{"id":462138,"date":"2021-02-14T11:51:15","date_gmt":"2021-02-14T18:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=462138"},"modified":"2021-02-14T11:51:15","modified_gmt":"2021-02-14T18:51:15","slug":"olympic-trials-qualifier-spencer-aurnou-rhees-verbally-commits-to-texas-for-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/olympic-trials-qualifier-spencer-aurnou-rhees-verbally-commits-to-texas-for-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympic Trials Qualifier Spencer Aurnou-Rhees Verbally Commits to Texas for 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW COMMIT: <\/b>Olympic Trials qualifier<\/span> Spencer Aurnou-Rhees <\/b>of Bexley, Ohio has handed his verbal pledge to the University of Texas for the fall of 2022. He will become the second DI swimmer in his family as his older sister, <\/span>Jordan<\/b> Aurnou-Rhees<\/b><\/a>, is currently a freshman at Tennessee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He will join <\/span>Manning Haskal<\/b><\/a>, <\/span>Ryan Branon<\/b><\/a>, <\/span>Alec Filipovic<\/b><\/a> and <\/span>Holden Smith<\/b><\/a> in Austin at the start of the 2022-23 season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Regarding his commitment, he said:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am so excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my athletic and academic career at the University of Texas!!! I feel so honored to have this opportunity and I was immediately impressed by both the coaches and athletes at Texas! I want to thank my parents, coaches, and teammates through the years for making this possible, I couldn\u2019t have done it without y\u2019all! Hook \u2018em!!!\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Aurnou-Rhees, who now trains year-round with <\/span>New Albany Aquatic Club, earned five best times at the Oxford 18&U Championships in December where he won the 200 free and 200 IM after earning the Olympic Trials cut in the 200m IM at the Toyota U.S. Open.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Summer 2019, he won the 200m IM at the Ohio Junior Olympics before going on to take fifth in the 400m IM at Geneva Futures. He also raced both IM events at Junior Nationals.<\/span><\/p>\n

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