Women's Swim Recruits

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BearDevil
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UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842432306 said:

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4142[/ATTACH] Swimswam - [COLOR="#696969"]2 Jan 2015[/COLOR]
The Florida women are now NCAA title contenders...but they may even be the favorites with their newest additions: http://swimswam.com/florida-newcomers-sophia-batchelor-amelia-maughan-eligible-compete-semester/


[COLOR="#FF0000"][SIZE=5]Florida Newcomers [U]Sophia Batchelor[/U], Amelia Maughan Eligible to Compete This Semester[/SIZE][/COLOR]


[SIZE=1]Cal transfer Sophia Batchelor is eligible to swim for Florida in the spring semester of 2015. Archive Photo via Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com[/SIZE]


While Florida head coach Gregg Troy is declining to comment on whether newcomers Sophia Batchelor and Amelia Maughan will compete this weekend against Florida State, the two are both eligible to compete in the spring semester of 2015, according to a team spokesperson.

Whether those first races come this weekend or later in the semester, their additions at any time between now and March make the Florida women legitimate NCAA title contenders (though, they won't impact our power rankings until they've swum their first races).

The two join Theresa Michalak, who says she is swimming this weekend, in huge mid-year pickups for the Gators: http://swimswam.com/european-champion-michalak-make-first-career-appearance-florida-gators-friday/

Batchelor is a New Zealand native who is transferring to Florida after one season spent with the Cal Golden Bears. In her freshman season at Cal, Batchelor finished 16th at NCAA's in the 100 fly individually, 21st in the 200 back, and 17th in the 200 fly, while also splitting a 51.62 in the 100 fly in prelims of the 400 medley relay. That split was the fastest of any butterflier among teams who made the A-Final, though Batchelor was still replaced by Rachel Bootsma in finals.

The Florida 200 and 400 medley relays graduated both breaststroker Hilda Luthersdottir and butterflier Elise Zalewski off of last year's team, where both finished in the top 4 at NCAA's. Adding possibly Michalak, and almost definitely Batchelor, to those relays along with Sinead Russell on the backstroke allows sophomore star Natalie Hinds to remain on the Gators' freestyle leg. That's a relay that can once again contend with the likes of Tennessee, Cal, Stanford, and Georgia for the NCAA relay titles, and might even become a favorite depending on how well the international swimmers adapt to yards swimming.

The other addition, Maughan, is not yet as well known internationally as Batchelor and Michalak, but she's heading that way and is still a huge addition. She was a member of Team England at this summer's Commonwealth Games that included spots on both the 400 free relay that took silver (prelims swimmer) and the 800 free relay that took bronze (finals swimmer).

In long course, Maughan has best times of (converted times in parenthesis):
50 free 25.68 (22.4)
100 free 55.36 (48.4)
200 free 1:59.35 (1:44.6)

Those are all immediate-impact times, and she might just be the piece that Florida needs to get on top of the podium in March.

Florida didn't have a very big class of incoming American freshman this season, indicating that coach Troy might have something up his sleeve. Including transfers and redshirt freshmen, 7 out of 11 new competitors for the Gators are internationals (7 out of 8 if we exclude divers in the tally).

While Troy has been mum about when the influx of talent might officially begin competing, Batchelor was at home in New Zealand over the Christmas holiday.

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Josh: [COLOR="#696969"]"We know that Michalak is now eligible, but if Sophia Batchelor and Amelia Maughan (both of whom show up on the UF roster now) are eligible for SECs, they just filled every need that was keeping them from contending at NCAAs. Michalak is the top-flight breaststroker the medley relays needed in addition to being a :55/1:59 lc freestyler and a :59 lc flyer. She is a three-event scorer who can swim anything. Sophia Batchelor is the sprint flyer they were looking for to relieve Natalie Hinds so she can swim monster freestyle anchor splits, and Amelia Maughan (split sub-55 and 1:59 mid on relays for Great Britain this summer) gives them a freestyle weapon that can swim from the 50 to the 200 and bolster the relays. These are gamechanging additions."[/COLOR]

Sparkle: [COLOR="#696969"]"I'm puzzled as to why Florida should be considered title contenders after these additions. Florida was 6th last year, almost 300 points behind Georgia. They have a long way to go to win a NCAA title.

The addition of Michalak, Batchelor and Maugan will help fill the holes in Florida's lineup, especially having a sprint butterflier who isn't Natalie Hinds and freeing up Lindsey McKnight from breaststroke duty. But there's always uncertainty in bringing foreign swimmers in and just taking a straight conversion from their LCM to SCY times. The most recent example of this is Marina Garcia at Cal, who did not end up being the breaststroker that they needed for their medleys last season. Michalak will likely do well at NCAA's this year, given that she's been at Florida for a year now and swam well at German Nationals last month. But Batchelor has been at Cal all fall, and it's unclear if she's been swimming. If she hasn't, she's probably better off redshirting for the rest of the season. It will be interesting to see how Maugan transitions to SCY.

If anything, Florida mitigated the loss of Beisel and Zalewski with these pickups, and now has a shot at finishing in the Top 5 at NCAA's, but they would still need to get by Texas A&M or Texas to get there. This year is Georgia's to lose, with Cal and Stanford having an outside shot at taking the title if they swim a near perfect meet and Georgia stumbles."
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Unable to link individual comments from SwimSwam articles, but there's another comment from "Josh" (a former Florida swimmer who lives/works in the Bay Area) which is especially telling about college swimming recruiting in Cal's and LSJU's wake. Everybody wanted Missy, Murphy, Seliskar, Abbey, and Baker, as well as LSJU's Nolan, Manuel, and Ledecky, but even powers like Georgia and Florida have little chance recruiting against the Bay Area duopoly. The combination of swimming and academic excellence, local post-college economic opportunities, international reputation, and weather crush the competition.

