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Northwestern picked two new verbal commitments for its class of 2027. Audrey J-Cheng of Los Altos, CA, and Amy Pan of Farmington Hills, MI have both announced their decision to swim for the Wildcats, beginning in the 2023-2024 season.
Audrey J-Cheng
Northwestern has picked up a verbal commitment from breaststroker Audrey J-Cheng for the fall of 2023.
J-Cheng is a junior at Sacred Heart Prep High School and she swims year-round with the Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics.
I am so excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Northwestern University! I would like to thank everyone for supporting me through this process, especially my coaches, friends, and family! Can’t wait to be a part of this amazing team! GO CATS!!
J-Cheng competed at the Speedo Winter Junior Championship West in mid-December. She made it back for finals swims in the 100 and 200 breast and the 400 IM. After the prelims heats, she was seeded 11th, 7th, and 16th, respectively. She went a 1:01.63 in the 100 breast to finish 12th and was only 0.05 seconds from the personal best time she set in prelims.
She touched 8th in the A-final of the 200 breast, picking up a lifetime best time of 2:13.66. She concluded the meet with a 10th place finish in the 400 IM. She went three seconds faster in finals than in prelims, moving her up six spots. J-Cheng went home with 2021 Winter U.S. Open cuts in the 100 and 200 breast.
J-Cheng has 2022 Summer Juniors qualifying times in the 200-meter IM and breast. She also has Winter Juniors cuts in the 200 IM and free, the 400 IM, and the 100 and 200 fly.
Top SCY Times:
- 100 breast – 1:01.58
- 200 breast – 2:13.89
- 200 IM – 2:01:33
- 400 IM 4:17.23
- 200 free – 1:48.72
Amy Pan
Amy Pan has announced her decision to swim for Northwestern’s class of 2027.
Pan is a back and sprint free specialist from Farmington Hills, MI. She swims club with the Farmington Family YMCA.
I am beyond excited and honored to announce my verbal commitment to swim and study at Northwestern University! I am so thankful for the support of my coaches, teammates, and family throughout this entire process. Go Wildcats!!
Pan most recently competed at the Speedo Winter Junior Championship East. She swam the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 back, touching 66th, 57th, and 59th, respectively. She swam right off of her best times in each event.In 2019, Pan swam at the Canadian Junior Championships in Calgary, AB, where she raced in the 13-14 age group in the 50, 100, and 200 free, the 100 and 200 back, and the 200 IM. The backstroke specialist took home a gold medal in the 100 back, clocking in at 1:04.25. Pan secured two bronze medals, touching third in the 50 free and 200 back. She finished 5th in the 100 free, 6th in the 200 free, and 10th in the 200 IM.
Pan is a Winter U.S. Open qualifier in the 100-meter back, and she has Winter Juniors qualifying times in the 100 and 200 back and the 50 and 100 free.
Top SCY Times:
- 100 back – 55.02
- 200 back – 1:59.50
- 50 free – 23.05
- 100 free – 49.97
Both women will have an immediate impact on Northwestern’s roster. During the 2020-2021 season, Pan would have been the team’s third-fastest 50 and 100 freestyler behind school record-holder Maddie Smith and Selen Ozbilen. Additionally, she would have been the second-fastest in the 200 back behind Emma Lepisova. J-Cheng would have been the 5th fastest 200 freestyler and the fourth-fastest 400 IMer.
They will be joining May Peterson, Maggie Belbot, Sydney Smith, Maggie Papanicholas, and Lexi Greenhawt as members of Northwestern’s class of 2027. This is Katie Robinson’s first recruiting class since being promoted as Northwestern’s head coach in 2020. She succeeded in picking up a diverse class so far for the 2023-2024 season. Smith will come in as a sprint freestyler, and Pan will join her as a free and back specialist. Peterson was recruited as a 53.7 backstroker and Greenhawt is a 54 fly and backstroker. Belbot is a 53.3 butterflier and J-Cheng is 4:17 400 IMer.
The class features a swimmer in each NCAA event, which can aid Northwestern in its mission to score more points at the Big Ten Championships.
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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NU on a ROLL with recruiting
That 200 back time for Amy Pan is a typo
Great pickups for Purple! Amy! I’ve seen her swim fast for years. NW looking good.
(Edit 200 BK time: 1:59.50. 1:50.50 in the W2BK would be nationally top 10 most seasons.)