Christopher O’Connor, a rising college sophomore who raced last week at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, has entered the NCAA transfer portal. He swam his first collegiate season last year at Alabama.
“I am thankful for my experiences at the University of Alabama, however, I have decided that my talents may be best served elsewhere,” O’Connor said about his decision. “I appreciate the opportunities I had as a Crimson Tide swimmer, and look forward to what is ahead in my swimming career.”
As a rookie last year, O’Connor swam two individual events at the SEC Championships, where he scored a total of 30 points. His high finish was 11th in the 100 yard backstroke (47.58), and he also finished 13th in the 200 yard backstroke (1:43.61).
In long course at last week’s Wave II of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, O’Connor just-missed qualifying for the semi-finals in both events as well. He finished 21st in the 100 back and 19th in the 200 back, marking huge lifetime bests in both events.
During his senior season of high school, after committing to Alabama, O’Connor made big time drops, which continued into his freshman year of college. That was especially true in the 200 backstroke, where his best time at commitment dropped by more than 11 seconds to his current best time.
Time Progressions:
| PB at time of commitment | PB prior to Alabama | PB at Alabama | |
| 100 yard back | 49.06 | 47.78 | 47.1o |
| 200 yard back | 1:53.85 | 1:49.95 | 1:42.23 |
| 100 meter back | 55.39 | 55.39 | 54.85 |
| 200 meter back | 2:03.48 | 2:03.48 | 2:00.96 |
O’Connor says he continued training with Alabama in the run-up to the Olympic Trials, where he showed even more drops in long course.
Now he’ll search for a new home for the remaining three (or four) years of his collegiate career. His best time in the 200-yard backstroke was just four-tenths of a second short of what qualified for the NCAA Championship meet last season. O’Connor says he’s hoping to land somewhere new as soon as this fall.
O’Connor is a native of North Canton, Ohio where he attended Hoover High School. As a high school senior, he finished 4th in the 100 back at the Ohio High School State Championship meet.
This adds to the uphill climb of new Alabama head coach Margo Geer, who takes over the program as her first paid coaching position. Since the start of the 2020-2021 academic year, 7 Alabama men have entered the NCAA transfer portal. That list includes Matt King, Colton Stogner, Andrew Shea, Liam Bell, Alec Dixon, and Nico Hernandez-Tome. Of that group, all but O’Connor and Shea are NCAA Championship qualifiers.
Chris, it’s been a pleasure watching you tear it up in the pool! Your future is very bright! It would be awesome if you decide to stay at Bama, but best wishes wherever you swim next year and beyond !
Liam Bell is headed to Cal
I might be the only but I hope he finds himself at Texas
Hard to commit to Texas when there is no head coach to call.
“My talents may be best served elsewhere” Wow
Sounds like someone else from north Ohio.
Former club teammate of Hunter Armstrong… could he Buckeye bound? Time will tell
This is a risky move because Christopher had great success in the Alabama program. But if he insists on leaving, I think he should become an Indiana Hoosier. After putting 13 swimmers and divers into the Olympics, Indiana University is truly where your Olympic dreams become reality! Plus, Christopher would have a great opportunity to achieve his goals under the watchful eye of GOAT & Hall of Fame Coach Ray Looze and his staff…
SwimSwam Staff, can we please have a podcast, or even a Gold Medal Minute, featuring Guerra? There must be hundreds of SwimSwam fans who would like to know who Guerra is.
Coaches not answering emails
Very poor functionality
This transition is not bearing fruit
Interesting