Means that other schools have to develop lesser talents or gamble more on internationals. Flip side for the Bears is that the "misses" are magnified since Teri and Durden have much easier access to elite recruits than almost everyone else.
OBear073akaSMFan
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copied and pasted

REPLY
JOSH January 2, 2015 at 9:25 pm41
Exactly! College swimming at the highest levels is about fielding the fastest possible team, not about which nationality is on your passport. You don’t think that Florida and Auburn and Georgia didn’t try and recruit Andrew Seliskar or Ryan Murphy or David Nolan? You don’t think they went after Missy Franklin and Simone Manuel and Katie Ledecky? If you’ve got one scholarship spot left, and have no one left to recruit stateside but a girl who goes 27.0 in the 50m free but you’ve got a European girl who goes 25.0 knocking on your door and saying she wants to swim for you, are you going to tell her no? I guarantee you that Gregg Troy and Brett Hawke and Jack Bauerle want to win every bit as much as Teri McKeever and Greg Meehan and Dave Durden do, but it’s getting really hard to recruit against Bay Area schools in large part because of the economic climate in that area. Silicon Valley is the new Wall Street, for better or worse. Florida does well with the top-flight domestic talent they get, and and they have a knack for turning scrappy unknowns into NCAA qualifiers, but as long as they can’t get the Seliskars and Murphys and Nolans, they will continue to develop and recruit the Cieslaks and Wallaces and Rousseaus to try and beat them, and you can’t blame them for doing it. Coaches want to win, and ADs want results.
UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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[COLOR="#FF0000"][SIZE=5]High School State Champs rundown: Every State Championship meet of 2015[/SIZE][/COLOR]

http://swimswam.com/high-school-state-champs-rundown-every-state-championship-2015/

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[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] Well, according to the schedule outlined above, looks as if we may get some updated data points for our [COLOR="#FF8C00"][U]2015 Dream Team[/U][/COLOR] along with a bunch of [COLOR="#800080"]2016 prospects[/COLOR] as early as the middle of next month! That is, assuming that these HS State Championships are the main short course taper meets of the season for most of these swimmers - which may not necessarily be accurate...

Went ahead anyway and compiled dates & associated names to keep an eye on below:
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#800000"][U]Feb[/U] 12-14[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]NC[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Alyssa Marsh, Erika Brown, Jessica Merritt[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#800000"][U]Feb[/U] 13-14[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]IN[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Amy Bilquist, Claire Adams, Veronica Burchill[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#800000"][U]Feb[/U] 14-15[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]MA[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Erin Voss[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#800000"][U]Feb[/U] 19-21[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]VA (Public)[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Megan Byrnes[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#800000"][U]Feb[/U] 26-28[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]KY[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Asia Seidt[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#800000"][U]Mar[/U] 11-14[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]PA[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Allie Szekely, Meghan Small[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#800000"][U]May[/U] 22-23[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]CA[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Abbey Weitzeil, Katie McLaughlin, Jenna Campbell, Stanzi Moseley, Courtney Mykkanen, Moriah Simonds, Brittany Kampfer, Chenoa Devine, Kenisha Liu, etc.[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
I could well have assigned the incorrect state for a number of these recruits...basically just went by where their club's located as don't really feel up to researching where everyone goes to school! Appears as if [COLOR="#008000"]WI[/COLOR] & [COLOR="#008000"]MN[/COLOR] girls had already held their HS State Champs back in Nov, so dunno if we'll see any faster SCY times from [COLOR="#ff3399"]Katie Drabot, Beata Nelson, Cassy Jernberg, or Lindsey Horejsi[/COLOR] anytime soon...

Could also be a few [U]home-schooled[/U] candidates here, besides [COLOR="#ff3399"]Kathleen Baker[/COLOR] & [COLOR="#ff3399"]Becca Mann[/COLOR], who won't be competing in these HS State Champs - guess they could always elect to go to the NCSA Junior Nationals, held in Orlando this year on 17-21 March, in the short course yards format?

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Not a taper meet for most, but this weekend's CeraVe Invite will feature several promising recruiting prospects from [U]NBAC[/U] & other clubs:
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#008080"][SIZE=5]Swimming World Presents Live Webcast of CeraVe Invitational; Easop Lee Among Headliners[/SIZE][/COLOR]

http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/swimming-world-live-stream-cerave-invitational/

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BearDevil
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UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842434334 said:

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[COLOR="#FF0000"][SIZE=5]High School State Champs rundown: Every State Championship meet of 2015[/SIZE][/COLOR]

http://swimswam.com/high-school-state-champs-rundown-every-state-championship-2015/

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[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] Well, according to the schedule outlined above, looks as if we may get some updated data points for our [COLOR="#FF8C00"]2015 Dream Team[/COLOR] along with a bunch of [COLOR="#800080"]2016 prospects[/COLOR] as early as the middle of next month! That is, assuming that these state championships are the main short course [U]taper meets[/U] of the season for most of these swimmers - which may not necessarily be accurate...

