Former Junior College star Billy Cruz has signed to use his final season of college eligibility at Indiana University.
Cruz, who was raised in Montreal but represents Mexico internationally, broke through in November 2019 while swimming at Iowa Central Community College. During a fall invite, he swam 19.10 in the 50 yard free on a relay leadoff, which was the second-best time in NJCAA history.
He ended that year as an NJCAA Champion in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly.
He then transferred to USC for the 2020-2021 season, though he was never really able to recapture his form. His best 50 free time for the Trojans came at the 2021 Pac-12 Championships, where he swam 19.87 to place 11th.
He was also 15th in the 100 free (43.88) and 16th in the 100 fly (47.88) at that meet.
He began the 2021-2022 season with USC, but wound up not finishing the year, racing last for the Trojans at the January 2022 UCSB Invitational.
He entered the transfer portal after that year, but wound up swimming for the USC Collegiate Club team in the 2022-2023 season, where he swam 19.94 to win the Collegiate Club National Champion in the 50 free.
He also won the 50 fly (21.53), 100 free (44.46), and finished 2nd in the 100 fly (48.30).
Best Times in Yards:
- 50 free – 19.10
- 100 free – 43.33
- 100 fly – 47.39
If he can recapture his Iowa Central form, Cruz becomes immediately valuable for Indiana, who finished 4th at the NCAA Championship meet. His best times would have ranked him 2nd in the 50 free, 6th in the 100 free, and 5th in the 100 fly on Indiana’s roster last season.
With the team’s top sprinter Van Mathias out of eligibility, Cruz’s potential becomes even more valuable for the Hoosiers going forward.
Cruz represented Mexico internationally at the 2016 Junior Pan Pacs Championships, 2017 World Junior Championships, and 2018 Youth Olympic Games. He finished 7th in the 50 free at Junior Pan Pacs, 27th at the 2017 World Junior Championships, and 15th at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
He also made a final in the 50 back at the 2018 Youth Olympics.
But can he swim breaststroke?
He is an all around swimmer
I believe he should focus more on 200 IM instead of being a Sprinter
But I know this guy has untapped potential raw talent and let’s see how he does under Ray at Indiana
WHY??? So many better options out there.
Full circle ⭕️ back to the B1G. He first committed to the Gophers didn’t he?
I don’t remember that and can’t find any evidence. But could be true.
Is USC justice Billy Cruz? Or someone related to him at least.
I’m just someone who follows the Trojans legacy and I had hopes for him when he was 1st recruited.
And because I care about USC Swimming team I hope he does well at Indiana to show that Lea Maurer is far from being the right person for the job.
Someone previously mentioned how she finish many dreams.
This guy continue to swim at the university club and now he got his 2nd chance.
Ray refuse USC but at least took Billy out.
I’m curious to see if he will be able to help him more importantly to see what capabilities does the kid really has
IU wins the battle signing Cruz, Purdue wins the war taking the combined title (just a friendly reminder, F IU)
Purdue’s club team is pretty good.
Time will say
My money is on this young protege that unfortunately didn’t have the opportunity to prove himself because so many chaos at USC and then Lea Maurer who is by far the worst coach ever for USC legacy
maybe USC and Bama should merge … as the song goes “lets go all the way”
He’s never really backed up that 19.1 swim almost like it was an anomaly. Time will tell I guess.
It was leading off a relay and I guess you never know, that could have been the absolute perfect race, he was a second faster than anyone else so very clean water too. Will be interesting to see if IU can do a better job bringing it out than Iowa state community college, hard to do a worse job than USC
I believe he was never able to reach his true potential because his choice was unfortunately surrounded by so many changes
My money is on Coach Ray to push his limits a d we will be able to see his true capabilities
John Long is an underrated sprint coach and his swimmers seem to enjoy his style. Moving to a more pleasant environment alone can improve performance.
To be honest I’m not sure if you can say a coach at a school like Indiana is underrated, he got there for a reason
Compared to other more known sprint coaches, I think it’s fair to say John Long is underrated
I actually think he’s doing pretty well, but I feel like it’s more fair to say the other sprint coaches are just overrated. Luck can play a pretty great role in peoples success and that’s why a lot of other sprint coaches may be more well known, consistent success is what proves a great coach, not one hit wonders
He’s overrated as a sprint coach. It comes down to recruiting and that really isn’t his strength either.
https://staging.swimswam.com/usc-sprint-star-billy-cruz-19-10-50-yard-free-enters-ncaa-transfer-portal/#comment-1096081
Prophet Guerra spoke this into existence
I’m sure we haven’t seen what he can truly achieve
And I’m rooting for him to do well because under Lea Maurer USC legacy is suffering and the sport athletic directors seems like they don’t care or maybe because is not football or basketball she can get away with murder
Paging Guerra … this is a huge get for the Hoosiers.