**CORRECTION: I mixed up Zack Allen with Zach Allen, who lives in Texas and is NOT going to Cal Poly**
California Polytechnic State University has inked butterflier and sprint freestyle Zack Allen from the Cate School in Carpinteria, CA, for their class of 2019.
Best SCY times:
50 free – 21.80
100 free – 46.30
200 free – 1:43.10
100 fly – 50.08
Comparing Allen’s bests to Cal Poly’s 2013-2014 top times list, his 100 free sits at 4th, 200 free 8th, and 100 fly 1st for the Mustangs. This is the Cal Poly men’s team’s first year in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (they were previously part of the Pac-12), and Allen’s times are good enough for him to be an automatic contributor individually. His bests would have put him in the B final of the 100 free, 100 fly, and 200 free at the MPSF Championships last year. Cal Poly will be one of five teams in the MPSF for men’s swimming and diving (their women’s team is already in the MPSF), joining BYU, Pacific, Hawai’i, and UCSB.
Recent, significant improvements make Allen a valuable recruit. This past May at the California Div. 3 Section Championships, Allen went 47.97, a big drop from the 49.56 he went in 2013. He has since brought that down to his current best, which stands at 46.30. At the same meet in May, he was 52.24 in the 100 fly, and has since docked off over two seconds for his current best of 50.08. These kinds of drops will make head coach Tony Milich very excited as Allen continues throughout his senior year.
Allen will join a class of 2019 which includes British distance swimmer Archie Mitchell.