NEW COMMIT: Lafayette, Calif. native Madeline “Maddie” Smith has opted to stay in-state for her college career and has verbally committed to UCLA as a member of the Bruins’ class of 2024.
Smith, who owns three Winter Juniors standards, does her club swimming with Orinda Aquatics and earned gold in the 200m IM at Far Westerns this past summer with four additional top-20 finishes. Last winter, she recorded a best time at Juniors West before going on to finish fourth in the 400 IM at Carlsbad Sectionals. Also competing for Campolindo High School, Smith finished seventh in the 200 IM at the 2019 CIF State Championships. Over the past three seasons, she is a six-time finalist at the CIF North Coast Section Championships.
She told Swimming World:
“I’m super excited to announce my verbal commitment to UCLA! A huge thank you goes out to everyone who has helped me get to this point. Here’s to the next four years! GO BRUINS!!”
Her best times include:
- 200 IM – 2:01.50
- 400 IM – 4:23.70
- 100 fly – 55.15
- 100 back – 55.88
- 200 back – 2:02.97
- 200 free – 1:51.94
When she arrives in Los Angeles as the start of the 2020-21 season, Smith will add her talents to a training group led by Ella Kirschke, Delaney Smith, and Sophia Kosturos. She is just shy of scoring range at the Pac-12 Championships as it took a 2:00.97/4:22.24 to place in the 200 IM/400 IM, a 55.29 in the 100 back, and a 54.46 in the 100 fly last year, but she’ll surely see some big time drops this short course season after a stellar summer.
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