Olympic Trials Qualifier Jason Zhao, #5 in Class of 2025, Commits to Stanford

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Jason Zhao from Cincinnati, Ohio, has announced his verbal commitment to the Stanford University men’s swimming and diving team for the fall of 2025.

“Thank you @stanfordmswim for becoming my next home. Thank you for all my supporters for helping me get there. GO CARD! 🌲🌲🌲”

Zhao is a senior at Indian Hill High School, and while he didn’t participate at the high school state meet last season, he did break the OHSAA Division 2 state and meet records in the 500 free as a sophomore in 2023, winning with 4:24.01.

In club swimming, where he trains and races with the Mason Manta Rays, Zhao is a member of the 2024 U.S. National Junior Team and our #5 recruit in the high school class of 2025. He was a 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifier in the 100/200/400 free, and he represented Team USA at the 2023 Junior World Championships and the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships.

Most of Zhao’s best SCY performances come from Winter Juniors East last December, where he won the 200 free and placed 5th in the 100 free, 7th in the 500 free, 9th in the 100 breast, 11th in the 200 breast, and 14th in the 50 free. He left the meet with PBs in all 6 events. At the Southern Premier meet three months later, he lowered his 50 free time by .15 and clocked new PBs in the mile (15:45.10), 100 back (49.38), 100 fly (48.45), and 200 IM (1:46.11).

Zhao had a big LCM season, as well, wrapping up the summer with PBs in the 50 free (22.90), 800 free (8:21.79), 100 back (58.86), 200 back (2:18.08), and 100 fly (55.27). The rest of his times, including his Trials cuts in the 100 free (49.39), 200 free 1:48.60), and 400 free (3:55.31), date from last summer.

Zhao’s strength in freestyle events ranging from the 50 (where he is just shy of breaking 20 seconds) to the 500 (where he is one of the few sub-4:20s in the class) will make him an immediate impact player for the Cardinal next fall. In addition, he has dropped gobs of time in the 100 breast (-1.6 seconds) and 200 IM (-6.2 seconds) over the last year, giving Stanford more flexibility in the event lineup. He’ll also be a formidable addition to the relays, especially given that of the 6 sub-1:34 200 freestylers on the roster last season, only Henry McFadden (1:31.65) and Andres Dupont (1:32.42) are still expected to be at Stanford when Zhao arrives (Rex Maurer and Luke Maurer have transferred out; Andrei Minakov and Ron Polonsky will have graduated).

Best SCY times:

500 free – 4:19.96
200 free – 1:33.51
100 free – 43.46
50 free – 20.09
200 breast – 1:59.17
100 breast – 53.64
200 IM – 1:46.11

Zhao will join fellow commits Andy Kravchenko and Ray Liu, both named to the “Best of the Rest” section of our rankings, at Stanford next fall.

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