NEW COMMIT: The University of Georgia has received their first verbal commitment for the fall of 2022 from South Africa’s Matt Sates. He will arrive in Athens as a member of the Bulldogs’ class of 2026.
An extremely versatile swimmer, Sates trains year-round with Seals A.S.C. in Pietermaritzburg. He last competed at the Grand Prix Invitational in February where he earned gold in the 400m IM and bronze in the 100m fly after winning the latter event at the South African Grand Prix in January.
At the South African Short Course National Championships last summer, he won the 200 breast, 200 IM, and 400 IM en route to recording four additional top-8 finishes. While representing South Africa internationally, Sates competed in five events at the FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest and achieved two best times.
In LCM, his best times include:
- 100m fly – 53.84
- 200m fly – 2:03.20
- 100m breast – 1:03.70
- 200m breast – 2:17.31
- 200m IM – 2:03.62
- 400m IM – 4:25.43
- 50m free – 23.76
- 100m free – 52.09
- 200m free – 1:54.12
In SCY, those times convert to:
- 100 fly – 47.17
- 200 fly – 1:48.37
- 100 breast – 55.71
- 200 breast – 1:58.99
- 200 IM – 1:48.42
- 400 IM – 3:51.34
- 50 free – 20.62
- 100 free – 45.58
- 200 free – 1:40.03
In April 2019, he won eight events at the South Africa Junior National Championships. He then went on to place fourth in the 100m fly and fifth in both the 200m IM and 200m breast at South African Nationals. Sates also competed on the FINA World Cup circuits in Eindhoven and Budapest in 2018.
Given Sates’ versatility, he will most likely find himself in a number of different events during his four years in Athens. Even with over two years before competing collegiately, he already has the potential to be a major contributor both at the conference level and at NCAAs. Georgia finished third at the 2020 SEC Championships, only 22 points behind runners-up Texas A&M.
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