Went ahead anyway and compiled dates & associated names to keep an eye on below:
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#800000"][U]Feb[/U] 12-14[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]NC[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Alyssa Marsh, Erika Brown, Jessica Merritt[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#800000"][U]Feb[/U] 13[/COLOR][COLOR="#FFFFFF"]_._[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]VA[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Megan Byrnes[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#800000"][U]Feb[/U] 13-14[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]IN[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Amy Bilquist, Claire Adams, Veronica Burchill[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#800000"][U]Feb[/U] 12-14[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]WI[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Katie Drabot, Beata Nelson, Cassy Jernberg[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#800000"][U]Feb[/U] 14-15[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]MA[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Erin Voss[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#800000"][U]Feb[/U] 19-21[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]VA[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Megan Byrnes[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#800000"][U]Feb[/U] 26-28[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]KY[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Asia Seidt[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#800000"][U]Mar[/U] 11-14[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]PA[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Allie Szekely, Meghan Small[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#800000"][U]May[/U] 22-23[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#008000"]CA[/COLOR] : [COLOR="#ff3399"]Abbey Weitzeil, Katie McLaughlin, Jenna Campbell, Stanzi Moseley, Courtney Mykkanen, Moriah Simonds, Brittany Kampfer, Chenoa Devine, Kenisha Liu, etc.[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
I could well have assigned the incorrect state for a number of these recruits...basically just went by where their club's located as don't really feel up to researching where everyone goes to school! Appears as if MN (girls) had already held their champs back in Nov, so dunno if we'll see any faster times from Lindsey Horejsi anytime soon.

Could also be a few [U]home-schooled[/U] candidates here, besides [COLOR="#ff3399"]Kathleen[/COLOR] & Becca, who won't be competing in these HS State Champs - guess they could always elect to go to the NCSA Junior Nationals, held in Orlando this year on 17-21 March, in the short course yards format?



Great list, UAC. Looking back at posts #305 and #383 in this thread, didn't Wisconsin already have its state meet (posts reference Nelson's and Drabot's swims)? To be fair to Drabot, she was juggling international SCM meets and a state SCY championship within weeks, so it would be nice to see what she can do in SCYs with a full taper.

Stanzi Moseley's home schooled so she won't be swimming in California's inaugural state meet. Her Winter Junior Nationals swims in December were with a full taper (went for long course time trials for Olympic trials cuts after the meet).
tedbear
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With that Instagram photo, I would be a little surprised if Katie didn't end up at Cal.
tedbear
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Stanzi Moseley video.

UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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tedbear;842434762 said:


With that Instagram photo, I would be a little surprised if Katie didn't end up at Cal.


[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]Methinks Greg will also be courting Katie hard - but if given the choice, it sure looks like Drabot has all the makings of a baby Bear in her! :cheer

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btw tedbear, really appreciate that video feature on Stanzi you had posted, here's the embedded video:

[video=youtube;A56Ydi7gjhc] [/video]

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Note: looks like Kathleen will be repping Team USA alongside Madison Kennedy end of the month, in this competition down under:
http://usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/4d67ef22-e53d-4a4b-a4c4-bdcf3d92b7b9/2015%20BASS%20Roster.pdf

No college students (prepping for Conferences & NCAAs), or high schoolers (State Champs coming up) other than home-schooled ones such as Kathleen & Becca Mann.
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#FF0000"][SIZE=4]Australia Announces Roster for 2015 BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series[/SIZE][/COLOR]
http://swimswam.com/australia-announces-roster-2015-bhp-billiton-aquatic-super-series/

[COLOR="#FF0000"][SIZE=4]Clary and Lochte to Lead 24 Member American Team in Perth[/SIZE][/COLOR]
http://swimswam.com/clary-lochte-lead-24-member-american-team-perth/

[COLOR="#FF0000"][SIZE=4]Americans Release Full 28-Swimmer Roster for BHP Billiton SuperSeries, Including Open Water[/SIZE][/COLOR]
http://swimswam.com/americans-release-full-28-swimmer-roster-bhp-billiton-superseries-including-open-water/


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USA Swimming Stats - [COLOR="#696969"]7 Jan[/COLOR]

A look at the All-Time Top 10 Girls 15-16 [U]200y Bk[/U]. A lot of medals won in this elite group


[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
Missy, Liz & Natalie are naturally listed here - also of note is the inclusion of Claire Adams, Erin Voss & Allie Szekely in this illustrious group:


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Abbey's in pretty good company here!
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

USA Swimming Stats - [COLOR="#696969"]9 Jan[/COLOR]

A look at the [U]17-18 girls scy[/U] national age group records. Set your goals high and a lot of fast swimming.




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UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
Chance to catch a couple of our [COLOR="#FF8C00"]2015 Dream Team[/COLOR] studs in action next week, long course meters format:

http://usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/d5a95482-3b1b-4f26-961b-03ad54c5d741/2015%20PSS%20at%20Austin%20-%20Psych%20Sheet.pdf

Kathleen's entered in [U]5 events[/U] (several of them not her typical ones, so her participation's likely primarily for training purposes):
100m fly
200m free
50m free
200m fly
100m breast

Katie in a whopping [U]8 events[/U]!!!! (she'll prob. scratch a number of them ):
100m free
400m free
100m fly
200m free
200m back
50m free
200m fly
100m back

The 2 baby Bears will join Noemie, Farida, Marina, Natalie + several from the men's team.
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
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[COLOR="#FF0000"][SIZE=4]2015 Austin Arena Pro Swim Series Psych Sheets[/SIZE][/COLOR]

http://swimswam.com/2015-austin-pro-swim-series-psych-sheets-ryan-lochte-swim-first-400-im-since-knee-injury/

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UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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tedbear;842434762 said:





With that Instagram photo, I would be a little surprised if Katie didn't end up at Cal.



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Kathleen Baker - [COLOR="#696969"]10 Jan 2015[/COLOR] @ [COLOR="#A9A9A9"]QuikTrip[/COLOR]

QT slushies with these QTs



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[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
A couple more potential :bear:s in the making?

