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University of Pittsburgh has picked up a verbal commitment from Reading, Pennsylvania backstroker, Kohle Kerchner. Kerchner is a senior at Muhlenberg High School and a 2015 PIAA Boys AAA Swimming & Diving finalist in the 100 back and as a member of Muhlenberg’s 200 medley relay.
Kerchner is a relative newcomer to the sport of swimming, having only just begun to swim year round with Reading YMCA a year ago. He is still in that phase where he improves with nearly every race, and he still has a lot of potential for future development in college. Below are times from his first club meet in October 2014 compared to those from his championship meet, YMCA Short Course Nationals, in April 2015 as well as a mid-point meet in January of 2015:
| April 2015 | January 2015 | October 2014 | |
| 50 free | 22.63 | 22.73 | 23.29 |
| 100 free | N.S. | 50.07 | 51.76 |
| 50 back | 24.23 | N.S. | 25.68 |
| 100 back | 52.64 | 52.98 | 55.12 |
| 200 back | 1:55.13 | 1:56.08 | N.S. |
| 200 IM | 2:00.42 | 2:02.44 | N.S. |
Kerchner’s bread-and-butter event is the 100 back, which he has now brought down to 51.93. He has gone 24.20 in the 50 back, and his 50 free has been 22.11 from a flat start and 21.99 on a relay. And yet, as he points out, “I have never swum the 200 IM or 50 free shaved and tapered.”
The Panthers are getting a swimmer whose potential has barely been tapped. According to Kerchner, “Coach Knoles is extremely excited about my 50 backstroke, and I believe I have a lot for improvement in the 200 IM and the 50 free as well. I chose Pitt because I felt at home there and I loved the team, and the program. I am the first person to not only swim in my family but the first to go to college as well.”
Kerchner will have a strong cohort with whom to train; so far his fellow class of 2020 commits are Brian Ramsey, Luke Smutny, and Tommy Cestare.
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