Expected this to be a close meet and it wasn't. Cal times were pedestrian. So what gives? Swim gurus on our board: what do you think? USC had come throughs the whole meet.

We surely weren't saving efforts for the UCLA meet coming up this weekend. Not worried except it's getting close for our team to start bringing down times with only a couple of duals left, then the PAC 12. Also our Spanish breast stroke competitor needs to make a bigger move downward in her times.

https://www.nmnathletics.com//pdf9/2627186.pdf?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=30100

http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/w-swim/mtt/chelsea_chenault_861679.html

Former Carondolet star Chenault dominated as a true frosh today. She won the 200m freestyle by 2.17 seconds and defeated Missy Franklin in the 500m free. Was she the Eastbay swimmer that Cal decided not to offer last year? Palo Alto's Jasmine Tosky, reputed to be the best CCS female swimmer ever won the 200m butterfly and was very strong also.
http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/w-swim/mtt/jasmine_tosky_820457.html

All freestyle events belonged to SC (except the 1000 meters) and in most cases in a breeze. Cal even lost their event the 100m backstroke! USC place 1st & 4th...

Cal's big names were beaten and sometimes non-competitive today. I'm talking about Missy Franklin, Elizabeth Pelton, Rachel Bootsma, Rachel Acker, Cindy Tran, Yvette Kong, etc. The only swimmers that seemed to perform well relative to expectations were Celina Li, Stephanie Au & Camille Cheng. The meet was stunning. Troy won most events and were one-two too often.

GO BEARS!

It's almost like they threw the meet and used it as a training meet. Doesn't make sense, especially because it was a blowout.

barabbas;842273672 said:

---

It's almoy..st like they threw the meet and used it as a training meet. Doesn't make sense, especially because it was a blowout.

---

The furds blowout USC 170-130..gulp the big swim gulp next week.

Fortunately dual meets often are not an indicator of much, but we will see.

barabbas;842274998 said:

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Fortunately dual meets often are not an indicator of much, but we will see.

---

Agreed..also lots depends on match ups too! Our strength could match up better with the furds than USC. . But the furds are swimming strong..especially Felicia Lee.

Marina's 100 breast time (1:34) on Friday was inexplicable and the overall sluggish times for multiple swimmers potentially point to food poisoning. Jorge Gutierrez and a couple of basketball players had a horrible game a few years ago after a problem at Chipotle, but there was no mention of illness/injury from anyone associated with the swim team. McKeever's a second generation 'SC alum and is good friends with 'SC coach Dave Salo, and to her credit offered no excuses.

Comparing times and line ups between Friday and Saturday, 'SC was noticeably faster on Friday than Saturday, so I suspect Salo sandbagged a little bit and rested his team for Cal. Teri juggled her line up on Saturday to get a better dual result and her team responded. Team's pysche/ego was bruised, but they bounced back, albeit against a lesser opponent.

Short-term bad news is that LSJU swam well on both days and looks like a dual meet juggernaut. McKeever may rest her team a little bit for the LSJU dual, but her best short-term chance to win another NCAA title is 2014, so she may focus more on that. Cal has 7 major swimmers to replace in the next recruiting class and key 2015 targets Kathleen Baker, Ella Eastin, and Katie McLaughlin visited both Bay Area schools unofficially for the Arizona meets.

As noted previously, dual meets are one thing and NCAAs are a different beast. The Bears killed it at Winter Nationals, the best approximation to NCAAs so far. Team has work to do with improving some individual event seeds for NCAAs, but NCAAs rather than the the LSJU dual or Pac-12s remains the ultimate goal.

BearDevil;842275206 said:

---

Marina's 100 breast time (1:34) on Friday was inexplicable and the overall sluggish times for multiple swimmers potentially point to food poisoning. Jorge Gutierrez and a couple of basketball players had a horrible game a few years ago after a problem at Chipotle, but there was no mention of illness/injury from anyone associated with the swim team. McKeever's a second generation 'SC alum and is good friends with 'SC coach Dave Salo, and to her credit offered no excuses.

Comparing times and line ups between Friday and Saturday, 'SC was noticeably faster on Friday than Saturday, so I suspect Salo sandbagged a little bit and rested his team for Cal. Teri juggled her line up on Saturday to get a better dual result and her team responded. Team's pysche/ego was bruised, but they bounced back, albeit against a lesser opponent.

Short-term bad news is that LSJU swam well on both days and looks like a dual meet juggernaut. McKeever may rest her team a little bit for the LSJU dual, but her best short-term chance to win another NCAA title is 2014, so she may focus more on that. Cal has 7 major swimmers to replace in the next recruiting class and key 2015 targets Kathleen Baker, Ella Eastin, and Katie McLaughlin visited both Bay Area schools unofficially for the Arizona meets.

As noted previously, dual meets are one thing and NCAAs are a different beast. The Bears killed it at Winter Nationals, the best approximation to NCAAs so far. Team has work to do with improving some individual event seeds for NCAAs, but NCAAs rather than the the LSJU dual or Pac-12s remains the ultimate goal.

