Peirsol bound for Auburn

Newport Harbor High senior Hayley Peirsol, who finished second in

the 800-meter freestyle and fifth in the 400 individual medley at the

Phillips 66 National Swimming Championships in August, has verbally

committed to continue her athletic and academic career at Auburn

University, she said Monday.

Peirsol, second in the 500-yard freestyle at last spring’s CIF

Southern Section Division I Finals after finishing third in the same

event as a sophomore, said she chose Auburn over Arizona, UC

Berkeley, Florida and USC.

“I committed while I was there last weekend,” said Peirsol, whose

older brother Aaron won a silver medal in the 200-meter backstroke at

the 2000 Olympics, is the reigning world champion in that event, and

is a freshman this fall at Texas. “The team atmosphere was, like,

crazy, and everyone gets along really well. The area is really

pretty. It’s different from (Southern California), but I think that

will be a good change for me.”

Peirsol said she has not yet decided on a major, but looks forward

to helping the Tigers try to do last year’s No. 2 national ranking

one better.

-- by Barry Faulkner