Louisville Continues 2022 Recruiting Haul With Verbal from Olympic Trials Qualifier Paige Kuwata

Photo Courtesy: Paige Kuwata (@paigekuwata)

NEW COMMIT: The University of Louisville has continued forming a stellar Class of 2026, picking up a new verbal commitment from Olympic Trials qualifier Paige Kuwata out of Las Vegas, Nevada.

She will join Jordan Durocher and U.S. National Junior Teamer Rye Ulett as well as diver Jiselle Miller as a member of the Cardinals’ incoming class for the fall of 2022.

Regarding her commitment, she said:

Photo Courtesy: Paige Kuwata via CollegeSwimming

“L’s up!! Guess who’s headed to the Ville? I am so excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic pursuits at the University of Louisville. I can’t thank my family, friends, teammates, and coaches enough for supporting me and helping to shape me into the person and athlete I am today. A huge thanks to Coach Arthur, Coach Kameron, and Coach Stephanie for guiding me through this process to find a new home and family for the next several years. Becoming a Cardinal means so much and I look forward to the opportunity to represent such an amazing team and program. GO CARDS!!! ❤️⚜️”

A talented butterflyer and distance freestyler, Kuwata trains year-round with Sandpipers of Nevada and owns two Olympic Trials cuts with several additional U.S. Open standards. She finished 18th in the 200m fly at the Toyota U.S. Open in December after securing the runner-up spot in that event at the Nevada State Championships.

In summer 2019, she had a great showing at the NCSA Championships where she earned bronze in the 400m IM and 1500m free and placed fifth in both the 400m free and 200m fly.

She has also seen success in open water, finishing eighth at the Open Water Junior National Championships and 23rd at the Open Water National Championships last year.

In SCY, her best times include:

500 free – 4:52.11
1000 free – 9:54.99
1650 free – 16:29.48
100 fly – 56.54
200 fly – 1:59.54
200 IM – 2:04.87
400 IM – 4:19.84

In LCM, her best times include:

400m free – 4:19.34
800m free – 8:48.16
1500m free – 16:46.63
100m fly – 1:02.33
200m fly – 2:14.25
200m IM – 2:20.57
400m IM – 4:53.31

Currently a junior at Palo Verde High School, Kuwata won the 200 free and took seventh in the 100 back at the Nevada 3A/4A State Championships during her freshman season. She has also earned USA Swimming Scholastic All-American honors for her efforts in the pool and in the classroom.

Kuwata will make a big impact when she arrives in The Ville at the start of the 2022-23 season as she would’ve scored in the top-10 of the mile as well as placed in the C-final of the 400 IM and 200 fly at the 2020 ACC Championships. Under head coach Arthur Albiero, the Cardinals finished third at last year’s conference meet.

History was made in 2019 for the Cardinals as they became the first ACC program in history to have both its men’s and women’s teams finish among the top-five in the team standings at the NCAA Championships in the same year. Highlighted by a pair of national titles for Mallory Comerford, the women’s team recorded their highest finish in program history with a fourth-place showing at the 2019 NCAA Championships. Their score of 235 points was the most points scored by a Cardinal team at NCAAs in history, and Louisville secured third place at the 2019 ACC Championships.

If you have a commitment to share, please send a photo and quote via email to hs@swimmingworld.com.

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Jon Miller

3 years ago

All the top talent going to THE VILLE!
L1C4