---

Thanks for your information. Regarding recruiting has katie Ledecky visited or plans to visit or is she planning to go Pro, which is what lots of people think?:gobears:

OBear073akaSMFan;842275260 said:

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Thanks for your information. Regarding recruiting has katie Ledecky visited or plans to visit or is she planning to go Pro, which is what lots of people think?:gobears:

---

Can't see the rationale for Ledecky to compete in college and as far as I know she hasn't visited Cal or anywhere yet. If she does swim in college, Cal would be in the mix, but I think LSJU would be the favorite. Katie's very close with both Simone Manuel and Lia Neal.

Teri will have to replace Missy, Klaren, Bing, Piehl, Breed, Cheng, and Kong. Ideal class would be Ledecky, Baker, a couple of sprinters, and a breaststroker. 5-7 NCAA scorers is a huge loss, so it will be interesting to see if McKeever goes for all freshmen or brings in a few JC swimmers.

Very deep class in California (Eastin, Sonia Wang, McLaughlin, Abby Weitzeil, Riley Scott). Salo has a good team but at least the women aren't ready to make a serious run at an NCAA title yet. 'SC's hosed if Cal and LSJU divvy up the SoCal recruits. Eastin's an LSJU lean. Scott's from Petaluma and has been at most meets this season. Other Cal targets Baker and Nora McCullagh are club teammates with Maija Roses in Charlotte. Expect Mary Pelton to swim for the Bears.

BearDevil;842275206 said:

---

As noted previously, dual meets are one thing and NCAAs are a different beast. The Bears killed it at Winter Nationals, the best approximation to NCAAs so far. Team has work to do with improving some individual event seeds for NCAAs, but NCAAs rather than the the LSJU dual or Pac-12s remains the ultimate goal.

---

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Nicely summed up there. Looking on the bright side, the USC blowout should wipe off any complacency (if there were any to begin with) and help the team to refocus on all the little things both physical & mental they'll have to work on to bring the title back to the East Bay. NCAAs was never a foregone conclusion really, even though so many flattering platitudes have already been heaped upon the incredible talent which Teri had brought together and is in the process of molding...

Yes I also was wondering about the possibility of food poisoning, guess we'll never really know as outsiders since, as you had mentioned, Teri didn't make any excuses as is her admirable wont. There may have been some lapses in concentration or other issues of a pyschological nature involved as well as fatigue & illness, judging from this running report on the UCLA dual by a Swimswam reader in the comments section (liquidassets):
http://swimswam.com/usc-women-roll-1-ranked-cal-home-61-points/
[COLOR="SlateGray"]"Interesting scene on deck afterward, Bootsma looked very upset as McKeever was talking to her, she kept trying to turn and walk away from her, MCKeever looked pissed and kept grabbing her arm and turning her around every time she tried to get away, about 4-5x. I remember having those scenes with my coach after a bad swim. ;-) "
"Lol sure but probably not after 2 days of compact duel meets and after a 1000 and 500 yesterday. Not much rest between lots of events in a 90 minute duel meet. But yeah they all looked exhausted, sluggish, and a bit sloppy. Missy's finish in the 2back was awful. Terry looked concerned and had them right back in the water for practice immediately after the meet ended. Missy was the only one smiling ;-) "[/COLOR]
In spite of the hiccup on Friday, I personally think the team is generally progressing in a pretty positive direction towards making a credible run at the national title in a month and a half's time. Nothing can be taken for granted as a large number of swimmers from other schools are also swimming much faster than at this comparable time last year, so I suspect we'll see a drop in the times needed to win or score across the board when measured against the 2013 Championship.

A bit concerned about Boots though, and keeping my fingers crossed that Marina will adjust to SCY racing soon and has a big taper in her. Teri does have to juggle collegiate vs. national priorities with National Teamers like Missy, Liz, Celina, Boots etc. We know that Liz will be able to drop her times substantially after some solid rest. Missy isn't a big concern as she has the ability to win all her individuals without having to resort to a full taper, and she's quite accustomed to multiple tapers from her US trials -> Olympics/Worlds experience (she has always consistently managed to race faster at the biggest events, even when they took place a fortnight or so after trials).

Thanks for the heads up on Kathleen Baker, Ella Eastin, and Katie McLaughlin visiting Cal & the Furds over the Arizona weekend duals. I had previously commented on what major assets they'd be for us (Katie & Ella would be in-state), so I really hope we can recruit at least one of them if not all to counteract LSJU's incredible 2014 incoming freshman class, esp with all the key losses from graduations and with Missy going over to the dark side (pro) in 2015 :p Heck throw in Katie Ledecky if she doesn't end up going pro...and just for the heck of it, Ruta Meilutyte from Luthiania as well as Siobhan Haughey from HK (I know, I know, this scenario is just pure wishful fantasy, in particular when it comes to Ruta as her training base is firmly ensconced @ Plymouth Leander in the UK ), and Cal would have a really formidable & balanced team, even if we still won't dominate in the breast events (well Maiia Roses will help shore up some of the gap there next year, and hopefully Taylor Young will develop some more). At any rate, let's selfishly hope these potential recruits will elect to represent a school that's not Stanford or USC (or not swim in college in the case of Katie L) should they for some inexplicable reason choose not to swim for Cal [/COLOR]

