Aaron Sears transferred to Northwestern after Maryland dropped its men's swimming and diving program. Sears competed one year with the Terps, giving him three years of eligibility in Evanston.
2014-15: Senior member of Northwestern's breaststroke squad … Academic All-Big Ten … Ranked second on the team in the 100 breast and third in the 200 breast … Swam a career-best 55.76 in the 100 breast at the Big Ten Championships to place 33rd overall … Cut 4.71 seconds from his previous season-best in the 200 breast to touch in 2:04.26 and finish 39th in the conference … Also competed in the 50 free (65th) at the B1G meet … Scored points in all three breast events at NU's home TYR Invitational (11/21-11/23), placing 13th in the 50 breast, 15th in the 100 and 16th in the 200 … Competed in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes at the AT&T U.S. Winter Nationals (12/3-12/6), cutting almost three full seconds off his season-best time in the 200 with a 2:08.97 and more than a second in the 100 via a 57.63 … Had the best dual of his NU career on his own Senior Night against Milwaukee (1/16), finishing second in the 200 breast with a season-best 2:08.76 and fourth in the 200 IM … Scored dual-meet points with top-five event finishes on four different occasions during the year for NU.
2013-14: Big Ten Distinguished Scholar ... Academic All-Big Ten ... Posted two NU top times ... Competed in the Big Ten Championships in the 50 free, 100 breast and 200 breast ... Finished 35th in the Big Ten and third at NU in the 200 breast 2:03.08 ... Competed in the finals of the TYR invitational placing 11th in the 50 breast, 10th in the 200 breast and ninth in the 100 breast with the third NU top time of 56.38 ... Finished fourth in the 100 breast and fifth in the 200 breast vs. E. Mich/Illinois (10/18) ... Finished sixth in the 200 breast and eighth in the 200 free vs. WKU (10/25) ... Finished fourth in the 100 breast and sixth in the 200 breast vs. Wisconsin (11/15) ... Finished sixth in the 200 breast vs. Iowa (1/25) ... Finished second in the 100 breast and first in the 200 breast vs. Milwaukee (1/31).
2012-13: Member of Northwestern's breaststroke group, ranking third in both distances for the Wildcats on the year ... Cut 2.62 seconds from his seed in the 100 breast to touch in a career-best 56.05, finishing 28th at the Big Ten Championships ... Knocked 3.87 seconds off his seed time in the 200 breast to swim a career-best 2:05.62 and place 38th in the conference ... Also competed in the 50 free (67th) at the Big Ten meet ... Scored points in all three breaststroke events at the Wildcats' own four-team TYR Invitational (11/16-11/18) ... Made the championship final of the 100 breast before finishing fifth overall ... Won the consolation finals of both the 50 breast and 200 breast at the TYR ... His 200 breast finals time of 2:10.62 was 2.06 seconds faster than his seed time entering the meet ... Scored dual-meet points for Northwestern with a fourth-place finish in the 200 breast at Milwaukee (1/16) and a fifth-place finish in the 100 breast against Eastern Michigan (10/19).
2011-12: (at Maryland) Competed as a freshman at Maryland ... Was one of the Terps top seeds in the 200 breast at the ACC Championships ... Also swam in freestyle events.
High School: Four-year state qualifier and three-time all-state honoree ... Named Fox Valley Association Swimmer of the Year as a senior ... Earned Neenah's team MVP honor three times ... State finalist in the 500 free, 200 free and 100 breast during his prep career while swimming on two bronze-winning state relays, the 200 medley and the 400 free, as a senior when Neenah took fifth as a team at the state meet ... Led his team to the Fox Valley Association conference title all four years of high school, setting team records in the 200 medley relay, 400 free relay and the 100 breast along the way ... Swam club for the Fox Valley WAVE for nine years under coach Curt Beutler ... Member of multiple National Honor Societies.
Personal: Born Aaron Paul Sears ... Son of Brian and Paula Sears ... Transferred to Northwestern after Maryland cut its swimming program following his freshman year ... Majoring in mechanical engineering.
SEARS' NORTHWESTERN PERSONAL BESTS
| Event | Personal Best |
| 100 breaststroke | 55.76 |
| 200 breaststroke | 2:03.08 |