College Bound Athlete: Avery Kudlac

Glastonbury High School’s record-breaking swimmer Avery Kudlac will take her talents to the University of Pittsburgh this fall as she continues her athletic career and pursues a degree in occupational therapy.

Kudlac announced her verbal commitment to the Western Pennsylvania-based University in February of last year, stating,
“I am beyond thankful for the support of my family, coaches, and friends. I can’t wait to be a Panther!”

She made the commintment official at the GHS college signing day in November.  

“I loved the program and the academics were a really good fit for me,” stated Kudlac, who was born and raised in Glastonbury. “I like what they offered and I definitely liked the size. I felt like the bigger school vibe was more for me.”

Kudlac has left a lasting impression at GHS, breaking a pair of individual pool records and school records during her four-year tenure at the school. 

She broke the school’s record in the 200 freestyle (1:49.01 in 2022) and 100 butterfly (54.20 in 2022), along with the GHS pool records in the 200 freestyle (1:53.92 2020) and in the 100 freestyle (51.87 in 2020). 

She was also part of six relay teams that broke either school or pool records.

This past fall was a banner season for Kudlac, who won the 100 butterfly and finished second overall in the 200 freestyle at the Class LL state finals. She was also part of the school’s second place 400 freestyle relay team that took second place as the Guardians placed third overall as a team.

“We are all so close and we all want to get better for the team and for each other,” Kudlac said of the success of the school’s swim and dive program that has won 11 straight conference title. “Since we are doing it for each other and not just for ourselves it makes it that much better.” 

Winning was fun, yet it’s the late-season meets and Senior Nights over the last four years that made the biggest impact on Kudlac. 

“You get so close to everyone throughout the season, so seeing everyone celebrated was really nice,” said Kudlac. “It is also near the end of the season, so everyone is at their best and the relay teams are swimming their fastest. It was just fun to look back on.” 

“Laser focused” is how GHS swimming head coach Suzie Hoyt described Kudlac. 

“Avery has a game face,” added Hoyt. “She figured out that this is what works for her. You can tell that she is all in and she is concentrating on what she has to do.” 

Hoyt added that Kudlac and her twin sister Riley Kudlac, who is headed to swim for George Washington University, will fit right in with their respective college because they have, “tremendous work ethics, they are good teammates, and they are coachable. They want to be the best version of themselves.” 

Outside of GHS, Kudlac swam for the LEHY Swimming Club out of East Hartford for the past decade and has coached youth swimming throughout the years.

Kudlac also played soccer growing up before becoming a year-round swimmer once high school started. 

“Swimming is a lot of my life,” said Kudlac, whose father was also a swimmer. “My team has also become my family and it’s what I love to do, so being around those people and doing what I love is great.

Outside the pool, Kudlac has a passion for helping others and has been involved with the Special Olympics and the school’s Unified Sports Basketball team. 

She said the experiences have been very rewarding and would like to stay involved and is one of the reasons she chose to major in occupational therapy at Pittsburgh. 

At her next stop, Kudlac will join a Panthers’ swimming team that competes in the highly-competitive Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), which is also the home to back-to-back National Champions from the University of Virginia. 

​“The ACC is really the highest level and I’ll be swimming against really fast people. I’m looking forward being around an environment where we have all the abilities to train at the highest level,” said Kudlac. “[Riley and I] have always been together and we always did everything together growing up, so being apart to find out who we are on our own will also be fun.”