Austin Whalen, photo courtesy of his Twitter page, @austinjwhalen.
Senior captain of the Carroll swim team, Austin Whalen, verbally committed to Georgia Tech, according to an Oct. 14 report by SwimSwam.com. Whalen, who has contributed to the success of the five-time 5A/6A state champion squad, swims mostly middle distance, with a focus on 100 and 200 freestyle, 200 back and 200 fly. He officially signed his commitment on Nov. 11.
"Austin Whalen has done a fine job in our Dragon HS Swimming Program," said Dragon head coach Kevin Murphy. "He has continued to work and improve each year, contributing as an All-American relay swimmer at the Texas 5A State Meet as a 10th grader, to qualifying in two individual events and two All-American relays at State as an 11th grader, to being a Captain this year, and one of our Top 3 or 4 Boy Swimmers on, arguably, our very best Dragon HS Team ever."
In last year's state championship competition, Whalen placed 10th in the 200 free and 15th in the 100 free. He also participated in two relays.
"His work ethic and focus should help him continue to improve as he moves forward into NCAA Division I Swimming at Georgia Tech University," Murphy said.
Whalen told SwimSwam he chose Georgia Tech because of "the great coaches, incredible team atmosphere, and the fantastic academic and other opportunities outside of the pool." The article also reported nearly all of his top times make the school's top-ten list for the 2014-15 season.