Ella Eastin @ella_eastin Jan 25
Barneys at Berkeley @KathleenBaker2 @emily_eastin


Kathleen Baker ‏@KathleenBaker2 Jan 26
I already miss @ella_eastin and @katie_mcl87 �� #seeyouinapril

------------------------------

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842275333 said:

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[COLOR="RoyalBlue"]
Thanks for the heads up on Kathleen Baker, Ella Eastin, and Katie McLaughlin visiting Cal & the Furds over the Arizona weekend duals. I had previously commented on what major assets they'd be for us (Katie & Ella would be in-state), so I really hope we can recruit at least one of them if not all to counteract LSJU's incredible 2014 incoming freshman class, esp with all the key losses from graduations and with Missy going over to the dark side (pro) in 2015 :p Heck throw in Katie Ledecky if she doesn't end up going pro...and just for the heck of it, Ruta Meilutyte from Luthiania as well as Siobhan Haughey from HK (I know, I know, this scenario is just pure wishful fantasy, in particular when it comes to Ruta as her training base is firmly ensconced @ Plymouth Leander in the UK ), and Cal would have a really formidable & balanced team, even if we still won't dominate in the breast events (well Maiia Roses will help shore up some of the gap there next year, and hopefully Taylor Young will develop some more). At any rate, let's selfishly hope these potential recruits will elect to represent a school that's not Stanford or USC (or not swim in college in the case of Katie L) should they for some inexplicable reason choose not to swim for Cal [/COLOR]

Ella Eastin @ella_eastin Jan 25
Barneys at Berkeley @KathleenBaker2 @emily_eastin
:large

Kathleen Baker ‏@KathleenBaker2 Jan 26
I already miss @ella_eastin and @katie_mcl87 �� #seeyouinapril

------------------------------

---

Ruta's already a pro and unfairly or not has long been dogged by doping allegations. Haughey's 15 or 16, but Cal will be a huge favorite if she does swim in college. The Bears have had a virtual monopoly on Hong Kong swimming: Sherry Tsai, Hannah Wilson, Au, and Kong. Cheng's from Beijing.

Eastin's high school teammate, Lindsey Engel, will be swimming on the farm next season. There's another Eastin sister who's also a stud in the class of 2016.

BearDevil;842275366 said:

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Ruta's already a pro and unfairly or not has long been dogged by doping allegations. Haughey's 15 or 16, but Cal will be a huge favorite if she does swim in college. The Bears have had a virtual monopoly on Hong Kong swimming: Sherry Tsai, Hannah Wilson, Au, and Kong. Cheng's from Beijing.

Eastin's high school teammate, Lindsey Engel, will be swimming on the farm next season. There's another Eastin sister who's also a stud in the class of 2016.

---

You mentioned Mary Pelton as a possibility. How about Brianna Leverenz? I know she is not rated as high as Mary but wonder the possibility of her coming to Cal too.

OBear073akaSMFan;842275969 said:

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You mentioned Mary Pelton as a possibility. How about Brianna Leverenz? I know she is not rated as high as Mary but wonder the possibility of her coming to Cal too.

---

The bar's much higher at Cal than it's ever been. If NCAAs were held today, fifteen swimmers would qualify in individual events and ten swimmers would score in at least one individual event. Looking at the 2014 class, Cierra projects as a scorer in three individual events and Noemie and Mau project as scorers in two individual events each. Maija has B cuts in both breasts, probably would make NCAAs in the 200, but wouldn't score. Ladd has two B cuts, but wouldn't make NCAAs.

Hadn't looked closely at Mary Pelton's times, so I probably spoke too soon. I didn't convert her LC times, but just looking at her times in SCYs she doesn't have any B cuts. Brianna's times aren't close to B cuts. To be fair, they haven't swum their junior year taper meets yet. Clearly not everyone on the team is an NCAA scorer and both would likely fit in well with the team, but they probably wouldn't impact the team very much and could go to other schools where they'd make the travel team and have bigger swimming impacts.

BearDevil;842275296 said:

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Teri will have to replace Missy, Klaren, Bing, Piehl, Breed, Cheng, and Kong. Ideal class would be Ledecky, Baker, a couple of sprinters, and a breaststroker. 5-7 NCAA scorers is a huge loss, so it will be interesting to see if McKeever goes for all freshmen or brings in a few JC swimmers.

... Other Cal targets Baker and Nora McCullagh are club teammates with Maija Roses in Charlotte.

