{"id":390483,"date":"2019-08-15T19:21:37","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T02:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=390483"},"modified":"2019-08-15T19:21:37","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T02:21:37","slug":"freestyler-rafael-nicolas-ponce-de-leon-of-bolles-school-verbally-commits-to-tennessee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/freestyler-rafael-nicolas-ponce-de-leon-of-bolles-school-verbally-commits-to-tennessee\/","title":{"rendered":"Freestyler Rafael Nicolas Ponce De Leon of Bolles School Verbally Commits to Tennessee"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW COMMIT:\u00a0<\/strong>Jacksonville, Fla. native and rising high school senior Rafael Nicolas Ponce De Leon\u00a0<\/strong>has verbally committed to the University of Tennessee and will arrive in Knoxville as a member of the class of 2024.<\/p>\n

Ponce De Leon, who owns four Winter Juniors standards, does his club swimming with Bolles School Sharks and has also represented Peru Swimming. He most recently competed at Junior Nationals where he finished 20th in the 400m free after earning a pair of best times at Gainesville Speedo Sectionals. Last winter, he raced three events at Juniors East before going on to have five top-12 finishes at the Florida Spring Championships. Also competing for Bolles School, Ponce De Leon raced the 100 free at the Florida 1A State Championships during his junior season.<\/p>\n

He told\u00a0Swimming World:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI am so excited to announce my verbal commitment to the University of Tennessee. I am really thankful to all my family, coaches and friends who have always supported me through the journey. I cant wait to join the University of Tennessee class of 2024. GO VOLS!!!\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His best times include:<\/p>\n