COLLEGE SWIMMING: OWEGO’S KROM MAKING 8-HOUR JOURNEY TO TEST COLLEGIATE WATERS (2023-06-07)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Owego’s Tyler Krom took the first step in his journey south, committing to swim at Chowan University during a mass signing ceremony Tuesday.

Krom is looking forward to being eight hours from home, attending classes in the small town of Murfreesboro in the northeast corner of North Carolina.

“Out of all the schools I looked at Chowan was a great school and fit for me, and I’m very excited to be part of their swim team,” he said. “I was also excited that it was down south in N.C.”

“Krom is going into a Division II school, more often than not they are at the same level of competitiveness as D3,” Owego head swim coach Kyle Lounsberry said. “He's a hard worker, he's driven, and he wants to get better.

“He's tall and lengthy and will continue to do fairly well in the sprint/mid-distance freestyle events, and with more specialized and stroke specific training that is available at the collegiate level, will also make a good backstroker. His freestyle events will likely be able to be significant contributions to the relay events.”

“Sprinting is what I will be able to bring to the table for the Chowan swimming team, mainly freestyle and backstroke,” Krom said.

This past season, Krom was ranked 15th in Section IV (all classes) in the 100-yard freestyle. He also swam legs of the 200 medley, 200 free and 400 free relays which were also ranked among the section’s top 20.

At the Section IV Class B championships, Krom qualified for the “A” final in four events. He and the Indians placed fifth in the 200 medley and 400 free relays, and he was sixth in the 100 backstroke and seventh in the 100 free.

Chowan placed fourth at the Conference Carolinas Swimming Championships this season.

Krom will major in Music Education, K-12.