---

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]USA Swimming's Q&A with Kathleen Baker that was posted today: [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

-----------------------------------

http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=0&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en-US&ItemId=5920&mid=12660

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][SIZE="3"]20 Question Tuesday: Kathleen Baker[/SIZE]
3/11/2014

By Bob Schaller//Correspondent[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Gray"]5. You are in the backstroke with quite a cast, led by Missy Franklin and Elizabeth Pelton, among others isn't that a deep field of talent in the U.S.? [/COLOR]
[COLOR="DimGray"] Kathleen: The backstroke is a competitive event in both the 100 and 200. I just like the competition, it's good for the U.S. to have that, and to make all of us better. [/COLOR]

[COLOR="Gray"]6. So you have them to train with and compete against, yet you get to learn from them? [/COLOR]
[COLOR="DimGray"] Kathleen: Absolutely yes. And they are really great friends, too. That's the great thing about swimming, you get to make friends across the country. They are not just competitors. [/COLOR]

[COLOR="Gray"]8. You still have a year, but how's the college selection process going?[/COLOR]
[COLOR="DimGray"] Kathleen: I am already looking but it is pretty much wide open. I love them all already. It's going to be hard to say no. I like learning about what each college has, and how each college works. [/COLOR]

[COLOR="Gray"]12. You mentioned what you learned at Trials, how did you feel in the moment? [/COLOR]
[COLOR="DimGray"] Kathleen: It was just like that atmosphere blew my mind. I don't think I have ever been that nervous in my life. I was sitting in the ready room and I remember Missy being all cheerful and happy, and what an amazing person she is. Meanwhile, I was (laughs) shoving my goggles into my face because I wanted them to be perfect![/COLOR]

-----------------------------------

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Have included excerpts from the above article where Missy & Liz's names came up...hopefully they might be a factor too in pulling Kathleen in Cal's direction!

And then Kathleen can recruit her pals Katie McLaughlin & Ella Eastin to be Golden Bears as well :p [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

Katie McLaughlin [COLOR="SlateGray"]Feb 28[/COLOR]
Another bday shoutout to this girl!! Love youuuu!! 17!!!! ❤️❤️❤️ @KathleenBaker2



Ella Eastin [COLOR="SlateGray"]Feb 28[/COLOR]
Happy birthday❤️❤️ @KathleenBaker2 i miss you so much and cant wait for our next trip together ����love you



[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Though Kathleen does claim it's all wide open for her currently, I can't help recollecting that Missy had diplomatically declared pretty much the same sort of thing in public...when in fact she had already (so wisely) made up her mind that Teri and the Cal family were the only choice for her [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

-----------------------------------

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842291595 said:

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[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]USA Swimming's Q&A with Kathleen Baker that was posted today: [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

-

And then Kathleen can recruit her pals Katie McLaughlin & Ella Eastin to be Golden Bears as well :p [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

-----------------------------------

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I think I remember the furds think Ella Eastin is a lock for them because I some her 2014 teammates have committed to them. Of course, until a LOI is signed, there are no sure things.

'SC's Dave Salo is nearly universally hailed as a great coach, but I lost some respect for him this season. He rested his women's team to get a meaningless dual meet win against Cal, whined in Swim Swam when he got called on it, had several swimmers in racing suits for the UCLA dual, and came in more than 200 points behind the Bears (even with a relay DQ) and qualified fewer swimmers with slower times than Cal at Pac-12s. Interesting priorities.

Reading between the lines, looks like Salo panicked a little bit. LSJU's Ted Knapp and Teri get ripped fairly frequently on Swim Swam and would never dream of responding to criticism. 'SC's rolled out a shiny new swimming facility and Salo had a horrible recruiting men's class in the Fall, despite a very deep SoCal class. Next year's women's SoCal recruiting class is even deeper and 'SC's hosed if they don't get the lion's share of those recruits. Dividing them up with LSJU, Cal, and UCLA won't cut it. Dual meets are nice and dandy, but NCAAs and Pac-12s are way more important.

Salo's still a very good coach and his teams have a chance to redeem themselves at NCAAs, but I'd be surprised if his women's team finishes ahead of Cal and LSJU at NCAAs. He's a better men's coach than a women's coach, so the men's team should fare better at NCAAs, but their star-studded freshmen class hasn't shown much thus far.

-----------------------------------

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Speaking of incoming baby bears, here are a couple of rather cute pix of diminutive Maija alongside 6' 3" Cierra lol:[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

Cierra Runge [COLOR="DimGray"]25 August 2013[/COLOR]
The height difference!!! [COLOR="RoyalBlue"]@maija8roses[/COLOR]

http://instagram.com/p/dcPSMIEE0F/#


Cierra Runge [COLOR="DimGray"]16 May 2014[/COLOR]
Almost a year later....still a little difference in height.

http://instagram.com/p/oE1LFXkE_k/#


Cierra Runge [COLOR="DimGray"]16 March 2014[/COLOR]
Birthday pancake tradition. #goofingoff

http://instagram.com/p/lm-LU5EEz5/#


-----------------------------------

-----------------------------------

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Not sure if this post (and a few of the preceding ones from me :p) are really on-topic for a thread discussing the Cal vs. USC dual lol Well perhaps someone nice would like to start a new thread specifically on incoming & potential swimming recruits (women), once NCAAs are done?

Anyway, just wanted to mention that Swimswam has just reported that [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]"[COLOR="DimGray"]Hawaiian swimming star and national independent high school record-holder Jasmine Mau is making a rare mainland appearance at the Western Region Speedo Sectional meet in Federal Way, Washington, and she's making her presence felt.

