French World Junior Record Holder Flips Commitment to Arizona State

French World Junior Record holder Nathan Muratory has made a significant change in his college plans. The swimmer, who hails from France, has flipped his commitment from the University of Michigan to Arizona State University. Muratory's decision comes after a notable performance at the 2026 European Championships. He set a new World Junior Record in the boys 200 backstroke, touching in a 1:54.87 in the prelims. This achievement broke the previous record held by Kliment Kolesnikov since 2017. In addition to his impressive performance in the 200 backstroke, Muratory also swam in the prelims of the 100 backstroke, recording a time of 54.19 for 22nd place. His strong showing earlier this summer at French Junior Nationals saw him claim a title in the 100 backstroke with a lifetime best time of 53.85. Muratory's addition to the Arizona State men's team is expected to be a significant boost. The team scored zero points in the 200 backstroke at the 2026 NCAA Championships, and Muratory's presence will provide a much-needed injection of talent in this event. The Sun Devil men's team had a successful season, capturing the 2026 Big 12 Championship title and finishing 4th at the 2026 NCAA Championships. They scored 328 points at NCAAs and were led by rising senior Ilya Kharun, who swam to an NCAA title in the 200 fly. Muratory will have the opportunity to train alongside NCAA 'A' finalist Nick Simons, who is transferring to the program for his graduate season. Simons has lifetime bests of a 44.93 100 back and a 1:38.21 200 back, and spent his undergraduate career at the University of Tennessee. The Arizona State men's team also has another French swimmer, Lucien Vergnes, who enters his junior season this fall. Vergnes primarily swims breaststroke and is originally from Toulouse. Michigan has had several big international commits fall through in recent years, including Israeli swimmer Alexey Glivinskiy, who decided to head to the University of Texas instead. Muratory's commitment to Arizona State is a significant development in the world of college swimming, and it will be interesting to see how he performs with his new team.