Who was Ty Wells? University of Arizona mourns death of breaststroke swimmer at 23, remembers him as ‘a guiding light’
TUCSON, ARIZONA: A 23-year-old recent graduate of the University of Arizona died unexpectedly on Friday, January 27. Ty Wells had no reports of an earlier illness and was a member of the university’s swim team. His family is yet to give any statement regarding his death. While the cause of his death has not been disclosed, the shocking news has left his family and friends mourning.
“Several people close to the program [said] that rumors circulating that the death was caused by a motorcycle accident are untrue, and that the Arizona medical examiner is still working to determine the cause of death,” according to SwimSwam. Honoring the 23-year-old swimmer, Arizona’s athletic department called the Arizona Wild Cats posted a statement on its website revealing that Wells swam for the university from 2018 to 2022.
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“On behalf of the entire University of Arizona community, I want to extend our heartfelt condolences to the Wells family along with Ty’s friends, teammates, classmates and colleagues,” said the vice president and director of athletics, Dave Heeke
We are deeply saddened by the loss of recent alum Ty Wells, who passed away on Friday.
— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) January 30, 2023
Our heartfelt condolences are with his family, his friends and the entire @ArizonaSwimDive family. pic.twitter.com/ksUtynhXWy
Wells, who was a fifth-year student was still listed on the Arizona swim roster.
This past weekend the @ArizonaSwimDive program lost an amazing young man in Ty Wells. He passed away suddenly on Friday. Please consider assisting his family by donating to the https://t.co/FPEazzQZeO RIP in Ty.
— Matt Purdy (@MattPurdyOLC) January 30, 2023
'He will be remembered'
A GoFundMe page has been created to fundraise on behalf of Wells’ mother Sandra Wells. Ian Ingram, who is organizing the fundraiser, wrote, “Our Arizona Wildcat swimming family was devastated at the sudden passing of one of our most adored swimmers this past Friday. He was a guiding light to all of his friends and teammates as well as to all of us parents. He brought out the best in all of us and cared so deeply for all of his friends. His spirit was contagious, his smile lit up a room and he was a big brother to so many.” He concluded by adding: “He was an incredible young man who left his mark on all of us. He will be remembered by all of us with love in our hearts, FOREVER!! We are all better for knowing this beautiful young man.”
Who was Ty Wells?
Wells was a native of Manteca, California. He graduated from Ripon High School in 2018 where he set impressive records in the 100-butterfly, 100-breaststroke, 50 freestyle, 200 and 400 freestyle relay, and 200 medley relay, according to the Arizona Daily Star. He was specializing in breaststroke during his program at the university for Wild Cats, according to the Arizona Desert Swarm.
"During the 2022 Pac-12 Championships he set personal bests in the 50-, 100- and 200-meter breast, and last June competed in the USA Olympic Team Trials in Omaha for the 2022 Tokyo Games. His most recent meet was the Toyota US Open Championships on November 30-December 3 in Charlotte, where he competed in the 100- and 200 breast," as per the outlet.
Wells received his bachelor’s degree in health sciences and physiology in May 2022 and was planning on pursuing a career in physical therapy or sports medicine.