Joe Widuch of Naperville, Illinois, has made a verbal agreement to head west to the University of Redlands in the fall of 2015.
Widuch attends Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville and swims with Fox Valley Swim Team. As a sophomore at the Illinois High School state meet, Widuch finished 30th in the 100 back (53.62) and led of Neuqua Valley’s 200 medley relay. A year later he placed 18th in the 50 free (21.82) and 13th in the 100 back (51.87). This time he anchored the medley and also swam on the 4×100 free relay; both made finals.
Widuch’s best times over the last two years are:
| 50y back: 24.34 | 50m back: 27.93 |
| 100y back: 50.99 | 100m back: 1:00.73 |
| 200y back: 1:53.16 | 200m back: 2:13.27 |
| 50y fly: 23.67 | 50m fly: 26.83 |
| 50y free: 21.71 | 50m free: 24.71 |
| 100y free: 47.98 | 100m free: 54.63 |
At the 2014 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships, the third-place Bulldogs could have used Widuch’s points in the 50 free and 100/200 backstroke events. His best times would easily have made the B, A, and A-finals, respectively; Redlands had only one entrant in each of those A-finals.
Widuch could also follow in the footsteps of fellow Naperville native and three-time NCAA champion Jeff Depew with a trip to NCAA Division 3 Championships. Depew has won the 200 IM as a freshman, sophomore and junior. He is in his last season at Redlands so the two won’t overlap.
Jeff Depew won the 200 IM as a freshman as well. He’ll be gunning for a 4 peat this year.