No. 25 ranked commit Aiden Hammer flipped to Texas after verbally committing to the University of California, Berkeley, back in October. In the same announcement, Hammer said he would be reclassifying to the graduating class of 2025.
“After an immense amount of thought and reconsideration, I would like to announce my commitment to the University of Texas, Austin,” Hammer wrote in an Instagram post. “With this, I also announce that I will be reclassifying to the graduating class of 2025, and will be attending classes as well as training this fall.”
Hammer, originally from Fox Island, Washington, is ranked first in his hometown’s state. Hammer currently swims for the King Aquatic Club and is now in his last year at Gig Harbor High School.
On Feb. 20, Hammer brought home two state championship wins in his 2024-25 season. He broke the state record in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:35.95 and the 500-meter freestyle with a time of 4:19.95 to bring his total number of championship wins to four.
Known for being strongest in the 500-yard freestyle, Hammer’s best time in the event is 4:14.21, recorded in December at the Speedo Winter Junior Championships West. Although his times have declined over the past couple of months, his personal best would currently rank him 15th in the 500 free finals of the 2024 NCAA Division I Championship meet.
Hammer also has notable personal bests of 1:35.85 in the 200-yard freestyle and 15:13.86 in the 1650-yard freestyle. However, these times do not rank as highly as his 500-yard time.
Hammer also has experience in some highly competitive meets. Just this past June, he competed in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Although Hammer didn’t make it within the Top 10, competing at the trials at his age is an accomplishment within itself.
Hammer is set to join a very talented program that is coming off winning a conference championship in its inaugural year in the Southeastern Conference. With many talented swimmers leaving after the NCAA Championships, Hammer fits right along in this swim team that has dominated the swim world for years.
“I thank Coach Erik, Coach Bowman, as well as Coach Maida at Texas for this opportunity, as well as my family and club coaching staff, Coach Reed and Coach Nowjack, for supporting me with this decision,” Hammer said. “Hook’em.”
