By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam
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Paige Downey from Gilbert, Arizona, has announced her verbal commitment to Indiana University for the 2026-27 school year. She told SwimSwam:
“I chose this school because of the amazing coaching staff and swimmers! I know I will be very successful at Indiana!!”
In the same way that Tennessee is cornering the 2026 market for breaststroke talent, Indiana is loading up on distance freestylers. The Hoosiers now have the top two milers (Kayla Han and Paige Downey) in the class of 2026, and they will join distance standouts Luke Ellis (2025) and Gabriel Manteufel (2026) in the Bloomington training group.
Downey swims for Gold Medal Swim Club and is a student at Chandler Online Academy. She is our #16 girl on the Way Too Early list of top recruits from the high school class of 2026. At the 2023 Winter Juniors West, she won the 1650 free (by over 7 second with a PB of 16:11.21), placed 8th in the 500 free (PB of 4:49.65), was 21st in the 400 IM (PB of 4:21.45), and came in 86th in prelims of the 200 IM (PB of 2:06.97). In February, she knocked another 2.7 seconds off her 400 IM time, going 4:18.73. In March, she swam at Arizona LSC State Championships and updated her PBs in the 200 free (1:49.71) and 200 back (2:02.68).
Downey is a two-time member of the USA Swimming National Junior Team. She competed in the 800 free and 1500 free at 2024 Olympic Team Trials, coming in 17th (with a PB of 8:42.56) and 15th (16:36.20), respectively. She was selected to represent Team USA at the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, where she won the 1500 (PB of 16:24.58), came in 5th in the 800 free (8:44.58), was 6th in prelims of the 400 free (4:18.77), and was 12th in prelims of the 400 IM (4:58.85).
Best SCY times:
- 1650 free: 16:11.21
- 1000 free: 9:48.97
- 500 free: 4:49.65
- 200 free: 1:49.71
- 400 IM: 4:21.45
In addition to #16 Downey and #2 Han, Indiana has received verbal commitment from “Best of the Rest” commits Elizabeth Eichbrecht and Eva Rottink.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to Recruits@swimswam.com.
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Read the full story on SwimSwam: Indiana Adds Verbal Commitment from #16 Paige Downey for 2026-27