Bermuda swimmer Nick Thomson has been recruited by top US university Florida State.

The NCAA Division One college, one of four top US schools who were chasing the 18-year-old, signed Thomson on Monday after offering him a full athletic scholarship.

Thomson, who currently attends Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, will start in Florida in September next year, and is hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow Bermudian and Mercersburg alumnus, Geri Mewett, who went to the University of Tennesse, and then represented Bermuda at the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992.

Coincidentally Tennessee, along with MSU and North Carolina State, also attempted to recruit Thomson after he stormed to victory in the 50 metres freestyle race at the prestigious Easterns meet in Philadelphia in February.

The Easterns Championship is contested by all the prep schools on America's East Coast and takes in an area from Florida to New England.

In the end, the Bermuda swimmer, who has already represented Bermuda at the highest level after his appearance at the Worlds in Rome, opted to join a Florida programme that has won 13 national championships and 50 ACC championships.

"This summer in Rome at the FINA World Championships he had amazing swims in the 100 and 50 freestyle that pushed him into the top 10 high school sprinters in the US," said Ben Smith, the Bermuda national swim team coach who has been coaching Thomson since he was eight-years-old.

"This is a great opportunity for Nick and will help him to reach his next goal which is to represent Bermuda at the 2012 Olympics in London. I am very proud of Nick's accomplishment and he is a good example for our younger swimmers who have the same goals of getting a scholarship for swimming."

Thomson, who holds records in nearly every age group in Bermuda, has been fully focused on getting into a Division One school for several years, and parents Steve and Norma are rightly proud of their son.

"We are absolutely proud of him," said Steve Thomson. "This is a big deal, to sign with an NCAA Division One college anyway is a big deal, but to be offered an athletic scholarship on top of that is a big deal, so we are very proud of him.

"This has been his focus for years, and he has goals in front of him that he wants to accomplish and achieve, so he's following his passion and as parents, Norma and I are very, very proud of Nick, and we wish him all the best."

And Steve Thomson said that a lot of the credit for his son's success should be laid at the feet of the Island's swimming programme and, in particular, coaches Smith and Richard Goodwin.

"The swimming programme here is going from strength to strength and that's really what gave him the springboard to be able to go on and do this stuff, so Ben (Smith) deserves accolades too.

"He's been growing the national team steadily for eight to 10 years and it's showing signs of making an impact, and it's all good for Bermuda."