By Sean Griffin on SwimSwam
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YMCA Nationals qualifier Steven Eldridge has announced his commitment to swim for Lenoir–Rhyne University in North Carolina beginning in the fall of 2026. He publicized the news in an email to SwimSwam, writing:
I’m excited to announce that I will be continuing my education and swim career at Lenoir-Rhyne University. Thank you to all the coaches, friends, and family who helped me reach this milestone. Go Bears!
A senior at Fort Mill High School in South Carolina, Eldridge has been a member of the varsity swimming and diving team all four years. He also trains year-round with Rock Hill Area YMCA, where he primarily specializes in breaststroke, IM, and middle-distance freestyle.
A consistent improver year over year, Eldridge saw his biggest gains in the 200 breast and 400 IM over the past 12 months, dropping over six seconds in each. He went from 2:11.73 to 2:05.10 in the former and 4:19.53 to 4:12.69 in the latter. He also broke a minute for the first time in the 100 breast, going from 1:01.95 to 59.20, and dropped from 2:00.70 to 1:58.94 in the 200 IM, while chipping away at his freestyle times as well, from 1:51.12 to 1:47.26 in the 200 free and 4:52.23 to 4:48.17 in the 500 free.
On the high school scene, Eldridge has been a key component of Fort Mill’s roster at the South Carolina High School League 5A State Championships. In October, he touched fifth in the 500 free (4:49.82) and sixth in the 200 free, recording a then-personal best in the 500 and his current PB in the 200 free. He went on to anchor his squad’s 400 free relay to bronze with a split of 49.70. It was his second year cracking the top eight in any event; he was eighth in the 500 free as a junior, his only other time cracking the top 14.
Eldridge chipped away at his best times at various club meets throughout November and December, dropping to his current PBs in the 200 IM and 500 free, as well as 2:07.67 in the 200 breast and 4:14.64 in the 400 IM. It all culminated with the best meet of his career at this past weekend’s YMCA National Championships, his first time qualifying for the short course edition of the meet, where he placed 21st in the 200 breast, 44th in the 400 IM, and 60th in the 100 breast with his current lifetime bests.
Top SCY Times:
100 Breaststroke: 59.20 200 Breaststroke: 2:05.10 200 IM: 1:58.94 400 IM: 4:12.69A Division II program, Lenoir–Rhyne competes in the South Atlantic Conference, with the men’s team placing fourth out of five teams at the conference championships a few weeks ago. The team is slated to join Conference Carolinas, along with four other teams from SAC, for the 2026-27 season.
Based on the results from the 2026 Conference Carolinas meet, Eldridge’s best times would have made the ‘A’ finals in the 200 breast and 400 IM, and the ‘B’ finals in the 100 breast, 200 IM, 200 free, and 500 free, putting him in position to score big points right from the start. With five new teams joining the conference, however, the cutoffs will almost certainly get faster next season.
With the Bears losing their top breaststrokers, IMers, and most middle-distance freestylers to graduation, Eldridge’s arrival couldn’t come at a better time. He projects to rank first on the team in the 100 breast, 200 breast, 400 IM, and 200 IM, and second in the 200 free and 500 free. He’ll find a strong training partner in current junior Brooks Higginbotham (1:42.69/4:38.81) in the middle-distance freestyles.
Eldridge is currently the only publicized commitment in the Bears’ class of 2030.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
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