Looks like Erika Brown & Alyssa Marsh to either side of Kathleen...not sure who the blonde is...baby bulldawg Caitlin Casazza perhaps?
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[COLOR="#008000"][SIZE=4]CURRENT [COLOR="#FF0000"]TOP 10[/COLOR] LISTS [/SIZE][/COLOR]


[SIZE=3][COLOR="#ff3399"][U]2014-15 Girls Top 10[/U][/COLOR] [COLOR="#808080"](as of 1/13/2015)[/COLOR] [/SIZE]


Girls SCY : http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/4a8f9890-17f8-4240-96ee-9fac5964a571/girls_scy.pdf

Girls SCY Relays 11-12, 13-14 : http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/6f2c0bcc-9545-4b97-99d7-70eb1677b2d0/girls_1114_scy.pdf

Girls SCY Relays 15 - 18 : http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/1fd29a50-29ee-4a6c-ac80-22e1ea6d917d/girls_1518_scy.pdf

Girls LCM : http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/9ee8e317-2da0-4ea0-877a-7a0643c67497/girls_lcm.pdf


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[COLOR="#FF8C00"][SIZE=4]CURRENT [COLOR="#FF0000"]TOP 100[/COLOR] LISTS [/SIZE][/COLOR]


Girls SCY 11-12 [COLOR="#696969"](as of 1/13/2015)[/COLOR]: http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/25e674a8-328d-4598-b287-dc2b3871f833/girls_1112_scy.pdf

Girls SCY 13-14 [COLOR="#696969"](as of 1/13/2015)[/COLOR]: http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/45be9ba5-a5f7-4696-b6d7-8510f82cd959/girls_1314_scy.pdf

Girls SCY 15-16 [COLOR="#696969"](as of 1/13/2015)[/COLOR]: http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/cc1c8646-acf7-49bc-abbb-d14920c2d764/girls_1516_scy.pdf

Girls SCY 17-18 [COLOR="#696969"](as of 1/13/2015)[/COLOR]: http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/a06fe28a-6c61-4b69-905c-8bb39a6b0a84/girls_1718_scy.pdf

Girls LCM 11-12 [COLOR="#696969"](as of 12/18/2014)[/COLOR]: http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/d445b501-2986-40bc-a781-2f265661802c/girls_1112_lcm.pdf

Girls LCM 13-14 [COLOR="#696969"](as of 12/18/2014)[/COLOR]: http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/87aa917a-9bda-4471-8913-7f5df4ca32e2/girls_1314_lcm.pdf

Girls LCM 15-16 [COLOR="#696969"](as of 12/18/2014)[/COLOR]: http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/57f9837c-91f1-44b0-b140-cc0c91764355/girls_1516_lcm.pdf

Girls LCM 17-18 [COLOR="#696969"](as of 12/18/2014)[/COLOR]: http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/ca835dce-215c-41e8-b580-1817473e9bdb/girls_1718_lcm.pdf

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BearDevil
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UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842436921 said:


[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
A couple more potential :bear:s in the making?

Looks like Erika Brown & Alyssa Marsh to either side of Kathleen...not sure who the blonde is...baby bulldawg Caitlin Casazza perhaps?
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]


Good find, UAC. Thanks.

Georgia will be a wildcard in 2016 recruiting. They lose 9 seniors (several studs: Locus, McDermott, Mattern, Harrington) and only replaced two. They'll lose 4 more seniors after next season, so if they don't use some of their 2015 schollys on transfers, JCs, and internationals they may have up to 13 slots to replace in the next class. Yikes.

Like 'SC and 'Zona with the 2015 class, that many recruits in a single class doesn't come from a position of strength. Dawgs will be all over Mann, Adams, and Szekely, but don't see them as a factor for Drabot.

OTOH, thought Haas was holding out to see how Baurele's situation turned out, but he opted for Texas so maybe Jack's tarnished good now.
UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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[COLOR="#006699"][SIZE=5]Sister, Sister: Rachel & Kathleen Baker's Unbreakable Bond[/SIZE][/COLOR]



[U]Photo Courtesy[/U]: Baker Family


http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/sister-sister-rachel-kathleen-bakers-unbreakable-bond/





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Out to play with the sis #socollege @ [COLOR="#696969"]Washington & Lee Univ.[/COLOR]


Besties at the beach [SIZE=3][COLOR="#696969"]��[/COLOR][/SIZE] @ [COLOR="#696969"]Oceanic Pier[/COLOR]


Wish this girl was my camp counselor [SIZE=3]��[/SIZE] @ [COLOR="#696969"]Rachel's Last night [SIZE=3]����[/SIZE][/COLOR]


Poppy wasn't a fan of the pictures #HappyEaster


Suprised my cute sister with an even cuter alpaca teddy bear [SIZE=3]��[/SIZE] #gogenerals #loveyou


#tbt to these wonderful memories with my best friend! HBD @rachybaky love you forever [SIZE=3]��������[/SIZE]


Sisters that light things on fire together, stay together [SIZE=3]������[/SIZE]


HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my best friend!! [SIZE=3]������[/SIZE] Thank you for holding my hand through life [SIZE=3]❤️[/SIZE] God could not have given me a better sister. I could not love you more [SIZE=3]❤️❤️[/SIZE] @rachybaky



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UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842436548 said:

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Chance to catch a couple of our [COLOR="#FF8C00"]2015 Dream Team[/COLOR] studs in action next week, long course meters format:

Kathleen's entered in [U]5 events[/U] (several of them not her typical ones, so her participation's likely primarily for training purposes): 100m fly, 200m free, 50m free, 200m fly, 100m breast

Katie in a whopping [U]8 events[/U]!!!! (she'll prob. scratch a number of them ): 100m free, 400m free, 100m fly, 200m free, 200m back, 50m free, 200m fly, 100m back

The 2 baby Bears will join Noemie, Farida, Marina, Natalie + several from the men's team.



UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842438967 said:



[COLOR="#FF0000"][SIZE=4]2014 Arena Pro Swim Series Austin: Day 1 Prelims Real-Time Recaps[/SIZE][/COLOR]

http://swimswam.com/2014-arena-pro-swim-series-austin-day-1-prelims-real-time-recaps/

These are only prelims, and competed in the long course pool...but still, pretty encouraged by Marina's showing thus far, along with Farida who made the A final of the [U]100m free[/U]...this all after having just flown back from Hawaii yesterday. Caitlin Leverenz also made the 200 breast A final I believe, but Katie McLaughlin will have to do a swim off to determine if she'll race the A or the B final of the [U]100m free[/U]. Katie will be contesting the [U]100m fly[/U] later on as well, alongside Noemie, Farida & Kathleen.



[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
Heat sheets for this evening's finals are out: http://usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/876e4200-3c80-4be9-9594-4dcec5f83419/(2)%20Arena%20PSS%20Austin%20-%20Thursday%20PM%20Heat%20Sheet.pdf

[COLOR="#A52A2A"]100m free (A final):[/COLOR] Farida Osman & Katie McLaughlin will race in the outside lanes

[COLOR="#A52A2A"][/COLOR][COLOR="#A52A2A"]200m breast (A final):[/COLOR] Marina Garcia (top seed) + Caitlin Leverenz

[COLOR="#A52A2A"][/COLOR][COLOR="#A52A2A"]400m free (A final):[/COLOR] 2016 prospect Megan Byrnes + 2017 recruits Madison Homovich & Isabella Rongione. Expect [U]Katie Ledecky[/U] to utterly dominate and put a considerable number of body lengths between her and the rest of the field, with [U]Katinka Hosszu[/U] likely coming in a distant 2nd...
[COLOR="#A52A2A"][/COLOR][COLOR="#A52A2A"]
100m fly (A final):[/COLOR] "Beary" cool news - Noemie Thomas (top seed) , Katie, Farida & Kathleen Baker all next to each other, lanes 4 thru 7! Potential 2017 recruit Cassidy Bayer in lane 3 as well.
[COLOR="#A52A2A"](B final):[/COLOR] Alumna Caitlin.

Live streaming video & results can be found here:
http://www.usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=2057&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en

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[COLOR="#FF0000"]UPDATE[/COLOR]: Have commented on Farida/Noemie/Marina's strong showing at this meet on the "[U]Women's Swimming: 2014-2015 Schedule & Roster[/U]" thread here:
http://bearinsider.com/forums/showthread.php?85754-Women-s-Swimming-2014-2015-Schedule-amp-Roster&p=842439653&viewfull=1#post842439653

Katie McLaughlin has been swimming well too, as has the very promising future prospect Taylor Ruck whom we have discussed on these pages...
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
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UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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BearDevil;842429849 said:


Impact recruits project as NCAA scorers as freshmen. Those are the recruits who Teri will offer sizable scholly money (instate or not). She's on a treadmill now where her teams contend every year, so she has to look for immediate scorers. She can bring in longer term plays (ie NCAA scorers as upperclassman), but she won't spend much on them and they'll all likely be in-state unless they have some compelling ties to Cal (legacies, club/high school teammates at Cal, Pac-12 footprint, really good students).



BearDevil;842431293 said:


A couple of Mykkanen, Marsh, Simonds, Devine, and Kampfer could be part of the mix, but their current times wouldn't merit the same scholly money as the aforementioned recruits, so they'd have to accept less money to swim for the Bears.



Maddie Marsh - [COLOR="#696969"]18 Jan 2015[/COLOR] @ [COLOR="#A9A9A9"]Alyssa Marsh[/COLOR]

amazing colleges and amazing people [SIZE=4] [COLOR="#FF0000"]❤️[/COLOR] [COLOR="#FFD700"]��[/COLOR] [/SIZE] [COLOR="#0099cc"]#SanFrancisco[/COLOR]



tedbear
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UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842440131 said:

Maddie Marsh - [COLOR="#696969"]18 Jan 2015[/COLOR] @ [COLOR="#A9A9A9"]Alyssa Marsh[/COLOR]

amazing colleges and amazing people [SIZE=4] [COLOR="#FF0000"]❤️[/COLOR] [COLOR="#FFD700"]��[/COLOR] [/SIZE] [COLOR="#0099cc"]#SanFrancisco[/COLOR]






#marshmallow
UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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[COLOR="#000099"] [SIZE=4]200 fly Co champ[COLOR="#FFD700"] Katie McLaughlin[/COLOR] is stoked for Worlds and her decision for Cal[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[video=youtube;nPwN4nb3FlY][/video]

[COLOR="#FF0000"]WOMEN’S 200 FLY – FINALS RECAP – 2015 Arena Pro Swim Series Austin[/COLOR]

A pair of youngsters dueled in the front of the field early on as Mission Viejo 17-year-old Katie McLaughlin and Nation’s Capital 15-year-old Cassidy Bayer sat one and two at the 100-meter mark. A veteran field closed in, but the two teenagers kept several international medalists at bay and wound up tying for the event win at 2:09.12.

Third went to Pan Pacs gold medalist Cammile Adams at 2:09.25 and fourth was Hungarian vet Katinka Hosszu in 2:09.90.

Those four really separated from the field late after the whole group stayed bunched up for about the first 100 meters. A couple more young athletes led the second wave, as Longhorn Aquatics’ 16-year-old Victoria Edwards was 2:12.79 for fifth and Cal freshman Noemie Thomas was 2:12.99 for sixth.

Rounding out the A final were Edwards’ 15-year-old teammate Dakota Luther (2:13.32) and Jacomie Strydom of the UBC Thunderbirds (2:15.33).