Mau won two of the four women's events on day two, bookending the night with victories. She opened things up with a 100 freestyle win, going 49.34.

Mau, who swims for Kamehameha Swim Club and will join the Cal Golden Bears next year, came back to dominate the 200 fly, going 1:57.61.[/COLOR]"

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]In addition, out in Charlotte this evening, Kathleen Baker led off her 800 free relay with a blistering [COLOR="Red"]1:43.61[/COLOR] which would be good for 4th in the NCAA right now (only Missy, Vreeland & Gendron has gone faster so far). Oh, btw her strengths aren't primarily in the free events either...the backs & IMs being more her areas of specialization![/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

-----------------------------------

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842292498 said:

---

In addition, out in Charlotte this evening, Kathleen Baker led off her 800 free relay with a blistering [COLOR="Red"]1:43.61[/COLOR] which would be good for 4th in the NCAA right now (only Missy, Vreeland & Gendron has gone faster so far). Oh, btw her strengths aren't primarily in the free events either...the backs & IMs being more her areas of specialization!

---

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Well Kathleen just went a [COLOR="Red"]59.37[/COLOR] in the [U]100 breast[/U], good for 11th fastest in the NCAA - and she's not even known as a breaststroker to boot!

She followed this immediately afterwards in the next event, the [U]100 fly[/U], with a time of [COLOR="Red"]52.68[/COLOR], which is a B cut and would have earned her an invitation to the National Championship next week! (cutoff for the last invitee = [COLOR="DarkGreen"]52.92[/COLOR])

Oh, and to end the evening, Kathleen led off the [U]400 free relay[/U] in [COLOR="Red"]48.20[/COLOR], which would currently rank #15 in the NCAA - the only Golden Bears that have been faster in the 100 free so far are Missy & Rachael... [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

David Marsh [COLOR="DimGray"]2h[/COLOR]
Great job for the SwimMACers tonight. The girls 17-18 relay earned a National Age Group Record! @swimmacc @SpeedoUSA


[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]We need to recruit her ASAP!! [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

-----------------------------------

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842291595 said:

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And then Kathleen can recruit her pals Katie McLaughlin & Ella Eastin to be Golden Bears as well :p [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

Ella Eastin [COLOR="SlateGray"]Feb 28[/COLOR]
Happy birthday❤️❤️ @KathleenBaker2 i miss you so much and cant wait for our next trip together ����love you

-----------------------------------

---

Just noticed this photo and it looks like both Eastin girls (Ella on right, Baker in center, and I'm assuming sophomore Emily Eastin on left) have already visited Berkeley. Katie McLaughlin (not pictured) was also with them.

No doubt that Ledecky and Baker will be the most coveted recruits in the class of 2015 with Ella Eastin not far behind.

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842292746 said:

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[FONT="Times New Roman"]
[SIZE="3"]Well Kathleen just went a [COLOR="Red"]59.37[/COLOR] in the [U]100 breast[/U], good for 11th fastest in the NCAA - and she's not even known as a breaststroker to boot![/SIZE]

[/FONT]

---

-----------------------------------

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Kathleen continued wowing us tonight by winning the [U]100 back[/U] in [COLOR="Red"]51.51[/COLOR] (would rank 9th in the NCAA). Amongst the Bears' incredibly deep & accomplished backstrokers, only Boots, Liz & Cindy have been faster this season...that time would beat Missy's [COLOR="Red"]51.59[/COLOR]! Can't wait to see how her [U]200 IM[/U] will turn out tomorrow...

Nora McCullagh, another potential recruit for the class of 2015, was 3rd in that race @ 53.86 [/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

-----------------------------------

Evan Heldman ‏ [COLOR="DimGray"]Mar 15[/COLOR]
Everyone else is getting Lochte selfies, we got one with THE Kathleen 'the machine' Baker


Kathleen Baker [COLOR="DimGray"]1h[/COLOR]
Such a fun meet with the best team I could ask for. The chlorine burn never bothered me anyway @nora_mccullagh


-----------------------------------

BearDevil;842292770 said:

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Just noticed this photo and it looks like both Eastin girls (Ella on right, Baker in center, and I'm assuming sophomore Emily Eastin on left) have already visited Berkeley. Katie McLaughlin (not pictured) was also with them.

No doubt that Ledecky and Baker will be the most coveted recruits in the class of 2015 with Ella Eastin not far behind.

---

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Yup that's Emily Eastin in the pic. Judging from all these tweeted group photos and the recent one below, these cream of the crop prospects seem to be all close friends and one big happy family...which is the more reason for them to join the big happy family that's the Golden Bears [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

OBear073akaSMFan;842291611 said:

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I think I remember the furds think Ella Eastin is a lock for them because I some her 2014 teammates have committed to them. Of course, until a LOI is signed, there are no sure things.

