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For the third year in a row, Army West Point has drawn first blood in recruiting. University School junior Paul Moody became the first recruit of the class of 2026, handing his verbal commitment to Army yesterday.
Moody is from the Cleveland area of Ohio, where he attends University School, which is located in Hunting Valley. He also swims club for Great Waves Aquatics, which is in Chardon, OH. You can see Moody’s Instagram post announcing his commitment here.
Personal Bests, (Yards)
- 50 back – 24.55
- 100 back – 50.68
- 200 back – 1:48.74
- 50 fly – 23.19
- 100 fly – 50.20
Moody is primarily a backstroker and butterflier, with his best yards event appearing to be the 200 back at this point. It’s worth noting that Moody is coming off an exceptional LCM season, where he clocked personal bests of 2:02.11 in the 200 back and 56.80 in the 100 back. He won the 200 back at the Richmond Futures Championship in July. For context, his 2:02.11 LCM 200 back converts to around 1:44 in yards.
This past SCY season, Moody took 3rd in the 100 back (50.68) and 7th in the 100 fly (50.67) at the OHSAA Division II State Championship in Canton, OH.
While he won’t be getting to West Point until 2 years from now, it appears the Mules have picked up a very promising recruit. His 1:48.74 200 back, which he swam as a sophomore in high school this past season, would have been 4th on Army’s roster last season. If he manages to match the 1:44 converted time from his LCM performance this summer, Moody will likely be right up alongside Army’s top swimmer’s in the event this season.
Army finished 2nd in the Patriot League Championships last season, coming in just 50.5 points behind their rival, Navy. The gap between Army and 3rd-place Loyola was nearly 500 points, so it appears, at least for the time being, that the Patriot League is a two-horse race between Army and Navy.
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Now THIS is just the recruit they needed
Is it always Army first for a reason now or just pure coincidence?
Once is chance
Twice is coincidence
Three times is a pattern
Seems to be something they take pride in them. Gets them good PR, a good headline. Probably not a complete coincidence that the program has been improving in recent years.
It’s a service academy, very hard to get into and even harder as an athlete. Commitment isn’t just for swimming it’s for serving you country for the entire time at West Point and a minimum of 5 years after graduation. Takes an exceptional person to make that commitment.