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Santa Clara Swim Club’s Kenneth Thien has verbally committed to swim at Boston College beginning in the fall of 2021. Thien swim year-round for the Santa Clara Swim Club.
“I’m so excited to announce my verbal commitment to attend Boston College in the fall of 2021! I’d like to thank my parents, friends, and coaches for their nonstop support and love. I can’t wait to get to BC and be a part of this great team. Go Eagles!”
In December, Thien competed at the Speedo Winter Junior National Championships. He swam the 10o and 200 breast, and he time trialed the 200 IM. He placed 41st in the 100 breast (56.57) and 14th in the 200 breast. His 200 time of 2:00.33 was a new personal best and it earned him a spot in the B-final, where he ultimately touched 16th.
Thien most recently competed at the San Diego-Imperial Swimming Senior Classic. He swam the 50, 100, and 200 free, the 100 back, the 100 and 200 breast, and the 200 and 400 IM. He made it back for finals swims in the back, breast, and IM events. Thien won the 200 breast with a time of 2:02.08, touching 4.54 seconds ahead of the next swimmer.
He was runner-up in the 100 breast, touching 0.91 seconds behind Bakersfield Swim Club’s Kevin Bartell. His new personal best time earned him a Winter US Open cut. He was 5th in the 200 IM, 7th in the 400 IM, and 14th in the 100 back. Thien ended the meet with 7 new personal best times.
Thien is a USA Swimming Scholastic All-American.
Top SCY Times:
- 100 breast – 55.99
- 200 breast – 2:00.33
- 200 IM – 1:52.26
- 100 back – 52.87
Thien will join the Boston College Eagles in the fall of 2021. His top times would have made him one of the team’s top swimmers during the 2019-2020 season. Sami Fares swam the top time in the 100 breast for the Eagles, going 56.28. He was closely followed by Peter Shepanzyk (56.35), and Matt Clark (56.95). Shepanzyk was the team’s top 200 breaststroker, going a 2:00.99 at the Atlantic Coast Championships.
Thien will be joining versatile swimmer Will Mckinney as a member of Boston College’s class of 2025.
Boston College finished last out of 12 teams at last year’s ACC men’s championship meet. The team scored 4 individual points, all coming from Sam Roche’s 21st-place finish in the 100 back.
In Thine, they add a swimmer who is only 1.1 seconds away from ACC points in the 100 breast and less than a second away from points in the 200 yard breast.
Thien’s best times in the 100 breast and 200 breast both would already put him among the top 10 in program history. His 200 breaststroke time would rank him 4th.
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