---

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Really hope no more than one of them - preferably none - ends up going over to the Farm, the Furds will have amassed enough studs as it is what with their uber-class of 2014[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT] :p


Katie McLaughlin [COLOR="DimGray"]1h[/COLOR]
The sign says it all....happy birthday em! Love you!! ������ @emily_eastin


[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842293048 said:

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[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"]Can't wait to see how her [U]200 IM[/U] will turn out tomorrow...
[/FONT][/SIZE]

---

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Well Kathleen turned in a scintillating [COLOR="Red"]1:54.50[/COLOR] PB in the [U]200 IM[/U] earlier tonight, beating the next swimmer by almost 3 seconds!

Good enough for 5th overall in the NCAA, behind only Margalis/DiRado/Liz & Celina.


Nora McCullagh also had a PB in this event with a [COLOR="Red"]1:59.31[/COLOR] which was good for 3rd. Nora was 3rd as well in the [U]100 free[/U] earlier, going [COLOR="Red"]49.07[/COLOR]. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]

OBear073akaSMFan;842275260 said:

---

Thanks for your information. Regarding recruiting has katie Ledecky visited or plans to visit or is she planning to go Pro, which is what lots of people think?:gobears:

---

Sounds like heresy, but Baker's the more valuable college swimmer than Ledecky. Katie's below NCAA record times in the 500 and 1650 and is a high A scorer in the 200 free, but she's only an 800 free relay swimmer for the top teams. Baker's versatile enough to be competitive in 7 to 9 individual events and can swim on four relays.

BearDevil;842293456 said:

---

Sounds like heresy, but Baker's the more valuable college swimmer than Ledecky. Katie's below NCAA record times in the 500 and 1650 and is a high A scorer in the 200 free, but she's only an 800 free relay swimmer for the top teams. Baker's versatile enough to be competitive in 7 to 9 individual events and can swim on four relays.

---

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]Oh definitely! In the international arena and especially in the longer pool, there's no question that Katie & Missy currently towers above practically all their global competitors in their area of specialization - Ledecky in the [U]400[/U], [U]800[/U], [U]1500[/U] frees, the WR holder in the latter 2 of these races...Missy in the [U]200 back[/U] (WR in LCM + SCM), and to a lesser extent, the [U]100 back[/U] as she does have a bit of competition with Emily Seebohm from AUS there.

They both are also versatile enough to be a force to be reckoned with when venturing outside their typical events:
1) Katie = 2nd fastest American and #9 world-ranked in the 200m free last year, not to mention swimming the fastest leadoff leg in the 4x200 free relay finals in Barcelona.
2) Missy being put to work by Teri on the [U]500[/U] to become a top contender @ NCAAs in an event she's not known for. Also her "2nd best" stroke being good enough to claim the [U]200 free[/U] world champs title in 2013...going back to 2011 Worlds in Shanghai, where Missy swam a significantly faster split from her leadoff leg of the 4x200 relay than Federica Pellegrini's gold medal time in the 200 free individual!

Even when one considers SCY, Katie's [COLOR="Red"]4:28.71 AR[/COLOR] in the [U]500 free[/U] achieved last month is almost 6 seconds quicker than frosh Leah Smith's current top NCAA time of 4:34.35. That NCAA-leading time of Leah's from ACCs is itself 2 secs faster than her HS PB! Missy had swum a 4:34.63 back at Winter Nationals, which is at present good for #2 in NCAAs, shared with Brittany MacLean from UGA.

But as you had pointed out, BearDevil, relays account for a lion's share of the scoring points in the world of college swimming, and distance specialists are at a disadvantage when it comes to how many relays they can contribute to...

Not sure what criteria collegeswimming applies to their rankings, but it seems they do agree with you about Kathleen B being more valuable than Katie L, though I'm not sure I'd completely agree with them that Ella should be regarded as the nation's #1 college recruit for 2015, great as she is.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

http://www.collegeswimming.com/recruiting/

[U]Class[/U]: 2015

1 Ella F Eastin, CA
2 Kathleen Baker, NC
3 Kathleen G Ledecky, MD
4 Leah C Stevens, KY
5 Sonia Wang, CA
6 Nora E McCullagh, NC
7 Kathryn A McLaughlin, CA
8 Sydney E Pickrem, FL
9 Miranda Tucker, MI
10 Madeline M Hess, FL
...
18 Mary K Pelton, MD
24 Abbigail Rose Weitzeil, CA
44 Riley Scott, CA

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"]
{UPDATE}

Kathleen Baker teamed up with Nora McCullagh on March 29 to smash the 15-18 National Age Group record in the 400 Medley relay, with an impressive time-trialed [U][COLOR="Red"]3:34.37[/COLOR][/U]. Kathleen's leadoff back split was [U]51.91[/U], Nora's anchor free leg was [U]48.90[/U]. Previous record of [U][COLOR="DimGray"]3:36.89[/COLOR][/U] was set last year by none other than an NCAP team that boasted Janet Hu & Katie Ledecky in their lineup!



Kathleen also was instrumental in helping her SWIMMAC Carolina teammates to break 2 more 17-18 NAG relay records the next day, with a [U]24.49[/U] split in her leadoff back leg of the 200 Medley relay's [U][COLOR="Red"]1:39.40[/COLOR][/U], followed by a [U]22.63[/U] split in her 1st leg of the 200 Free relay's [U][COLOR="Red"]1:31.05[/COLOR][/U]!



