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NCAA Relay Qualifier Elijah Sohn Announces Transfer to SMU

Elijah Sohn has announced that he is transferring to Southern Methodist University after spending one season at Texas A&M. 

During his time at Texas A&M, Sohn was an NCAA relay-qualifier, earning CSAA All-American status as a member of the 400 freestyle relay that finished 16th overall at the 2021 Championships. At the conference level, Sohn was an SEC Championships finalist in the 200 freestyle, where he finished 21st in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:36.58.

With the extra year of eligibility granted to athletes due to COVID-19, Sohn should still have a full 4 years of eligibility remaining at SMU. 

Best Times SCY

  • 50 freestyle – 20.21
  • 100 freestyle – 43.85
  • 200 freestyle – 1:35.53
  • 500 freestyle – 4:29.09
  • 100 butterfly – 49.40 
  • 200 butterfly – 1:49.47

Sohn will have an immediate impact on SMU’s roster the minute he steps on campus. His best time in the 200 freestyle would have ranked 1st on SMU’s roster last season by almost a second. In addition, Sohn’s time would have won the 200 freestyle at the 2021 American Athletic Conference Championships, where the top time was a 1:36.07. In fact, Sohn also would have placed top-5 in the Championships in both the 50 and 100 freestyle as well, as his times would have ranked him 4th and 3rd, respectively. Given his rankings in all 3 events, Sohn will also play a role in SMU’s relays. 

At the 2021 AAC Championships, the SMU men placed 1st overall, with Cincinnati the only other men’s team in the league. SMU sent one swimmer, breaststroker Caleb Rhodenbaugh to the 2021 Men’s NCAA Championships, but he did not score any points. 

Sohn will begin next fall with Davis Edwards and Cole Burns, who are both transfers, and the new members of the SMU class of 2025: Angus Corbeau, Ben Binder, Cotton Fields, Joe Rusnock, Joshua Miller, Max Zuanich, Pierce Thionville, Rob McCall, Russell Exum, Rylan Stevenson, Samuel Tiblier, and Sawyer Inglis. The class is arguably their best in a decade, and one of the first since hiring Missouri head coach Greg Rhodenbaugh.

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].

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TXSwimmom
3 years ago

Regardless of how his transfer happened, Elijah will be a good get for SMU. Good Luck. I hope the fit is better for you.

John
3 years ago

wasn’t he asked to leave tamu

Nice
3 years ago

What a nice looking young man! I wonder what his opinion on the lgbt community is.

Elijah
Reply to  Nice
3 years ago

Please don’t disrespect my religious beliefs it’s my excuse to hate on other people for things they didn’t choose

2Fat4Speed
Reply to  Nice
3 years ago

Why is this question being asked?

Swimminsammy
Reply to  2Fat4Speed
3 years ago

Way to stereotype. Pot meet kettle. If you think SMU is a religious school, you have no clue what you’re talking about.

aggieswammer
Reply to  Swimminsammy
3 years ago

Everybody’s dancing around it, but since Swimmingsammy is now getting mad about it, I’ll just address it straight on:

Elijah took a very vocal, very anti-LGBTQ stance at A&M that alienated him from his teammates and most of the student body. That includes commenting lots of anti-LGBTQ stuff on the school’s official Instagram channels. He was known to relentlessly drag his anti-LGBTQ and other bigotted perspectives into a lot of conversations, even when it wasn’t the topic at hand, and this further alienated him from his teammates. He feels he was being “persecuted” for his Christianity.

Swimminsammy is right – SMU is not a very religious school given that it has “Methodist” as part of the name. Heck, the average… Read more »

c c
Reply to  aggieswammer
3 years ago

those shorts making him look very part of the lgbtq community

Texas Swimming
3 years ago

Ponies coming in hot, this class is quick. Props to Coach Dawley and Rody

Inquisition
3 years ago

I would be interested in swimswam digging into the roles assistants play in programs. No disrespect to Coach Rhodenbaugh, but from what I’ve been told many college head coaches are fairly hands off in the day to day operations and recruiting. If true, shouldn’t we be praising assistants for their hard work and elevating programs through the recruiting process?
Who even is the assistant at SMU?
What assistants are highly regarded foe their recruiting prowess?

Bigger-n-TX
Reply to  Inquisition
3 years ago

SMU has really been on a hot streak since bringing in Rody and Naya 2 years ago! Great work by both to get SMU moving in the right direction! Can’t wait to see what they do with the program!

JohnnyJohn
3 years ago

Hopefully he can get his ego in check at SMU

Swimfan
Reply to  JohnnyJohn
3 years ago

I heard the A&M team was awful and dysfunctional.. I’m sure he just wanted to get out of there. Good luck Elijah! You have a bright future!

Questionable
Reply to  Swimfan
3 years ago

Hmm a team that has improved in the NCAA ranks every season… not adding up

JohnnyJohn
Reply to  Swimfan
3 years ago

If the A&M team is “awful and dysfunctional”, then where are all the other transfers?

Texas A&M Swim Fan
Reply to  JohnnyJohn
3 years ago

Précisely! No evidence of such!

Austinpoolboy
3 years ago

Will SMU join big 12?

Bystander
Reply to  Austinpoolboy
3 years ago

West Virginia and tcu certainly don’t want that to happen. With this class alone it would appear that SMU would be the odds on favorite to win the Big 12 once Texas leaves.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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