Winter Juniors Finalist and Distance Specialist Grant O’Mara Will Join Duke Next Fall (2027)

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Irvine Novaquatics’ Grant O’Mara, a distance freestyle specialist, has announced that he will start donning Duke Blue in the fall of 2027. The San Marino, California native, a Summer Junior National qualifier, posted the following statement on Instagram:

I’m super excited to announce my commitment to continue my swimming and academic career at Duke University. Thank you to my family and teammates for always supporting me throughout my journey. A special thank you to Coaches Ken and John for building me into the athlete I am today, as well as Coaches Brian and Daniel for this incredible opportunity. GO BLUE DEVILS 🔵😈!!

O’Mara had a major breakout meet at the 2025 Winter Junior Championships in December, setting best times in all of his top events. He posted a 4:25.39 in prelims of the 500 free — the fastest he’d ever been by over 6 seconds. That swim qualified him for the B-final, where he finished 16th in 4:28.80, a time good enough for the 2nd fastest of his career.

His 500 wasn’t an enigma however, as he had similar drops in the 1000 and 1650 frees. In the former, he dropped 11 seconds (9:19.83) to finish 36th, and in the latter, he shaved 19 seconds off his PB to finish 31st. His time of 15:39.01 marked just his 2nd time under the 16 minute barrier, a feat he accomplished for the first time this season. O’Mara also contributed to Irvine Novaquatics’ 10th place 800 free relay with a split of 1:40.04.

The San Marino High School junior has a knack for hitting his best performances at the biannual Junior National meets, as his long course PBs come from the 2025 Summer Jr Championships. There, he posted times of 8:26.94 in the 800 and 16:09.19 in the 1500, swims that marked best times by 6 seconds and 34 seconds, respectively.

Like many California natives, O’Mara swims open water races. A few weeks ago, he competed at the USA Swimming Open Water Nationals 10k, in Sarasota, FL and placed 45th overall.

O’Mara is also a CIF Southern Section Division 1 finalist, as he wrapped up his sophomore year campaign with a 7th place finish in the 500 free. This year, that meet will take place from May 5 – 9, while the California High School state finals will be held from May 15 -17.

Excerpted from SwimSwam. Read the full story →