Chicago, Illinois’ Tadzio Kurka has announced his verbal commitment to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He will join Wes Jekel in the class of 2023.
“Thrilled to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison next year! I chose UW because of the welcoming, energetic and encouraging swimmers and coaches I met on my trip. I want to thank my family, friends, teammates and coaches for helping me tackle through this recruiting process!”
Kurka is a senior at Whitney Young Magnet High School and does his club swimming with Chicago Wolfpack Aquatic Club. The 6’7” backstroker placed 12th in the 100 back at the 2018 IHSA Boys’ State Championships and finished 19th in the 200 free in prelims.
Since the fall of 2017, Kurka has been on a tear, improving dramatically in every event. He earned PBs in the 100 back and 200 free during high school, then finished SCY season with a best time in the 200 back that was 4.1 seconds better than he’d been in 2017. He also improved by 3 seconds in the 100 back and by 5.1 in the 200 free. This summer he rewrote his PBs in the LCM 50/100/200/400 free, 50/100/200 back, 100 fly, and 200 IM, dropping 5.1 in the 100 back, 8.6 in the 200 back, 4.9 in the 100 free, 9 in the 200 free, and 10 in the 400 free and 200 IM.
A U.S. Open qualifier in the 100 back and a Summer Juniors qualifier in the 200 back, his top SCY times are:
- 200 back – 1:50.38
- 100 back – 50.11
- 50 back – 24.55
- 200 free – 1:41.97
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].