Five-Star Nick D’Innocenzo Announces College Destination

ANDOVER, Massachusetts, October 20. SWIMMING World five-star prospect Nick D'Innocenzo, who swims for Magnus Aquatics, has made a decision on where he's heading for the next four years.

D'Innocenzo made Eddie Reese a happy camper by making his pledge to the Texas Longhorns. D'Innocenzo wound up picking Texas over Auburn in his final two, and is the first public commit for the Texas men this year.

D'Innocenzo owns U.S. Olympic Trials cuts in the 200-meter free (1:51.82), 400-meter free (3:59.43), 100-meter breast (1:04.39), 200-meter breast (2:17.29), 200-meter IM (2:00.87) and 400-meter IM (4:25.04).

"First, let me say it was the hardest decision I have ever had to make," D'Innocenzo told Swimming World. "Both schools were very attractive to me for many different reasons. I loved Auburn when I took my official visit there. Great people and great food! And, the same goes for Texas. Both schools have legendary programs with track records of producing multiple Olympic athletes and Olympic gold.

"However, in the end, I think for me it came down to what I want out of swimming," D'Innocenzo continued. "I thought long and hard on this question, and I wanted to be a strong contender at the 2012 Olympic Trials, and hopefully a force to be reckoned with in London. I felt that I would be able to accomplish this kind of swimming best at Texas. I felt that Auburn did have a USA Swimming emphasis but Texas seemed to have more of a priority of USA Swimming over NCAA swimming. You can see it in Auburn's track record, when you win five out of the last six years at the NCAA Championships It's a huge priority for that team. For me, I just felt I wanted to put my USA, and someday, my world swimming career ahead of my NCAA swimming career."

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use