G-Prep grad Daniel Roy ready to contend at Stanford

A tradition-rich program with eight national titles, the Stanford men’s swim team wasn’t thrilled with its seventh-place finish at the 2018 NCAA championships.

Gonzaga Prep graduate Daniel Roy, one of the world’s elite 18-year-old swimmers, likely will boost the Cardinal as a freshman in 2019.

His transition to the Division I level began last week when he left Spokane for Stanford, where he’ll take summer classes and train.

“Hopefully my recruiting class can really help us,” said Roy, who graduated high school earlier this month. “Being there this summer will help me get a jump on things.”

For years, Roy, a member of the U.S. Junior National Team, trained alone in Spokane, following a worksheet assigned by his Seattle-based coach. He will be working alongside his coaches and teammates on a daily basis this summer.

Roy has yet to represent a school, since Eastern Washington doesn’t offer state-sanctioned swimming at the high school level. He’s looking forward to the change.

“I’ve never really had anyone push me in practice before,” Roy said. “That will really help.”

Roy, expected to be Stanford’s top contender in the 200-meter breaststroke, will also challenge in the 100-meter breaststroke. He broke his own national age group record last month in the 200-meter breaststroke, clocking in at 2 minutes, 9.73 seconds.

His record-breaking time in the 200-meter breaststroke would have placed third at last season’s NCAA championships.

Roy, the 10th-ranked incoming freshman in the country, according to SwimSwam.com, is already one of the most decorated swimmers to come out of the Inland Northwest.

“It feels good, knowing that you’re basically Spokane’s ambassador for swimming,” Roy said. “It’s a cool position to be in. I have a whole explanation ready for when people ask where Spokane is. It will always be my home. I am always really proud of where I came from.”

Stanford has had two area swim stars compete in recent years: 2012 Lewis and Clark High grad Ben Lovell and 2011 Lake City High grad Mason Shaw.

Roy will have two Washington teammates at Stanford, including Seattle’s Abrahm DeVine, who won the 400 IM NCAA national title last spring.

Roy is aiming for a NCAA national title of his own, but his foremost goal is winning an Olympic gold medal one day. He’s already won gold medals at the Junior World Championships.

“Nothing’s going to come easy at the college level,” said Roy, who was also recruited by NCAA powers Texas, Michigan and Cal. “But nothing comes close to being on top of the podium with national anthem being played for you.”