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Finally, here's a tweet from Simone Manuel who will be repping LSJU next season, sounds like she's close buddies w/Katie - just keeping my fingers crossed that Katie will turn out to be just a bit closer friends with her Olympic/Worlds teammate (Missy) than she is with Simone tho...[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

Simone Manuel [COLOR="DimGray"]‏1h[/COLOR]
[COLOR="DarkRed"]HAPPY BIRTHDAY to @katieledecky!! I couldn't ask for a better roommate. I guess you're a great friend too. Love ya! ��[/COLOR]



Missy Franklin [COLOR="DimGray"]4 months ago[/COLOR]
[COLOR="DarkRed"]#TBT to London with @katieledecky! Just found this picture and realized how much I love it!❤️ Can't wait to see you this weekend! ��
[/COLOR]
http://instagram.com/p/g_XB-UwyY7/#

[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]

Collegswimming.com is really good at sorting through hundreds of potential recruits, but they frequently screw up ranking the most valuable recruits. Their analytics don't assess relay value. No offense to Cierra or Mau, but Simone Manuel was the top recruit in the 2014 class and it wasn't close. College swimming ranked her ninth?!?

Teri needs sprint, middle distance, back, distance, breaststroke, and diving in the next recruiting class. She won't get all of them, but she's in decent shape with Mary Pelton, Riley Scott, Baker, Ella Eastin, McLaughlin, Ledecky, Sonia Wang, Abby Weitzeil, and Nora McCullagh. Three of those is probably a floor with four or five possible.

[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]
[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"][COLOR="RoyalBlue"][COLOR="Red"]2014 Canadian Swimming Trials[/COLOR] will be underway [U]April 2-5[/U]. This meet will be their selection trials for the [U]2014 Pan Pacific Championships[/U] (USA vs.Australia vs. Japan vs. Brazil vs. China vs. Canada etc.) and the [U]2014 Commonwealth Games[/U].

http://swimswam.com/look-canadian-trials/

I'm particularly looking forward to see how incoming baby bear Noemie Thomas will fare in the [U]50m fly[/U] (seeded 2nd @ 26.35), [U]100m fly [/U](seeded 2nd @ 57.96), and [U]200m fly[/U] (seeded 4th @ 2:11.53).


[SIZE="2"][COLOR="Navy"]Noemie Thomas of Canada signs her National Letter of Intent to swim for Cal, seen here with her family.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR="Red"]Swimswam[/COLOR]: [COLOR="DimGray"]"Look for Thomas, Savard, and Lacroix to be competing in the fly events at trials. These three girls all have the capability of getting on the podium at PanPacs and Commonwealths this summer possibly in more than one fly event. They've all posted top 10 times in the world this year in their respective events and should be fairly fast at trials. Savard and Thomas both made the finals at last year's World Championships in the 100m fly; Lacroix came 10th in the 200 fly with a 2:07.91 just barely missing out on finals."[/COLOR]

Senior Jeremy Bagshaw, hero of the 1650 free @ 2014 NCAAs, will also be competing, in the [U]50m free[/U] (seeded 49th @ 24.28), [U]200m free[/U] (seeded 2nd nationally @ 1:49.45), and the [U]400m free[/U] (seeded 2nd @ 3:51.09). Curiously enough, he doesn't seem to be entered in either the 800m or the 1500m...

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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="Red"]2014 Canadian Swimming Trials[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[COLOR="Blue"]LIVE WEB STREAM[/COLOR]: https://www.swimming.ca/Livewebcast

[COLOR="Blue"]LIVE RESULTS[/COLOR]: https://www.swimming.ca/liveresults/2014snctrials/

[COLOR="Blue"]PSYCH SHEET[/COLOR]: https://www.swimming.ca/docs/20140327-SpringTrials-psychsheet-01.pdf

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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][FONT="Arial"]Noemie Thomas ready for 2014[/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]

https://www.swimming.ca/NewsArticle.aspx?newsid=4093

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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkGreen"][FONT="Arial"]Get To Know Your Canadian Hopefuls: Noemie Thomas[/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]

http://swimswam.com/get-know-canadian-hopefuls-noemie-thomas/



[SIZE="2"][COLOR="DimGray"]Most recently since Worlds, she's committed to train in California next year, adding to their already stellar team which finished third at this year's NCAA Championships. Following her verbal commitment in the fall of 2013, Thomas has shown fast in-season swims at meets such as the Canada Cup, the Austin Grand Prix, and the BC Open.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

---------------------------------------[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE="3"][COLOR="Blue"]Cal Women's Swimming: 2013 Signing Day[/COLOR][/SIZE] (Video):



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[SIZE="3"][COLOR="Sienna"]Bears Add Another Talented Swim Class [/COLOR][/SIZE]

http://www.calbears.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209306437



Catherine Ladd
Jasmine Mau
Maija Roses
Cierra Runge

Noemie Thomas
Richmond, BC / Magee Secondary School / UBC Dolphins/National Swim Center
Butterfly

A finalist in the 100-meter butterfly representing Canada at the 2013 FINA World Championships in Barcelona, finishing seventh in 58.13 also took 25th in the 50 fly (26.88) member of the Canadian National Team set a Canadian record in the 50 fly at the 2012 World Short-Course Championships (25.60), finishing fourth by just 0.05 seconds also took fourth in the 100 fly picked up a pair of medals at the 2012 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, winning gold in the 100 fly and silver in the 400 medley relay.