Phoenixville 16-year-old Emma Seiberlich held onto the top seed in the B final, going 2:14.61 to take 9th overall.


http://swimswam.com/200-fly-champ-katie-mclaughlin-stoked-world-champs-cal/
BearDevil
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Slightly surprised that Alyssa Marsh is considering LSJU (thought she was between Cal and Auburn, her parents' alma maters), but Cal and LSJU are in the same boat for backstrokers in the 2016 recruiting class. Both schools are set in back (Baker, Bilquist, and Ally Howe), but could probably use another backstroker in the next recruiting class. Baker could be a force in the 100 back, but she likely swims the 100 breast or 200 free on day two creating a conflict with the 100 back. Bilquist may pick up some of the slack, but she's not quite a 100 back NCAA scorer yet.

Marsh would be a good get: great girl, good student, OK times, and a bridge to the best swim club in the country. Downside is her times aren't quite there yet and both schools have better backstrokers already and legacies (Myykanen and Emily Eastin) in the same recruiting class. LSJU has had male SwimMAC swimmers before, but can't recall a recent female swimmer and can't see them turning down Alyssa and Eastin if they both want to come. Both schools can probably do better for 2016 backstrokers, but don't want to turn legacies away.
OBear073akaSMFan
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BearDevil;842441303 said:

Slightly surprised that Alyssa Marsh is considering LSJU (thought she was between Cal and Auburn, her parents' alma maters), but Cal and LSJU are in the same boat for backstrokers in the 2016 recruiting class. Both schools are set in back


This would not be considered an official visit ..right? Perhaps since she is out here ..she would be foolish not to visit Stanford too!
BearDevil
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Speaking of the Marsh family, SwimMAC is building a new facility in Charlotte and Maija's parents are among the lead donors.
UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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USA Swimming Stats - [COLOR="#696969"]23 Jan[/COLOR]

Looking for some fast swimming this weekend. The top 20 times in the girls 17-18 [U]200y Free[/U]. A lot of speed:



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USA Swimming Stats - [COLOR="#696969"]5 Feb[/COLOR]

A look at the top 16 girls 18& Under in the 200y Fr. Based on results received so far lots of fast swimming.



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USA Swimming Stats - [COLOR="#696969"]27 Jan[/COLOR]

A look at the top 16 girls 18 & Under [U]1650y Free[/U]. 8 already under 16:10. A fast start to the year and a lot of awesome swimming.



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USA Swimming Stats - [COLOR="#696969"]5 Feb[/COLOR]

There are a total of 306 people qualified for this summer's nats who will be 18 or younger. 194 will be girls:



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UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=0&itemid=7634&mid=14491

[COLOR="#003399"]
[SIZE=5]Abbey Weitzeil: Proof in the Pool[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]1/23/2015[/SIZE]




[SIZE=3]By Mike Watkins//Correspondent[/COLOR][/SIZE]

In many ways, the arrival of Coach Coley Stickels at Canyons Aquatic Club two years ago changed Abbey Weitzeil's swimming life.

Just 15 at the time, Stickels' changes in her workouts, attention to refining her technique, focus on increasing dryland workouts and strength training and overall improvement in her confidence helped transform Weitzeil from an average freestyle sprinter to one of the United States' and world's best and in a short amount of time.

"I owe so much to Coley and what he's helped me accomplish over the past couple of years," said Weitzeil, a high school senior and future University of California Berkeley student and swimmer.

"When he came, my approach to swimming changed for the better, and now, I'm enjoying the results. It taken some time, but I know I wouldn't be where I am in my swimming if it wasn't for him and the plan he put together for me. We never do the same workout, and he keeps things fresh and fun. I love this style of training."

And the proof is in the pool. Last summer at the 2014 Phillips 66 USA Swimming National Championships, she finished fourth in the 100 freestyle and earned a spot on the 2014 Pan Pacific Championships team.

In Australia, she won a silver medal as part of the U.S.'s 400 freestyle relay, and based on her times and results, earned a spot on her first FINA World Championship team competing this summer in Kazan, Russia.

On top of that, this past December at the FINA Short Course World Championships, she swam on the world record-setting 200 mixed freestyle relay in Doha. Her anchor-leg time of 23.25 helped the United States win the event.

About a week later at the Speedo Junior Nationals in Washington, jetlagged and all, Weitzeil set a new American record (yards) in the 100 freestyle as the lead-off leg of her club team's 400 freestyle relay.

Suffice it to say the young woman who didn't start swimming competitively until she was 12 less than six short years ago has arrived.

"I remember early in my swimming, it was hard work that I didn't want to do; it stopped being fun and started being work," said Weitzeil, who plans to study integrative biology at Berkeley and wants to get into sports medicine as a profession. "But when I started getting faster and started seeing that hard work paying off, my opinion changed."

Before World Championships this summer, Weitzeil will first wear the American flag cap at World University Games in Korea continuing what's become 12 months of global travel that's taken her to Qatar, Australia, New York and Dubai.

Beyond that, she's looking forward to starting her first year this fall at Berkeley and joining a loaded Bears team. And then next summer in Omaha, she'll compete in her second Olympic Trials, where she'll be a strong favorite to earn a spot on the team and give the United States what could be one of its strongest sprint contingents in years.

Considering two years ago she went to Trials strictly as a "learning experience," when she returns in 2016, there will be a set of expectations that didn't previously exist.

But Weitzeil said she figures by then, she'll be well accustomed to the pressures of swimming at the international level and if she feels any pressure, it will most likely come from within rather than without.

"I really had no idea what was going on in 2012 I was only 15 and it never really occurred to me that I was there for anything other than to learn for the future," Weitzeil said. "But it was the coolest thing for me. I had never swum in front of a crowd that big before. That meet was before Coley arrived at the club, and he's made a huge difference for me.

