan could be the stealth recruit of the season for the Ivy League-champion Tigers. His short course times to date are:
- 200 free – 1:40.91
- 500 free 4:36.20
- 1000 free – 9:30.03
- 1650 free – 16:01.82
Nathan will join fellow verbal commits Sam Tarter and Arthur Markley in the Princeton University class of 2021.
*IVY LEAGUE DISCLAIMER: A “verbal commitment” by a coach is not an offer of admission, as only the Admissions Office has that authority. An Ivy League coach can only commit his or her support in the admissions process.
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]