Swimming

6’8” Missouri Native Daniel Garza to Join Breaststroke Group at Denison (2024)

January 18, 2024

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Daniel Garza, a member of CSP Tideriders, has committed to join the Denison Big Red Swim & Dive roster this fall. He grew up in Ladue, Mo., an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located 460 miles west of Denison University’s campus in Granville, Ohio.

Garza, who is 6’8″ according to his NCSA recruiting profile, is a National Honor Society member. He told

I am very proud to announce my commitment to swim and study at Denison University! I’d like to thank Coach Gregg, Coach Kristen, and Coach Kellen for this amazing opportunity. I’d also like to thank all my club and high school coaches and teammates for all they’ve done for me. And thank you to my parents for always supporting me. Go Big Red

Garza is a co-captain of his team at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, a program that has been in existence for more than 70 years.

As a senior, Garza scored the lion’s share of points for his team at the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 1 State Championships with a 4th place finish in the 100 breast and a 7th place showing in the 200 IM.

He broke his own 100 breast school record of 58.81 during prelims (58.65) before breaking it again during finals (58.39) in the last swim of his high school career.

Garza is leaving big shoes to fill at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, where he took down a 34-year-old school record as a junior in the 100 breast (59.95). His first sub-minute 100 breast was more than a second faster than the previous record of 1:01.27.

The same year, he was part of the 200 medley relay (1:39.76) that broke a 46-year-old school record by nearly a second.

As a senior, he beat a decade-strong 200 IM record (1:59.02) by swimming it in 1:58.62, then he lowered it again a few weeks later to 1:58.24.

After Garza’s 100 breast 4th place finish in November at the state championships, Ladue Rams Boys Swimming & Diving Team head coach Rob Peglar commented: “It was very fitting that one of the best swimmers in Ladue history finished his career and closed the team’s season with a record-breaking performance!”

Top SCY Times

50 free – 22.47
100 free – 49.52
200 free – 1:45.70
500 free – 4:48.63
100 breast – 58.18
200 breast – 2:09.10
200 IM – 1:58.06

Denison University competes in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) along with their neighbor and rival Kenyon College. Located about 30 minutes apart, the two schools offer one another strong competition locally and on the national stage, as Kenyon College is the 2023 DIII National Runner-Up.

While Denison placed 8th at the 2023 NCAA DIII National Championships, breast was a particularly strong speciality for the Big Red, contributing 26 points in 100 breast and 22 points in 200 breast, second in points only to the #1 Emory men who represented a quarter of the finalists in the two events.

At the conference level, defending champions Denison fell to the Kenyon Owls at the 2023 NCAC Championships by 117 points after leading the first three days of the four-day meet.

Garza’s current best times would have been worth 50 points at the NCAC Championships, capable of scoring 13th in the 100 and 200 breast, for 17 points each, and 14th in the 200 IM for 16 more points.

Denison had five ‘A’ finalists in the 200 IM and 200 breast and four ‘A’ finalists in the 100 breast at last season’s championships, all of whom were sophomores with two exceptions.

Senior Richie Kurlich, a 22-time NCAA Division III All-American and four-time NCAC Champion, placed 2nd in the 100 breast (1:58.45). Freshman Francesco Assalone placed 7th in 100 breast (55.93), 8th in 200 IM (1:52.62), and 8th in 200 breast (2:05.57), and his time on the roster will overlap with Garza’s for two seasons.

Joining Garza as a freshman on the 2024-2025 roster is the versatile Nick Hensel, whose best times would have placed 5th in the 200 breast (2:03.67) and 8th in the 100 breast (56.97) at last season’s conference championships, on top of his ‘A’ final scoring times in the 200 IM (1:52.62), 50 free (20.72), 100 free (46.10), and 200 free (1:41.42).

Rounding out the recruiting class are Ben Bevill (back/IM/free), Ben Campbell (distance free), George Goins (distance free), Marshall Pifer (back/free), and Clay Perry (free).

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