SwimSwam Ahmed Hafnaoui Transfers To Florida, 16-Year-Old Shin Ohashi Dazzles In Japan

Hafnaoui Heads To Florida: Tokyo Olympic champion Ahmed Hafnaoui will return to the NCAA after announcing his commitment to the University of Florida after a brief stint at Indiana during the 2023-24 season.

Also: Japan has another breaststroke star on the rise in Shin Ohashi, the U.S. and Canadian World Junior Championship rosters are announced, and the Save Cal Poly Swim & Dive group launches a new campaign following the school's rejection of the $10 million raised.

Ahmed Hafnaoui Commits To Florida, Hopes To Compete Next Season

Olympic gold medalist and two-time world champion Ahmed Hafnoaui confirmed to SwimSwam on Saturday that he's committed to the University of Florida and has plans on competing for the Gators in the 2025-26 season.

Hafnaoui, 22, entered the NCAA transfer portal in December after spending the early stages of the 2023-24 campaign at Indiana. He only ended up competing in two meets in October for the Hoosiers before moving to California to train with The Swim Team (TST) and Mark Schubert.

After temporarily going back to Tunisia due to visa issues, Hafnaoui ended up missing the 2024 Olympics due to what was reportedly an undisclosed injury.

This past April, Hafnaoui received a 21-month anti-doping suspension from the International Testing Agency (ITA) for three whereabouts failures. The suspension went into effect on April 11, 2024, and will run through January 10, 2026.

However, the NCAA is not a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code; it follows its own testing policies and is not necessarily bound by suspensions issued by the ITA or World Aquatics. In the past, athletes suspended by international bodies have been allowed to continue competing at the collegiate level.

Read more here.

Shin Ohashi Breaks World Junior Record With 2:07 200 Breast At 16

The Japanese breaststroke legacy is alive and well as a new star has emerged in the form of Shin Ohashi.

Ohashi, 16, put up a time of 2:07.27 in the men's 200 breast at the Osaka High School Swimming Championships over the weekend, breaking the World Junior Record of 2:08.01 set by China's Dong Zhihao in 2023. It was also faster than Qin Haiyang's mark of 2:07.35 from 2017, which is the fastest time ever from a junior, though was not officially recognized as the WJR.

Ohashi's previous best time stood at 2:08.89, set last month on the Mare Nostrum Tour. He now ranks 2nd in the world this season, with Japan owning four of the top five spots.

Ohashi also put up a time of 59.03 in the 100 breast, knocking off his previous best of 59.56 to narrowly miss the World Junior Record of 59.01 set by Italian Nicolo Martinenghi in 2017.

Ohashi ranks 4th in the world this season and is now 3rd all-time among Japanese swimmers.

Read more here.

U.S. Names 45 To World Junior Roster, Swimming Canada Selects 26

USA Swimming and Swimming Canada announced their rosters for the 2025 World Junior Swimming Championships last Wednesday, with the competition set to take place August 19-24 in Otopeni, Romania.

Both rosters were selected based on the results of the country's respective National Championships (U.S. Nationals and Canadian Swimming Trials), which wrapped up earlier this month.

The U.S. named 45 swimmers to its roster, headlined by the star female trio of Charlotte Crush, Audrey Derivaux and Rylee Erisman, who all qualified to swim five individual events at the championships.

The girls' team features 19 swimmers, while the boys' team has 26.

On the boys’ side, three swimmers qualified in three individual events: Aiden Hammer, Gavin Keogh and Gabe Nunziata.

See the full U.S. roster here.

The Canadian roster will feature 26 swimmers, 11 boys and 15 girls, including three members of the 2025 World Championship team: Ella Cosgrove, Madison Kryger and Oliver Dawson.

Unlike Canada, the U.S. has a distinction in its qualifying criteria that didn't allow any swimmers who qualified to compete at the World Championships to be selected for World Juniors.

See the full Canadian roster here.

Cal Poly Supporters Launch New Campaign To Save Swim & Dive Program

The Save Cal Poly Swim & Dive group is making one last attempt to revive the program after the school rejected the $10 million raised last week.

With donors to the original campaign having been refunded, the new initiative is being called "The Final Push," with funds now directed toward legal and strategic expenses, public awareness efforts, and any reinstatement-related costs approved by a committee of current and former swimmers and divers.

The new GoFundMe campaign says:

“My name is Sofia Vargas. Both my brother, Camilo Vargas, and I were proud members of the Cal Poly Swim and Dive team. As many of you know, this program meant the world to us and to countless other student-athletes who called the Anderson Aquatic Center home.

“We are also the current owners of the @savecpswimdive Instagram account managed by a committee of fellow Cal Poly swimmers and divers.

“When we first launched this fundraiser, we promised to return all donations if the team was reinstated. Since reinstatement has not happened, all previous donations have been returned.

“But our fight is not over. We are relaunching this campaign to fund the next phase of our efforts to bring back the Cal Poly Swim and Dive team by Fall 2025. This time, we are asking for your support to help us cover the real costs of making that goal possible.”

Last Monday, Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong announced that the original efforts to save the school’s swim & dive program fell well short and therefore, the teams would not be revived.

“While I appreciate the significant annual support and revocable bequests that have been identified, the fundraising effort has fallen well short of the goal to reinstate the program,” Armstrong said. “As a result, the university is unable to reinstate the swimming and diving programs.”

Read more here.

Quick Hits

• Andrew Shackell has flipped his commitment from Texas to Indiana, following his twin sister, top-ranked recruit Alex Shackell, who changed her commitment to the Hoosiers after initially pledging her verbal to Cal.
• San Ramon Valley Aquatics' Ayden Tan set a new National Age Group Record for 11-12 boys in the 100 IM (SCY) just over a week ago, clocking 53.28 to break the previous mark of 53.86 set by Michael Andrew in 2012.
• France announced its official World Championship roster following the conclusion of the French Elite Championships last Thursday, with 28 swimmers named to the team, headlined by Leon Marchand, who was not competing in Montpellier. The top performer at the meet was Maxime Grousset, who followed up his National Record swim in the 50 fly with another mark in the 100 fly to close out the meet, touching in 50.11 to lower his French Record of 50.14 from 2023.
• The University of Wisconsin has announced Johno Fergusson as a new assistant coach for the swim & dive team as the Badgers are rebuilding their coaching roster under new head coach Jack Brown.
• Swimming Australia has named 11 coaches for the 2025 World Swimming Championships in Singapore, headlined by head coach Rohan Taylor.
• The World Aquatics Championships Arena (WCH Arena), the pool for the 2025 World Championships, has been officially unveiled at the Singapore Sports Hub.
• Check out our re-rank of the girls' high school class of 2025 and keep your eyes peeled for the boys' rankings on Wednesday.

Olympic Gold Medalist Ahmed Hafnaoui Transfers To Florida, Returning To College Swimming

16-Yr-Old Shin Ohashi Scorches 2:07.27 200 Breast World Junior Record

Ayden Tan Breaks 11-12 National Record in 100 IM: Michael Andrew’s Last 11-12 Yards Mark

USA Swimming Names 45-Strong Roster For 2025 World Junior Championships

After $10M Rejection, Cal Poly Launches New Campaign To Rescue Swim & Dive Program

Wisconsin Hires Johno Fergusson As Assistant for New Swimming Coaching Staff