YMCA National Champ John Rusnock (2025) Sends Verbal Commitment to Princeton

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John Rusnock from Suffield, Connecticut, has announced his verbal commitment to the application process* at Princeton University. He will be the third Rusnock sibling to compete in the NCAA, following sister Mary Rusnock, who ran track at Connecticut College, and brother Joe Rusnock, an Olympic Trials qualifier who currently swims at SMU.

“I am honored and excited to announce my commitment to the admissions process at Princeton University. I would like to thank Coach Mario Francisco Sobrinho from the Farmington Valley YMCA, my coaches and the staff at Suffield Academy, and my teammates. I’d also like to thank my family for their support. Thank you Coach Crispino and Coach Nonnenberg for this opportunity. I can’t wait to get to Princeton to race and learn. Go Tigers! 🐅”

Rusnock is a rising senior at Suffield Academy where he is a USA Swimming Scholastic All-American and NISCA All-American. He does his year-round swimming with the Farmington Valley YMCA Tsunamis.

At Suffield Academy, where he also plays water polo, Rusnock won the 200 IM and 100 fly at the 2024 Division I New England Prep School Swimming and Diving Championships (NEPSAC) in March. He notched PBs in both events (1:45.95/47.56) and broke New England prep school records, pool records, and meet records in both events. He garnered All-NEPSAC honors and received the Babcock Award, given to the swimmer who best represents the values of New England prep school swimming.

Later in March, Rusnock won both the 200 fly (1:46.44) and 200 IM (1:46.44, not a typo) at the YMCA Short Course National Championships in Greensboro. He was also runner-up in the 400 IM (3:52.03) and third in the 100 fly (47.81).

He kicked off 2024 long course season with lifetime bests in the 100 free and 100 breast in June at the MAC Spring Invite; the rest of his LCM times date from last summer’s long course YNats, where he was a top-8 finisher in the 50 fly (25.26), 100 fly (55.85), and 200 fly (2:05.92), and a top-16 finisher in the 100 back (59.63) and 200 IM (2:09.23).

Rusnock will join Jiarui Xue, Oliver Rowe, Alex Townsend, and Jake Tarara in the Princeton men’s class of 2029. He will continue the Princeton IM tradition, with times that would already score in the A final of the 200 IM and the B finals of the 100/200 fly and 400 IM at Ivy League Men’s Championships.

Best SCY times:

• 200 IM – 1:45.94
• 400 IM – 3:52.03
• 100 fly – 47.56
• 200 fly – 1:46.44

*Note: A verbal commitment between an Ivy League coach and a prospective student-athlete is not an offer of admission, as only the Admission Office has that authority. The coach can only commit his or her support in the admission process. Ivy League Admission Offices do not issue “Likely Letters” before October 1 of the prospective student-athlete’s senior year of high school. The Likely Letter, while issued after an initial read of the student’s application, is not an offer of admission to the university.

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