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[COLOR="DimGray"]Retweeted by [COLOR="Blue"]Noemie Thomas[/COLOR][/COLOR]
[COLOR="Blue"]Maija Roses[/COLOR] [COLOR="Silver"]Mar 16[/COLOR]
Me waiting to go to college...


[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]

[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]
Caitlin Leverenz [COLOR="Gray"]11 April 2014[/COLOR]
Having such a great time at the Nat Jr Camp in CO Springs this weekend. The future for @USA_Swimming looks bright!


Anthony Ervin [COLOR="Gray"]11 April 2014[/COLOR]
Caitlin Leverenz talking about her journey at the National Junior Team Camp!


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USA Swimming [COLOR="Gray"]12 April 2014[/COLOR]
Great insight from [U]Kathleen Baker[/U], [U]Katie McLaughlin[/U] & Curtis Ogren in the latest #JrTeamCamp14 blog entries:

[SIZE="3"]http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=0&itemid=5998&mid=8712[/SIZE]

[SIZE="3"][COLOR="Sienna"]Blog: National Junior Team Camp[/COLOR][/SIZE]
[COLOR="DimGray"]4/11/2014 [/COLOR]

[COLOR="Navy"]Friday, April 11: [U]Katie McLaughlin[/U] (Mission Viejo Nadadores) and [U]Kathleen Baker[/U] (SwimMAC Carolina)[/COLOR]

Today we woke up and enjoyed our first breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Our first meeting was at 8 a.m. with USADA. Right after the meeting the girls went over to the pool for our first specialty practice! Kathleen and the IM group did a tough practice focusing on their IMs. Katie and the stroke group did a challenging set focusing on 200 frees and 200s primary stroke.

After practice we gathered in the Dirks building for a sports psychology seminar where we each learned our mental weaknesses and how to overcome them. After the meeting, we couldn't wait to eat lunch. The chocolate milk was a hit and it was hot fudge Friday, if you know what we mean. After enjoying our food, we had a meeting with Dan McCarthy about how important our health is for our swimming.

Next up, we had an amazing meeting with an inspirational, selfless and determined Navy SEAL, Eric Greitens. We learned that nothing that we do in swimming compares to what the Navy SEALs go through in their training. He also encouraged us to challenge ourselves and to live in the moment. The next meeting was with Olympic medalist, Caitlin Leverenz. She told us about how she has overcome her failures in her swimming career while managing to keep us captivated and laughing. She answered each of our questions in great detail and told all of us about the journey from Junior Team to National Team and beyond!

After Caitlin's talk, we had a combined practice with the guys. Kathleen and the IM group did a 200 IM pace set, while Katie and the stroke group did another set working on 200 pace. To end practice, each of the groups did their own USA cheer to build team spirit. After that, we gladly made our way to dinner where we again enjoyed the hot fudge and ice cream. Next, we were enlightened by the famous Russell Mark. His passion and dedication to the details of each race inspired everybody to be better.

For our final meeting of the night, the girls and guys separated and talked about "The Perfect Moment" with our coaches. We reflected on how well the camp has been going so far and how close of a team we are already! We can't wait for the next couple of days with the team. Go USA!

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Maija Roses [COLOR="Gray"]12 April 2014[/COLOR] [COLOR="Indigo"]@ United States Olympic Training Center/Colorado Springs,CO[/COLOR]
Leading the Bonzai cheer tonight at USA Jr Team Camp! BONZAAIII ���� #PerfectMoment #JrTeamCamp14 #USAswimming



Katie McLaughlin [COLOR="Gray"]11 April 2014[/COLOR]
The perfect moment #JrTeamCamp14



Kathleen Baker [COLOR="Gray"]11 April 2014[/COLOR]
Perfect moment with the roomies #JrTeamCamp14



Danielle Nack [COLOR="Gray"]11 April 2014[/COLOR]
perfect moment #JrTeamCamp14 pic.twitter.com/DfABtJ8xAE



USA Swimming [COLOR="Gray"]11 April 2014[/COLOR]
The future of @USA_Swimming! #JrTeamCamp14

[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"]Very disappointing news for us [/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR]

http://swimswam.com/world-record-holder-katie-ledecky-makes-college-decision/

http://reachforthewall.com/2014/05/15/katie-ledecky-commits-to-stanford-swimming/

ursusarctoscalifornicus;842316349 said:

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[color="royalblue"][font="times new roman"][size="3"]very disappointing news for us [/size][/font][/color]

/[/url]

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+1000000

furd's women recruiting on a roll. Hopefully she is one and out!

I'm not too surprised or disappointed. I would be more heart broken if we lose out on the Baker, McLaughlin, and Eastin trio.