Rachel Thompson of the JCC Waves has verbally committed to Washington State, giving the Cougars their biggest public commitment of the fall so far.
Thompson is a freestyler/backstroker, and is rangy in either discipline.
In yards, her best times are:
- 50 free – 24.52
- 100 free – 51.80
- 200 free – 1:50.60
- 500 free – 4:58.47
- 100 back – 57.96
- 200 back – 2:04.59
In long course, she was a 2:04.90 in the 200 meter free at this summer’s Junior Nationals leading off the JCC’s 800 free relay. That was a few seconds better than her individual time at that same meet.
The Cougars, led by former American sprint superstar Tom Jager, have developed a solid sprint group last year and this, but as the freestyles get longer, Thompson becomes more valuable to the team. She would have been the Cougars’ best 200 freestyler last season, for example.
The Waves and their head coach Chris Duncan have an impressive roster of seniors this year, including Stanford commit Lindsey Engel and TCU commit Devin Newton.