Just reposting the discussion from the 2027 topic on
Rylee Erisman's commitment to Cal and her reclassification to 2026.
She is now solidly in the conversation over who should be ranked #1 for the recruiting class of 2026, with former #1 Charlotte Crush as her challenger for the top ranking.
swimmer19 said:
The previous 2027 recruit has yet to make their commitment public.
HOWEVER, from Josh Huger as of an hour ago:
"Class of 2027 2026 + 1... Cal W Swim +1", noting that the 2027 recruit will enroll with our 2026 signees. Makes me think this might be Rylee Erisman and that she will be joining us a year early. Fingers crossed.
Edit from Braden Keith on Twitter, referencing Huger's post: Cannot confirm this is her but rumor there was going around that Rylee Erisman was going to graduate early and start early, wherever she wound up…
That being said, Braden's rumor sources have been correct in having knowledge of our recent top women's commits before the athletes themselves made an announcement.
swimmer19 said:
It's official. Let's go!!!
Rylee Erisman: I'm honored and excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at the University of California, Berkeley. I would also like to announce I will be reclassifying to the graduating class of 2026. I'm so grateful for my family, coaches at Laker Swim, and friends who have supported me throughout this journey. A special thank you to all the coaching staff at CAL! I could not be more excited for this opportunity!
RollOnYouAll said:
swimmer19 said:
World Junior Champion Rylee Erisman Sends Verbal To Cal, Reclassifies To Class of 2026
Woohoo & yay yay - welcome to Bear Territory, Rylee, LFG!!!
Some highlights from the above article:
" Erisman, ranked #2 in the girls' high school class of 2027, will graduate high school earlier than expected and join the Bears this coming fall.
The 16-year-old will head to Berkeley from her native Florida, where she trains at Laker Swim under coach Kyle Goller and also represents Windermere High School in the FHSAA.
Erisman has been on a record-breaking tear throughout 2025, most recently breaking Gretchen Walsh's National High School Record in the girls' 100 freestyle in a time of 46.73 at the 2025 FHSAA 4A State Championships, where she successfully defended both her titles in the 50 free (21.61) and 100 free.
This past summer, Erisman delivered a dominant performance at the 2025 World Junior Swimming Championships in Otopeni, Romania, winning five gold and eight total medals, the most any swimmer has ever won at a single edition of the meet.
In the girls' high school class of 2027, Erisman held the fastest time in the 50, 100, 200 and 500 free, and the 100 back. Reclassifying to the class of 2026, she would still rank 1st in the 50, 100 and 200 free, overtaking Charlotte Crush, who ranked #1 in the class and holds respective bests of 21.88, 47.85 and 1:44.34.
Erisman's best time in the 100 free would've placed 4th at the 2025 Women's NCAA Championships;
Erisman's 50 free time is also fast enough to make the 2025 NCAA 'A' final (21.63 tied for 7th in the prelims), while her 200 free PB would have placed 10th in the NCAA prelims, just over a quarter of a second shy of what it took to make the top eight last season (1:43.24). In the 100 back, her lifetime best of 51.36 is 16 one-hundredths back of what it took to earn a second swim in 2025 (51.20).
After a few down years, the Cal women have been on the upswing with some key freshmen joining the team this season, including five from the top-20 in the high school class of 2025. Leading the way are #2 Teagan O'Dell and #3 Claire Weinstein, and they've also added #5 Annie Jia, #12 Elle Scott and #18 Ella Cosgrove.
In Cal's class of 2026, Erisman joins ranked recruits #5 Kelsey Zhang, #9 Ava De Anda, along with Madeline Kohel, Egle Salu, Isabel Wolk, Canadian Halle West, Hong Kong's Kassy Yeung and Egyptian Olympic diver Malak Tawfik."
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Another report:
World Junior Champion Rylee Erisman Commits to Cal, Will Graduate Early
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Based on Rylee's personal best times thus far in High School, Erisman would be ranked on Cal's *
All-Time Top 10* list as follows:
#6 in the 50 Free (21.61)
#3 in the 100 Free (46.69),
behind Abbey's 46.35 & Missy's 46.66 #2 in the 200 Free (1:40.93),
behind Missy's 1:39.10 NCAA & American Record #3 in the 500 Free (4:34.60), behind Cierra & Missy
At *
2025 NCAAs*, Rylee would have placed as follows in the A final:
#5 in the 50 Free (21.61)
#4 in the 100 Free (46.69)
#4 in the 200 Free (1:40.93)
#6 in the 500 Free (4:34.60)
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New writeup & award for Rylee Erisman: 2025 Swammy Awards: Age Group Swimmers of the Year --15-16The 15-16 age group presented two very different races for Swimmer of the Year. While the boys' award was a clear-cut decision, the girls' honor came down to a close call between
Rylee Erisman and
Audrey Derivaux.
In evaluating, we weighed performances across long course and short course, World Juniors, and relay contributions. Ultimately, this year's 15-16 Age Group Swimmer of the Year Awards go to
Luka Mijatovic and Erisman, each earning the honor for the second straight year.
15-16 Girls
Rylee Erisman, Laker Swim (Coach:
Kyle Goller)
Erisman didn't rest on her laurels for long, as less than two months after World Juniors she returned to the pool and
broke Gretchen Walsh's National High School Record in the 100 free (46.73) at the 2025 FHSAA 4A State Championships. There, she successfully defended both her titles in the 50 free (21.61) and 100 free.
She finished her 2025 season at the Winter Junior Championships this month,
breaking Katie Ledecky's 1516 National Age Group (NAG) record in the 200 free by over a second with a time of 1:40.93.
Erisman also won the 50 free (21.95), 100 free (46.85), and 500 free (4:34.60). Her 500 time represented a massive drop from the 4:43.35 personal best she entered the meet with.
Her best times in the 50 and 100 remain 21.61 and 46.69, from November and December of 2024, respectively.
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Update: yet another Rylee article!How Unusual Is Rylee Erisman's 21.6 in the 50 Free + 4:34 in the 500 Free?16-year-old American sprinter
Rylee Erisman turned heads at the recent USA Swimming Winter Junior Championships - East meet, winning all four of her individual events in dominating fashion.
It was the two longest of these races that caught the most attention, as they were new revelations for the young Floridian. She swam 1:40.93 in the 200 free, which ranks her as the 16th-fastest performer in history (of any age), and 4:34.60 in the 500 free,
making her the 8th-fastest swimmer in 15-16 history.
This begged the question: just how rare was this range? A swimmer capable of going 4:34.60 in the 500 free and 21.61 in the 50 free.
The answer is incredibly rare. In fact, of the
51 women all-time who have been 4:34-or-better in the 500 free, only four have been under 22 seconds in the 50 free, and only one has been faster than Erisman.
This data will have some bias to it because most of the swimmers who have been 4:34-or-better haven't swum a tapered flat-start 50 free in their senior careers.
But context that also matters: at this meet, Erisman didn't go best times in her best events. Her meet-best in the 50 free was 21.95, and she has been 21.6 more than once.
And she's only 16.
While National High School and National Age Group Records from Erisman in the 50 and 100 free have built her as a pure sprinter, this performance implies that as she grows and matures, she might find a space internationally as more of a modern 100/200 freestyler, ala a Mollie O'Callaghan.
Erisman, like O'Callaghan, is tall by a normal definition, but not overly tall in the context of swimming like the 6'1 Gretchen Walsh or the 6'0 tall Sarah Sjostrom.
Erisman is graduating high school early and will begin training at Cal in the fall of 2026 at only 17 years old.
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Aukan Goldin in the fold.
