Summer Jr Qualifier Aya Ferguson Sends Verbal To Northwestern University for Fall of 2026
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By Claire Wong on SwimSwam
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Aya Ferguson, a sprint freestyler from San Diego, California, has announced her verbal commitment to swim at Northwestern University beginning in the fall of 2026. Ferguson, a junior at Torrey Pines High School, is a summer junior nationals qualifier; she represents Rancho San Dieguito at the club level.
I am extremely excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my D1 swimming and academic career at Northwestern University! I want to express gratitude for my family and friends for supporting me throughout this journey and give a special thanks to Coach Rachel, Coach Eddie and the rest of the Northwestern swimming coaching staff as well as Coach Joe, Coach Brandon and RSD. I feel truly honored and am looking forward to my collegiate career! GO WILDCATS
This past May, Ferguson established herself at the California Sectional Division 1 HS Championships by sweeping her events, the 100 and 200 free. She matched her PB in the 100, hitting a 50.71, and blew away her previous best in the 200, swimming a 1:49.63. At that meet, she broke both the 1:51 and 1:50 barriers, as she had just swam a new PB of 1:50.72 in prelims before winning the 200 free with her first sub 1:50 swim.
Ferguson competed at the California High School State Championships a few weeks later, leading Torrey Pines to a 16th place finish in a field of over 200 total teams. Her highest finish came in the 100 free, where with a time of 50.51, she placed 10th overall, winning the 'B' final and clipping .2 off her previous best. Ferguson was also a key factor of Torrey Pines' relays, contributing splits of 22.73 and 50.19 in the 200 and 400 free relays to help them place 4th and 12th, respectively.
She carried her success into the long course season, as although she only swam in 3 meets, she reset her personal bests across her primary events several times. At the SI Splash N Dash, Ferguson won the 50/100/200 frees and placed runner up in the 100/200 fly. In her 50 free, she hit the summer juniors cut with a new best of 26.54, and also established new PBs in the 100 (57.94) and 200 (2:05.53). Ferguson's 100 fly (1:04.45) and 200 fly (2:27.10) also represented new bests. Ferguson ultimately wrapped up her long course season at Futures Championships — Sacramento, where she lowered her bests in the 200 free to a 2:04.13, 100 free to a 57.67, and 100 fly to a 1:03.21.
Over the course of her sophomore year, Ferguson progressed immensely: her long course bests in the 50/100/200 frees were 27.57/1:00.07/2:12.48 heading into the 2023 season, while her short course yard PBs in those same three events were 25.26/55.45/1:55.86.
Best times (SCY):
- 50 free – 23.64
- 100 free – 50.51
- 200 free – 1:49.63
- 100 fly – 55.98
Northwestern finished 7th at the Big 10 Championships last year, down from their 6th place finish in 2023, but a strong showing nonetheless after graduating all of their NCAA qualifiers. This past season, the Wildcats were led by graduate students Ayla Spitz and diver Marie Hopkins, who scored 80 and 43 points, respectively. Spitz, a Paris Olympian representing Israel, was a graduate transfer from Cal and eventually Northwestern's sole qualifier at the 2024 NCAA Championships. There, she qualified for the 'B' final and set personal bests in all 3 of her events.
Ferguson is primed to make an immediate impact for the Wildcats, as her times would have ranked her 6th, 5th, and 6th in the 50/100/200 freestyles compared to Northwestern's roster this past season. However, several swimmers ahead of her, including Spitz, Lindsay Ervin, Hana Shimizu-Bowers, Amy Pan, and Audrey Yu, have or will have graduated by the time Ferguson arrives in Evanston. With two years still left to improve, Ferguson will look to replenish Northwestern's sprint free group and be a vital leg on all of their relays.
At Big Tens, which welcomes UCLA and USC this year, it took times of 22:95/50.07/1:48.95 across the 3 sprint free events to qualify for a second swim. Northwestern had just 3 swimmers—Spitz, Ervin, and Sydney Smith—score points in 50/100/200 free.
The Wildcats are building a strong class of 2030, as they have already received verbal commitments from Bella Teply (sprint free), Iris Kim (free/IM), and Hong Kong's Xintong Wang (IM/distance free). Both Teply and Kim will serve as ideal training partners for Ferguson, with Teply owning bests of 51.62/1:49.94 and Kim having PBs of 51.04/1:48.83 in the 100/200 frees.
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