South Carolina Picks Up Verbal Commitment from Distance Specialist Ryan Turner for 2024
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Still in the middle of his junior year of high school, Ryan Turner from St. Cloud, Florida has announced his verbal acceptance for the fall of 2024 and has decided to swim at the University of South Carolina. Turner will graduate from Circle Christian School next spring and is currently swimming at Highlander Aquatic Club. As a 15-year-old, Turner decided to compete in a 1000 freestyle swimming butterfly, eventually finishing in 10:59.50.
“I am very pleased to announce my oral acceptance to the University of South Carolina. I look forward to advancing my swim/academic career alongside Coach Jeff Poppell and his incredible team. I would not be where I am today without the guidance and training of Coach Todd and Coach Curley. I am very grateful to God and my family for the support. GO GAME COCKS!!!🐔”
A distance specialist, Turner has been a finalist in the 500 freestyle at the FHSAA Florida 1A Swimming and Diving State Championships, a competition historically dominated by the Bolles School, for the past two years. As a junior last November, he finished fourth in the final, timing the clock at 4:32.78. He was slightly quicker in the heats of the event, touching in 4:32.33. That swim was almost eight seconds faster than his performance the year before. During Turner’s sophomore season, he finished 10th in a then-best time of 4:40.25.
Less than a month after meeting the state championships last fall, Turner posted a pair of life-best distance race times while swimming with his club team. In the 1650 he lost nearly a second and a half to be the first to stop the clock in 15:34.40. That swim put him ahead of the field by more than 30 seconds. He also added a second personal best in the 1000 Free, touching at 9:21.47.
Outside of the pool, Turner finished in the top-8 at last spring’s Open Water Junior National Championships. Turner finished eighth in the 7.5K at this event.
Best SCY times
- 500 free – 4:30.99
- 1000 free – 9:18.97
- 1650 free – 15:34.40
South Carolina has improved rapidly in the past year and a half since the head coach Jeff Poppell took over the program. In his first season as head of the Gamecocks, they doubled their total points from the previous year at SEC Swimming and Diving 2022.
Even with a year out of high school, Turner already has some life-best performances that can bring great depth to the Gamecocks team. Last season, his personal best in the 1650 would have made him the third-fastest player on the team. His time would have been good enough to place him 29th at the 2022 SEC Championships, just 13 seconds outside of goal.
Turner will be joined by Tyler Whitacre as a freshman in the fall of 2024. Whitacre will also have the potential to compete in the distance freestyle events, with his life best at the 500 free just three seconds behind Turner’s.
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