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Joshua Staples from Brisbane, Australia, has committed to swim and study at Northwestern University in the class of 2028.
Staples is a freestyle specialist who trains at St Peters Western Swim Club and represents Australia internationally. He had an outstanding performance at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, where he won gold in the 400m free, 800m free, 1500m free, and 4×200 free relay, and came away with lifetime-best times in the 400 (3:48.36), 800 (7:56.29), and 1500 (15:18.54) free. He also earned his best time in the 200m free that season, albeit in May at the Australian Championships in Adelaide.
In April 2023, Staples picked up a PB in the 200 IM, when placed 5th in the final at the Australian Championships in Southport. This year, he notched a massive best time in the 400 IM at the Australian Open, dropping 3.4 seconds to clock in at 4:22.33.
Staples will join the Wildcats in the fall of 2024 with swimmers Alexander Rousseau, Kyle Wang, Tristan Prizler, and Wiley Spinner and diver Nolan Rooker. His converted time in the 200 free would have led Northwestern last season and he would have ranked #2 in the 500 free and the 1650 free. His 200/500/1000/1650 times would all rank among NU’s all-time top-10 performances.
Northwestern finished 6th out of 8 teams at the 2024 B1G Championships. Staples’ converted mile time would have scored 7th, while his 500 time would have made the “A” Final. The 2024-25 season will be even more competitive, as USC and UCLA (as well as Oregon and Washington, but the latter two do not sponsor swimming and diving) have recently join the conference.
Best LCM times (converted):
- 200 free – 1:49.48 (1:35.74)
- 400 free – 3:48.36 (4:15.86)
- 800 free – 7:56.29 (8:53.65)
- 1500 free – 15:18.54 (15:00.52)
- 200 IM – 2:02.44 (1:47.42)
- 400 IM – 4:22.33 (3:50.56)
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Good luck to him, quality signing.
Go Cats!