Pac-12 Champion Caroline Pennington Transferring to Florida From USC
Coach Anthony Nesty continues to strengthen the rosters at the University of Florida. One day after it was announced that Canadian Olympian and rising star Joshua Liendo was bound for Gainesville, the school revealed that Caroline Pennington will become a Gator. As a freshman, Pennington was the 2022 Pac-12 champion in the 1650-yard freestyle for the University of Southern California, and her presence will provide immediate support for Florida in the distance events.
Pennington was 11th in the 1650 free at the NCAA Championships and owns a personal best in the event of 15:48.69. She also contested the 500 freestyle at NCAAs, along with handling a leg on USC’s 800 freestyle relay. A CSCAA Scholar All-American, Pennington was a member of the United States Junior National Team and competed at the 2020 United States Olympic Trials in Omaha.
As a distance swimmer, Pennington should not only benefit from the guidance of Nesty, but also from the presence of volunteer assistant coach Katie Ledecky, the greatest distance swimmer in history. Ledecky has supported Nesty as a volunteer coach since she shifted her training from Stanford University to Gainesville.