William Coakley of Katy, Texas has verbally committed to the in-state Aggies of Texas A&M University for 2019-20. Coakley swims for Katy Aquatics Team for Youth and attends Seven Lakes High School. At the Texas UIL 6A State Championships in March, he finished 3rd in the 200 free (1:39.50) and 5th in the 500 free (4:30.94), but his best times in both distances came out of 2017 Winter Junior Nationals West. There, he went a best time of 1:38.27 leading off KATY’s 4×200 free relay, contributing to their third-place finish. He also achieved PBs in the 500 free, placing 6th, and the 1650 free (25th).
Coakley has improved significantly over the last two years and now has national time standards in all the freestyle events from the 200 to the mile. His progression has been impressive:
| 2016 | 2017/18 | |
| 200y free | 1:43.69 | 1:38.27 |
| 500y free | 4:38.98 | 4:23.70 |
| 1000y free | 9:39.01 | 9:17.52 |
| 1650y free | 16:18.03 | 15:41.84 |
Coakley will join his club teammate Coco Bratanov on the Aggies’ roster next fall; Bratanov is a freshman this year. Texas A&M had a weak showing in the distance events last season; they didn’t score at SEC Championships in the 500, and their only point in the 1650 came from then-freshman Felipe Rizzo. Coakley is just off scoring position in the 500 free at the conference level; in 2018 it took 4:22.40 to get a second swim. In the 1650, Rizzo’s 15:21.07 was the 24th-place time. Coakley will join a distance free group headed by current sophomore Rizzo and freshman Luke Stuart.
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congrats from headphone boi
Great choice William! Good luck “in & out” of the water in Aggieland. Gig em forever!