NEW COMMIT: Jacksonville, Fla. native and rising high school senior Rafael Nicolas Ponce De Leon has verbally committed to the University of Tennessee and will arrive in Knoxville as a member of the class of 2024.
Ponce De Leon, who owns four Winter Juniors standards, does his club swimming with Bolles School Sharks and has also represented Peru Swimming. He most recently competed at Junior Nationals where he finished 20th in the 400m free after earning a pair of best times at Gainesville Speedo Sectionals. Last winter, he raced three events at Juniors East before going on to have five top-12 finishes at the Florida Spring Championships. Also competing for Bolles School, Ponce De Leon raced the 100 free at the Florida 1A State Championships during his junior season.
He told Swimming World:
“I am so excited to announce my verbal commitment to the University of Tennessee. I am really thankful to all my family, coaches and friends who have always supported me through the journey. I cant wait to join the University of Tennessee class of 2024. GO VOLS!!!”
His best times include:
- 100 free – 46.87
- 200 free – 1:40.42
- 500 free – 4:29.87
- 1000 free – 9:33.84
- 1650 free – 15:37.57
When he suits up for the Vols at the start of the 2020-21 season, Ponce De Leon will add his freestyle talents to training groups that’ll include Ethan Sanders and Josh Walsh. Tennessee been on top of their early recruiting game: in addition to Ponce De Leon, the Vols have already snagged verbal commitments from Jordan Tiffany, Will Jackson, Jack Gillespie, Joseph Jordan, Alexander Milanovich, Jacob McDonald, Cole Whitsett and Harrison Lierz.
If you have a commitment to share, please send a photo and quote via email to hs@swimmingworld.com.
Go Vols!