Futures Qualifier Charlie Begin Sends Commitment To Penn State For Fall 2026

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Charlie Begin from Potomac, Maryland, has announced his commitment to swim and study at Penn State University for 2026-27. He wrote on social media:

I am beyond excited to announce my verbal commitment to swim and study at Penn State starting in 2026! I want to extend a huge thank you to the Penn State coaching staff for this amazing opportunity, and to all my RMSC-KSAC coaches and teammates who have been with me since the beginning. A heartfelt thank you to my mom, dad, and brothers for their constant support. And a special shoutout to my MCSL summer league team, Country Glen, for showing me just how fun swimming can be. WE ARE!

Begin is currently a senior at Winston Churchill School and has been a member of his school’s varsity swimming and diving team all four years. Begin also trains year-round with Rockville Montgomery Swim Club, where he primarily specializes in backstroke and middle-distance freestyle.

Over the past 12 months, he’s cut time across all of his primary events. His biggest drops have come in the 500 free, where he’s sliced almost four seconds to go from 4:32.68 to 4:28.96, and in the 100s, where he’s gone from 46.98 to 45.33 in the 100 free and 49.60 to 48.49 in the 100 back. He’s also shaved nearly a second in both the 200 free (1:38.80 to 1:38.11) and 200 back (1:48.40 to 1:47.57). Those PBs in the 100 free, 200 free, and 100 back all came at last month’s PV RMSC Riley Eaton Holiday Invitational, a local club meet.

That progression in the 500 free carried Begin to a state title last February, when he clocked his current PB to win the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association 4A/3A championship by just over two seconds. He also finished second in the 200 free at that meet with a 1:40.18 and is set to defend his 500 title in a few weeks. He’s made the championship final in every event he’s qualified for for the meet. As a sophomore, he touched second in the 100 back and third in the 500 free. As a freshman, he qualified only in the 500 free and placed eighth.

Beyond high school competition, Begin has been climbing the ranks at club meets as well. At the NCSA Spring Championships last March, he made the ‘B’ final of the 200 back, ‘C’ final of the 100 back, and ‘D’ final of the 500 free, placing 15th, 20th, and 27th. Prior to 2025, he had never advanced beyond a ‘D’ final.

Over the summer, he qualified for Futures Championships in Greensboro and placed 25th in the 400m free (4:05.38) and 800m free (8:34.82), 32nd in the 200m free (1:55.52), 54th in the 200m back (2:11.48), and 62nd in the 100m back (59.89). He set best times in the 400m free, 800m free, and 200m free, while his 200m back was just 0.03 off his PB and his 100m back was a season-best.

Top SCY Times:

• 100 Backstroke: 48.49
• 200 Backstroke: 1:47.57
• 100 Freestyle: 45.33
• 200 Freestyle: 1:38.11
• 500 Freestyle: 4:28.96

A Division I program, Penn State competes in the Big Ten Conference, with the men’s team placing ninth out of nine teams at last season’s conference championships. To earn a second swim at the meet, it took times of 43.48, 1:36.52, and 4:20.80 in the 100, 200, and 500 free and 48.38/1:45.81 in the 100/200 back, putting Begin just outside the cutoff in the 100 back.

On the team’s 2024-25 depth charts, Begin would have ranked fourth in the 100 back, fifth in the 500 free, sixth in the 200 back, seventh in the 200 free, and 12th in the 100 free. The team’s top two sprint backstrokers, Cooper Morley (45.37) and Matthew Bittner (45.72), are set to graduate this May, and no one else on the team has broken 48.7 so far this season, which means Begin could work his way onto the team’s medley relays as an underclassman.

Begin joins Roman Dawson, a distance freestyler with bests of 1:40.52, 4:24.49, and 16:01.53, as well as Gabriel Campos (breaststroke/IM) in the Nittany Lions’ class of 2030. Begin and Dawson should make for great training partners, especially in the 200/500 free, over the next four years.

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