By Laura Rosado on SwimSwam
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Chris Smith has announced he will join the University of Virginia’s stacked recruiting class of 2025, adding even more breaststroke depth to the Hoos. Smith represents South Africa and holds the World Junior Record in the 50 breaststroke (SCM).
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Before this year, none of the announced recruits to UVA’s class of 2025 were breaststroke specialists. That started to change after the calendar turned to the new year. In January, we reported on the addition of Finnish breaststroke specialist Davin Lindholm. Smith is more sprint focused than Lindholm, meaning this class now has no glaring weaknesses on paper.
The highlight of Smith’s 2024 was his appearance at Short Course Worlds where he broke the 50 breaststroke World Junior Record in semifinals (25.66). In finals, he added just over a tenth to finish 8th overall (25.77). Smith also improved his time in the 100 breast, getting under 58 for the first time in prelims and finishing 14th overall (57.11). Leading off South Africa’s 4×50 mixed free relay, Smith also swam under his best time in the 50 free (21.80), though it doesn’t count as an official time.
Smith’s converted time in the 100 would place him #3 all-time in UVA history. His 200 breast abilities aren’t on the same level as his sprint events, but he saw huge improvement in the last year. In the 2024 edition of the South African Short Course Championships, his final time (2:13.91) was almost a ten second improvement from his performance just one year prior (2:23.81).
Converted Times (SCM → SCY)
- 50 breast – 25.66 → 23.11
- 100 breast – 57.11 → 51.45
- 200 breast – 2:13.91 → 2:00.63
- 50 free – 21.80 → 19.63 (mixed relay lead-off)
UVA competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The men have lagged behind the women’s success, only placing 5th last year, but the influx of next year’s recruiting class will be a huge help to the momentum being built in Charlottesville.
Smith’s converted time in the 100 breast would have earned him an A final berth at 2024 ACCs. Besides the 200 breast, the 50 free could also pan out as an individual event based on his mixed relay performance in Budapest.
In addition to Smith and Lindholm, UVA is bringing in five of SwimSwam’s Top 20 recruits for the Class of 2025: #1 Thomas Heilman, #2 Maximus Williamson, #4 Nathan Szobata, #9 Thomas Mercer, and #13 Blake Amlicke.
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Read the full story on SwimSwam: UVA Adds South African World Junior Record Holder Chris Smith to Class of 2025