"I love racing, and that's the bottom line for me. I don't let expectations affect me. I just go along with it and do my thing. I may put pressure on myself, but that's just because I want to do my best all the time. I'm my harshest critic."

In the meantime, Weitzeil said she is looking forward to high school graduation in May and summer competitions and continuing to get faster and faster as she chases her goals and dreams.

"I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure I'm in the best position in 2016," Weitzeil said. "I'm excited for 2015 in many ways, and I can't wait to race this summer at WUGS and Worlds.

"I know with each meet, I gain more experience and knowledge that I can use to my advantage as I move forward in my swimming career."


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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4305[/ATTACH] Amy Bilquist - [COLOR="#696969"]9 Feb[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#ff0099"]#tbt[/COLOR] Comparing arm lengths w/ Natalie sorry I ruined the levelness of the pics [SIZE=4][COLOR="#FFD700"]��[/COLOR][/SIZE]



[COLOR="#808080"]Natalie with Amy @ SC Worlds, as Madison & Abbey looks on...[/COLOR]


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UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842434841 said:



Note: looks like Kathleen will be repping Team USA alongside Madison Kennedy end of the month, in this competition down under:

[COLOR="#FF0000"][SIZE=4]Americans Release Full 28-Swimmer Roster for BHP Billiton SuperSeries, Including Open Water[/SIZE][/COLOR]
http://swimswam.com/americans-release-full-28-swimmer-roster-bhp-billiton-superseries-including-open-water/


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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4213[/ATTACH] Kathleen Baker - [COLOR="#696969"]24 Jan, 9:53 pm PST[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#000066"]So excited to be in Perth after almost 2 days of travel and be able to shower [SIZE=4][COLOR="#FFA07A"]��[/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR]


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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4214[/ATTACH] Katie McLaughlin - [COLOR="#696969"]25 Jan, 10:01 am PST[/COLOR] @ [COLOR="#808080"]Kathleen Baker [/COLOR]

[COLOR="#000066"]Good luck to my bestie [COLOR="#FFD700"]@KathleenBaker2[/COLOR] in Australia!!! Kick butt man! [SIZE=4]���� [COLOR="#0099cc"]��[/COLOR] ����[/SIZE][/COLOR]




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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4215[/ATTACH] Amy Bilquist - [COLOR="#696969"]25 Jan, 1:11 pm EST[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#000066"]Good luck to [COLOR="#0099cc"]@KathleenBaker2[/COLOR] in Australia! Do it for the baby bears [SIZE=4] [COLOR="#0099cc"]��[/COLOR] [COLOR="#A52A2A"]��[/COLOR] [COLOR="#FFD700"]��[/COLOR][/SIZE][/COLOR]




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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4217[/ATTACH] Katie Drabot - [COLOR="#696969"]25 Jan, 1:52 pm CST[/COLOR] @ [COLOR="#808080"]Kathleen Baker and Felicia Lee[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#000066"]Good luck in Perth! I'll be cheering for you guys! [/COLOR]



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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4223[/ATTACH] Kathleen Baker - [COLOR="#696969"]26 Jan[/COLOR] [COLOR="#808080"]Happy Australia Day [SIZE=4]��[/SIZE] [/COLOR]

[COLOR="#000066"]Back in the land of the marsupials[/COLOR]




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Tyler Clary - [COLOR="#696969"]28 Jan[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#000066"]SwimMAC after a good morning session! Meet starts in two days! .@speedousa .@usaswimming .@fusionjerky[/COLOR]




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icecream12345
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http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=0&itemid=7642&mid=14491


[SIZE=5][COLOR="#000080"]20 QUESTION TUESDAY: ABBEY WEITZEIL[/COLOR][/SIZE]

1/27/2015

UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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icecream12345;842445329 said:

http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=0&itemid=7642&mid=14491


[SIZE=5][COLOR="#000080"]20 QUESTION TUESDAY: ABBEY WEITZEIL[/COLOR][/SIZE]

1/27/2015






8. You signed with Cal what do you know about the Bay Area after living in Saugus?
[U]Abbey[/U]: I lived in Sacramento for about seven years, so I am familiar with northern California. I love San Francisco and everything. I went on a recruiting trip there and loved it. I am excited to spend time there.

9. And you go to a place with a lot of swim history, don't you?
[U]Abbey[/U]: I am still learning about that and it is amazing. But to be honest, I am still a newbie to swimming, I have only been swimming competitively for 5 or 6 years. So I didn't watch swimming in 2004 during the Athens Olympics. The first Olympics I watched in swimming was 2008. I just wasn't into swimming at all. I didn't really know what it was like or about.

14. How did you decide on Cal for college?
[U]Abbey[/U]: When I made my choice, I was stuck in the end between Arizona and Cal, and I honestly could not decide. Both schools are amazing. I honestly could not decide. To this day I know either school would be amazing for me. But I ended up choosing Cal because I wanted to be closer to my family they are so supportive and closer to home. It was a really, really tough decision. But I feel very fortunate.

15. And you join a team with Missy Franklin, not bad company, right?
[U]Abbey[/U]: I remember going to 2012 Trials and watching Missy, and also watching Natalie Coughlin and all the others from Cal. And now, going to train with that program, and being at the same school with them is pretty awesome.
dgong
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"14. How did you decide on Cal for college?

Abbey: When I made my choice, I was stuck in the end between Arizona and Cal, and I honestly could not decide. Both schools are amazing. I honestly could not decide. To this day I know either school would be amazing for me. But I ended up choosing Cal because I wanted to be closer to my family – they are so supportive – and closer to home. It was a really, really tough decision. But I feel very fortunate."

