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Olympic Trials qualifier Whitaker Steward has given the University of Tennessee their first verbal commitment from the class of 2026.
“I want to thank my parents for their support through this process and allowing me to follow my intuition. To coach Tom Kleiboeker, thank you from taking me from a 13 year old sectional swimmer to Olympic Trials…I owe you so much. Thanks to all my TST teammates for making every day a blast. To Coach Matt, I cannot wait to swim for you and see how far we can go together! Can’t wait to get to Rocky Top with the rest of my new brothers and sisters in Tennessee! Go Vols!”
Steward hails from Liberty, Missouri. He swims for Tsunami Swim Team of Kansas City and Kearney High School, where he is a junior. He is the 2nd-fastest miler in the cohort and we named him an Honorable Mention recruit on our Way Too Early list of the top 20 boys in the high school class of 2026.
In high school swimming, Steward is a 3-time Missouri state champion. In November 2022, he won the 500 free (4:34.41) and was 7th in the 100 back (53.16) as a freshman at the MSHSAA Boys Class 1 State Championships. Last season, he won both the 200 free (1:39.11) and 500 free (4:26.14), dropping nearly 8.3 seconds year-over-year in the latter.
Steward followed his sophomore high school season with the 2023 U.S. Open, where he competed in the 400/800/1500 free, and 2023 Winter Juniors West. There, he competed in the 200/500/1000/1650 free and 400 IM. He finished 1st in the 1000 (9:10.44), 4th in the mile (15:12.96), and 20th in the 4IM (3:55.37). All three were best times.
He finished the summer with a bang, clocking LCM bests in the 100 back (1:01.92), 200 back (2:09.92), and 200 fly (2:10.66) at Columbia Sectionals, and in the 400 free (3:58.32), 800 free (8:08.43), 1500 free (15:33.75), and 400 IM (4:30.09) at Speedo Summer Championships in Irvine.
Best SCY times:
- 200 free – 1:39.11
- 500 free – 4:26.14
- 1000 free – 9:10.44
- 1650 free – 15:12.96
- 400 IM – 3:55.57
Tennessee, known primarily as a sprint powerhouse (with Jordan Crooks’ 17.99 and another 7 swimmers under the 20-second barrier last season), had 3 milers score at SEC Championships: Jake Narvid (14:57.29 for 10th place), Joey Tepper (15:11.86 for 19th), and Rafael Ponce de Leon (15:12.15 for 20th). All three are seniors this year.
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