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Avery Clapp has verbally committed to Johns Hopkins University as a member of the class of 2022. The Cincinnati, Ohio native will become one of the best recruits in program history with times that would already make a national impact at the NCAA Division III level.
Clapp was a finalist at the 2022 Ohio High School State Championship meet in Division I, for the state’s biggest schools. He finished 5th in the 100 back and 4th in the 100 fly at that meet, swimming best times in both events.
Showing what an anomaly his commitment to a D3 program is: the other 7 swimmers in the A-final of that 100 back, all juniors and seniors, have committed to swim a Division I ‘Power 5’ program.
Clapp said that he’s always envisioned a different path for himself, though.
“Growing up, I always admired the academic upper-echelon schools like Johns Hopkins or WashU, universities known around the world for their academic excellence,” Clapp said o his choice to go D3. WashU is another D3 school with a top-tier swimming program. “Since then, I have always seen myself going to one of these elite-level schools to challenge myself academically and in the pool.
“I believe that choosing a D3 school and specifically, Johns Hopkins, was and still is the best choice for me. Not only are they obviously very competitive in D3 with swimming, but that, coupled with the academic stature of the university, made it the perfect choice for me. So when I was offered the spot last July, I took it and haven’t looked back since.”
Clapp’s Best Times in Yards:
- 50 free – 21.05
- 100 free – 45.70
- 100 back – 48.13
- 200 back – 1:45.02
- 100 fly – 47.31
- 200 fly – 1:44.80
Johns Hopkins doesn’t compete in a conference in swimming, but did place 2nd at last year’s NCAA Division III Championships, 88 points behind champions Emory.
Clapp’s best times would have already put him the A-Final in multiple races at last year’s NCAA Division III Championships.
Clapp’s Best Times Compared to 2022 NCAA Championships:
- 200 fly – 2nd
- 200 back – 4th
- 100 fly – 5th
- 100 back – 6th
This projects him to add at least 40 individual points to the Blue Jays’ point total at the NCAA Championships immediately.
What’s more, he’ll help fill the prodigious gap left in the JHU relays by the graduation of swimmers like Max Chen, Jeffrey Vitek, and Nat Davenport, all of whom were on the team’s third-place 400 medley relay at last year’s NCAA Championships.
His best time in the 100 back is a second-and-a-half faster than the team’s best 100 back last season. His best time in the 100 fly is almost two seconds better than the team’s best returning swimmer on a flat start in that event. His times in the 200 fly and 200 back are both already better than the school records, and he is well ahead of the school’s freshman records in all four races.
He joins a breakthrough class at Johns Hopkins that could be enough to return them to the top of the table in Division III. The Blue Jays won three consecutive NCAA titles from 1977 through 1979, but 2022 was their first return to the top two since 2008.
Besides Clapp, JHU has 2022 commitments from Andrew Huang (55.9/2:00.6 breaststroker), Matthew Hartshorn (1:51.0/3:54.4 IMer), Bryce Lloyd (3:58.6 IMer), and Shawn Zhou (45.0/1:40.7 freestyler). Huang’s 200 breast time would have scored at last year’s NCAA Championship meet as well, and several others in that group are not too far off either.
Clapp attends Sycamore High School and trains with the Mason Manta Rays. That is the same high school and club team that counts among its alumni US National Team members Carson Foster and Jake Foster. Clapp’s time in the 200 fly already qualifies him for the 2022 US Summer National Championships.
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“Huang’s 200 breast time would have scored at last year’s NCAA Championship meet as well, and several others in that group are not too far off either.” You forgot Hartshorn’s 400 IM would have placed top 5
This is an absolutely massive pickup and part of a stellar class. Im excited to see him duke it out for NCAA titles next year. The improvement curve is just as exciting as the PBs
Go Hop!
Just imagine how good Hopkins would be if our pool wasn’t under construction until October
We are getting closer and closer to having a Top 30 recruit decide to go D3. Swimmers are realizing they can get an amazing education while also swimming on a very competitive D3 team. D3 is getting faster and faster by the year, just as the Ivies are moving up as well.
It could end up getting to the point where we see a top 10 ranked recruit commit to a D3 school but I really only see that happening if either the parent was an alumni of the school or if the recruit is actually interested in that school more than getting a scholarship.
I think it would be great if swimmers chose their school based off of the actual SCHOOL and TEAM (like you said) rather than school name. I think that is where this push towards D3 might rock up the whole swim recruiting sphere. Of course people will always want to swim for Texas or Cal (I know people that go to Texas and absolutely love it as a school and team), but I think more people will start dropping this whole though process of “I have to go D1 to be elite”
Yep agree with everything you have said. Andrew Wilson has shown that you can be elite from any level in the sport. I think we are now beginning to see the effects of this. The hope is at some point that swimming for Denison, Kenyon, Emory, MIT, JHU, DePauw or any D3 school could be looked at in the same regard as a Cal, Texas especially since roster spots at D1 schools are likely going to be even more competitive now than they already are with schools paying their athletes.
Bro really tried to sneak DePauw in there
Wow he’s only been club swimming for 3 years
I know Avery is just off the D3 records but has there ever been a D3 recruit that committed with times faster than D3 records?
I can’t think of any, but maybe. Sam Szenczyszyn was just .2 away from the 100 breast record when she went to UW Eau Claire.
Logan Todhunter was a 55.07 in the 1 fly as a junior in high school, the D3 record was a 55.16 at the time.
Kristen Cornish
I just checked, and I can’t find evidence that this is true.
She was close, though.
https://staging2.swimswam.com/4-seconds-off-ncaa-d3-1650-record-kristin-cornish-commits-to-johns-hopkins/
Crile Hart?
Super cool kid loves the sport enough to do it for free. Definitely a stud