STANFORD, Calif. -- Dan Schemmel, the Goldman Family Director of Men's Swimming, announced a class of eight swimming and diving signees for the 2025-26 school year.
They are: Ethan Ekk (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles HS), Gunnar Grubbs (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto HS), Connor Jones (Katy, Texas/Seven Lakes HS), Andy Kravchenko (Cocoa Beach, Fla./The Bolles School), Ray Liu (Arcadia, Calif./Loyola HS), Grant Schneider (Dana Point, Calif./Capistrano Valley Christian School), Omer Wiener (Hadera, Israel/Ramot Yam HS), and Jason Zhao (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill HS).
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Ethan Ekk (freestyle)
Hometown: Tallahassee, Fla.
High school: Lawton Chiles
Club: Area Tallahassee Aquatic Club
Ethan Ekk earned silver in the 200-meter freestyle and bronze in the 200m backstroke at the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Australia … A dual citizen of Canada and the U.S., Ekk represents Canada internationally … He also placed seventh in the 200m individual medley and sixth in the 800m free at Pan Pac … Four-time Florida state 3A champion, with two titles in the 500-yard free, and one each in the 200y free and 200y IM … Personal bests: 200y free, 1:35.56; 500y free, 4:19.35; 1,000y free, 8:56.73; 200y back, 1:43.81.
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Gunnar Grubbs (diving)
Hometown: Palo Alto, Calif.
High school: Palo Alto
Club: Stanford Diving Club
Gunnar Grubbs placed fifth for the U.S. at the 2023 Junior Pan Am Championships in 3-meter diving … Competes in the 1-meter, 3-meter, and platform … Fourth in the 1-meter and platform at the 2024 USA Diving Junior Nationals (16-18 age group) … Swept all three dives at the 2024 Zone E Championships (16-18) … California state high school 1-meter runner-up in 2024 … Two-time Central Coast Section high school 1-meter champion … Began diving competitively in 2022 after seven years as a gymnast … Coached at Stanford Diving Club by Oleg Andriyuk, father of Stanford freshman diver Misha Andriyuk … Aspires to be an aerospace engineer.
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Connor Jones (freestyle, individual medley)
Hometown: Katy, Texas
High school: Seven Lakes
Club: Katy Aquatics
Winter and Summer Junior National Championships Qualifier … U.S. Open qualifier … Open water national qualifier … Zone select team … 2024 Texas Region 5-6A high school champion in the 100y back and 500y back … Seventh at Texas 6A championships in the 100y back … All-American … Scholastic All-American … Personal bests: 1,000y free, 9:08.88; 200y free, 1:37.81; 500y free, 4:25.26; 400m IM, 4:30.55.
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Andy Kravchenko (freestyle)
Hometown: Cocoa Beach, Fla.
High school: The Bolles School
Club: Bolles School Sharks
Won four Florida state 1A high school titles in 2024, in the 50y free and on three relays … seven-time Florida state champion … NISCAA All-American … Holds Florida 13-14 age-group record in the 100y free (45.12) … National age-group record-breaking relay member … East Winter Junior Nationals winning relay member … USA Swimming All-American … Personal bests: 50y free, 19.84; 100y free, 43.65; 200y free, 1:38.83; 50m free, 22.85; 100m free, 50.46; 200m free, 1:53.87.
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Ray Liu (backstroke, individual medley)
Hometown: Arcadia, Calif.
High school: Loyola
Club: Rose Bowl Aquatics
CIF-Southern Section Division I champion 2024 in the 100y backstroke … Won the 400y medley relay at Winter Nationals … Led off Loyola’s winning 200y medley relay team that won California state high school title … placed third in the 200y individual medley in 2024 state finals … Comes from the same club and high school program as Stanford freshman Daniel Li … Personal bests: 100y backstroke 47.66; 2, 200y back, 1:44.49; 200y IM, 1:46.38; 400y IM, 3:51.16.
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Grant Schneider (diving)
Hometown: Dana Point, Calif.
High school: Capistrano Valley Christian School
Club: Mission Viejo Nadadores
Grant Schneider is the defending California state high school diving champion, scoring 612.60 on 11 dives at 1-meter at the 2024 state championships … Placed third in at the U.S. Junior National Championships in the synchronized platform event … 2023 Zone F 1-meter champion (16-18) … 2024 CIF-Southern Section Division IV champ … Former elite age-group alpine skier.
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Omer Wiener (backstroke)
Hometown: Hadera, Israel
High school: Ramot Yam
Club: Maccabi Haifa
Omer Wiener holds the Israeli youth record in the 50-meter backstroke (short course) … Earned a relay medal at the Israeli championships … Personal bests: 100 backstroke (SCM), 51.93; 100 free (SCM), 48.29; 100 back (LCM), 55.21; 200 IM (LCM), 2:04.62; 50 free (SCM), 22.33; 50 back (SCM), 24.20; 400 free (SCM), 3:53.50; 400 IM (SCM), 4:21.06 … After high school, served in the Israel Defense Forces for two years and two months while continuing to practice swimming.
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Jason Zhao (freestyle, breaststroke)
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
High school: Indian Hill
Club: Mason Manta Rays
Jason Zhao won two relay golds and a relay silver for the U.S. at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Israel … Won gold and set a world junior record in the 400m free relay, with a time of 3:15.49, won the 800m free relay, and was second in the mixed 400 free relay … Placed eighth in the 200m free (1:48.62) at the same meet … Team captain for the U.S. team at the Junior Pan Pacific in Canberra, Australia … Fourth in the 100 free at Pan Pacs … Won the 2023 Speedo Junior Nationals in the 100m free in an Ohio record 49.39 and was third in the 200m free … 2023 Ohio state Division II 500y free champ … World junior record-holder in the 400m free relay … Personal bests: 100 free, 43.46; 200 free, 1:33.51; 500 free, 4:19.96; 100 breaststroke, 53.64.