As announced by the University of Georgia, Portia Del Rio Brown of Broadview Heights, Ohio, has signed a National Letter of Intent to swim with the Bulldogs as part of the Class of 2022. The announcement was made via Instagram:
Brown was homeschooled for the 8th and 9th grades, but has been competing for The Hawken School for last two years. During those last two seasons at Hawken, Brown has finaled in both the 200 yard IM (2 third place finishes) and the 200 yard freestyle (second and seventh place finishes) at the Ohio State Championships. At the club level, she trains with the Lake Erie Silver Dolphins, and has two Junior National time cuts in her best event, the 200 IM (short course yards and long course meters). At this summer’s Futures long course meet in Santa Clara, Brown finished third in the 200 IM (2:22.43). Her best times are:
| Event | SCY | LCM |
| 100 Free | 53.42 | 59.31 |
| 200 Free | 1:50.92 | 2:05.83 |
| 200 IM | 2:01.34 | 2:22.41 |
| 400 IM | 4:25.98 | 5:04.82 |
| 100 Back | 57.88 | 1:05.90 |
The Bulldogs have a history of success with both male and female IM swimmers. On the women’s side, recent standouts include Olympians Melanie Margalis and Hali Flickinger, as well as Olympic Trials finalist Emily Cameron. In addition, senior Meaghan Raab is the reigning U.S. Open Champion in the 200 meter IM. While Brown will miss out on competing with Raab, she will have numerous other training partners including current junior Caitlin Casazza (1:59.09 in the 200 yard IM) and freshmen Sammie Burchill (1:56.67 out of high school), Danielle Della Torre (1:59.90 out of high school), and Courtney Harnish (2:00.69 out of high school). She will be joined by fellow signees Madison Homovich (4:11.66 in the 400 yard IM) and Olivia Carter (1:57.92 in the 200 yard IM) in Athens in the Fall.
In spite of the perennially-absent breaststroker, Georgia still has one of the most well-rounded recruiting classes heading into the 2018-2019 season. Brown, along with Homovich and Carter, join #1 Eva Merrell, Worlds Finalist Dakota Luther, Junior FINA World Champion Gabrielle Fa’amausili, Callie Dickinson, Tatum Smith, and Caroline Aikins as part of Georgia’s women’s swim team Class of 2022.
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