Freestyler Aidan Pastel has verbally committed to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, as the program now turns their recruiting efforts toward bringing the men’s class up to speed with a strong women’s group in the class of 2016.
Pastel is currently training with NCAP, however his father is a United States Marine, meaning that he’s moved around a lot. He spent the last two years training with San Clemente Aquatics in Southern California. “It’ll be very interesting to see what being on a single team for more than one or two years will be like,” Pastel joked.
Pastel’s Bet Times:
- 50 free – 20.70
- 100 free – 45.26
- 200 free – 1:39.09
- 500 free – 4:34.73
- 100 breast – 59.86
- 200 breast – 2:06.77
- 200 IM – 1:52.89
His next move to Atlanta can’t come soon enough for the Yellow Jackets after they graduated their top two sprinters – Andrew Kosic and Nico van Duijn – from last year’s team.
If he were arriving at Georgia Tech today, his 50 and 100 yard freestyle best times would rank him 4th and 5th, respectively, for this team. His 1:39.09 in the 200 free would put him 4th as well, so he’ll be expected to develop into at least a three relay contributor for Courtney Hart’s squad, with top-end potential as a medley relay anchor.
I chose Georgia Tech because of the combination of elite academics as well as swimming. I made an instant connection with the guys, and the campus is gorgeous. It felt like the place for me, and I’m super excited to be a Yellow Jacket!
During his junior season, Pastel didn’t clear any of his lifetime bests, but he did come very close to them. This year, he’ll return to the Burke site of the megalithic NCAP program where he’ll train under Peter Morgan alongside class of 2016’s #2 sprinter James Jones (a Michigan commit).
Pastel is the second Georgia Tech commitment who has announced their decision to SwimSwam. The other is Brennan Day, who is a distance swimmer.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email to [email protected]
Great kid. He has a ton of potential and will hopefully find his niche at GT.