Will Larkin commits to Cornell
Will Larkin, a Winter Juniors qualifier from Wisconsin, has announced his verbal commitment to swim for Cornell University starting in the fall of 2027.
Winter Juniors qualifier Will Larkin has announced his verbal commitment to the admissions process at Cornell University. The rising senior plans to swim and study for the Ivy League school beginning in the fall of 2027.
Larkin publicized his decision on SwimCloud. He expressed gratitude to his coaches, family, and teammates. He also thanked Cornell's Coach Wes and Coach Caleb for the opportunity.
High School and Club Career
Larkin attends Badger Co-op in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He has been on the school's varsity swimming team since his freshman year. He trains year-round with the Waukesha Express Swim Team, specializing in breaststroke and sprint freestyle.
The 2025-26 season saw significant time drops for the swimmer. He cut over four seconds in the 200-yard breaststroke and nearly a second and a half in the 100-yard breaststroke. He also improved his 100-yard freestyle by about half a second and his 50-yard freestyle by just over a tenth.
He set his current breaststroke personal bests at the NCSA Spring Championships in March. There, he finished 11th in both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events. Those times qualified him for the Winter Junior Championships this December.
State Championship Performances
At the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Division I State Championships in February, Larkin delivered several key performances. He helped his school's 200-yard medley relay team finish second, swimming a 25.42-second breaststroke split. His team placed third in the 400-yard freestyle relay, where he anchored with a 45.77-second split.
Individually, he placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke with a then-personal best of 55.70 seconds. He also finished fifth in the 100-yard freestyle with a personal best of 46.14 seconds. This marked his first year making an individual 'A' final at the state meet. A week later, at the Wisconsin LSC Senior SC Championships, he added a personal best of 21.23 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle.
Top Times and Cornell Outlook
Larkin's top short course yard times are listed below.
| Event | Time |
|---|---|
| 100 Breaststroke | 55.47 |
| 200 Breaststroke | 2:00.22 |
| 50 Freestyle | 21.23 |
| 100 Freestyle | 46.14 |
Cornell's men's swimming team is a Division I Mid-Major program that competes in the Ivy League. The team placed fifth out of eight teams at the 2026 conference championships. Based on those 2026 results, Larkin's current bests in the breaststroke events would have qualified for the 'C' finals. To earn a second swim in the 50 and 100 freestyle at the meet, times of 20.05 and 44.02 seconds were needed.
The report notes that with two full seasons of high school training remaining, Larkin looks poised to be an immediate contributor when he arrives. He joins Jovan Mijailovic, Dylan Yang, and Guanheng Zhu as reported verbal commitments for Cornell's class of 2031.
SwimSwam's report includes a standard note regarding Ivy League recruiting. A verbal commitment is not an offer of admission, as only the Admission Office holds that authority. The coach can only commit support in the admission process.