It appears that Abbey was truly torn between Arizona and Cal (and that Abbey likely wasn't a "silent" commit as some may have speculated). I'm not sure how to process Abbey's observation that "both schools are amazing" because that is objectively not true, unless one is speaking strictly about the swimming experience at either school, or cool frat parties. Of the "big four", Abbey's comments on her video profile reflect a lower level of "bear buy in", and as she notes in the USA Swimming article, the deciding factor was location.

I believe that the academic demands will be more rigorous at Cal compared to Arizona, and I hope Abbey embraces the total Cal experience, which is unique, if not exactly amazing.
UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
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Abbey's close friends with Mathias Oh who's a Wildcat commit, and's also buddies with a number of swimmers on their team, so that probably influences her favourable disposition to U of A. She would have been their superstar and Rick DeMont's jewel in a very large incoming class as they rebuild towards their championship aspirations, instead of sharing the spotlight with Kathleen, Amy & Katie here at Cal.

Granted there's no comparison between the two schools academically, culturally and in the swimming arena (the latter both in terms of a legit NCAA contender & the best coaching option for a path to an Olympics/National Team future), so there are likely other personal factors at play here which made it such a close decision for our dream team stud. At least she was honest in her interview, and didn't try to cover things up with a veneer of empty platitudes for her college choice.

Ideally we would of course love to welcome recruits exhibiting as committed a "bear buy in" as someone like Katie McLaughlin, but I'm confident Abbey will grow to embrace the total Cal experience once she gets to sample it in earnest...don't mean to come off as rather mercenary, but IMO all will be forgiven (if anything indeed needs forgiveness here lol) after Abbey becomes instrumental in helping us to a few NCAA titles during her sojourn here :p

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In other news, Kathleen came in 5th in the [U]200 Back[/U] on Day 1 of the BHP Aquatic Super Series out in Perth, Australia. Becca Mann had a strong back half of her race to finish 2nd in the [U]800m free[/U]. Interesting to note that Farida currently holds the 3rd fastest time globally in the [U]50m free[/U] this early in 2015, behind the amazing Campbell sisters but ahead of Madison Kennedy & Margo Geer. Results here:
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#0099cc"][SIZE=4]McKeon & Seto Double; Cate Campbell Blasts 24.03 As Hosts Dominate Perth Super Series[/SIZE][/COLOR]
http://www.swimvortex.com/emma-mckeon-at-the-double-to-gets-super-series-hosts-off-to-flying-start-in-perth/

[COLOR="#FF0000"][SIZE=4]Australia Leads Aquatic Super Series with Seven Wins; Cate Campbell on Fire[/SIZE][/COLOR]
http://swimswam.com/australia-leads-aquatic-super-series-seven-wins-cate-campbell-fire/

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UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
Speaking of the [U]2015 recruiting class[/U], wonder if there's any remote chance that Teri could snag an international sprint stud like Shen Duo in April? Shen was 2nd in the [U]200m free[/U] at the Super Series yesterday, and currently holds the 5th fastest time in this event worldwide?

I realize it's highly unlikely the program has the scholly funds for a high profile international seeing that we couldn't afford both Abbey & Siobhan in the first place (Haughey apparently was never even approached as otherwise I can't see her picking Michigan over Cal), and the cultural/language gap's likely wider for someone from Mainland China as opposed to Hong Kong so not sure if there'd even be a good fit here....

But, on the plus side, Shen's even faster than Siobhan having beaten her across all their events at the 2014 Youth Olympics, and her range stretches up to the 200 in addition to the 100 & 50 sprints. Our relays will become unquestionably formidable with the addition of a star sprinter like Shen, and this potent addition to the Dream Class would surely usher in yet another era of domination and secure our next swimming dynasty...
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
tedbear
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UAC, in our international dream world, we would get Kanako Watanabe, and then never hear about breast stroke being the weak link of our team for the next four years! Hahaha!
BearDevil
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Coley Stickels, Abbey's club coach, swam at 'Zona and was the driving force behind her interest in UofA. Don't necessarily think that she's lukewarm on Cal, but that she doesn't want to offend her coach or friends she made during her recruiting trip. Could see a SwimMAC swimmer choosing Cal or LSJU over Auburn and expressing similar views about Auburn in deference to David Marsh. If Abbey and Cole really wanted to be at 'Zona they would have signed there.

Still seems strange that Cole didn't sign a LOI. Dunno how the alleged sexual assault case will turn out and believe it's an isolated rogue swimmer, but Knapp's situation changes if a date rape drug were involved. Meehan could move to the men's team and Yuri could coach the women (reuniting with Ledecky).
UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
Ah, had completely forgotten about Coley's ties to Zona, thanks for the reminder BD :beer: As you had mentioned, the bottomline is Abbey did commit to Cal in the end, and I at least am very very happy about that Not sure though if I'd be as pleased with the potential scenario you had outlined about Greg taking the reins of the men's team and Yuri the women's @ LSJU, as that might make furds more of a serious threat in both swimming genders haha

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tedbear - my that'd be truly a dream team to end all dream teams, wouldn't it - Kanako & Shen + Abbey/Kathleen/Katie/Amy (not to overlook Jenna)?!!!! Of course the hordes of jealous critics out there would no doubt latch onto another area of perceived weakness if our breast Achilles' heel was to be addressed by the addition of Kanako...say, distance? :p

Naysayers have already started chiming in on Swimswam with ridiculous claims of Kathleen being "tricked" into swimming the breast leg of the medley relays for Teri next season:
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
http://swimswam.com/american-celina-li-held-arizona-dual-violating-team-rules/

[COLOR="#808080"][U]swimmersear[/U]: Is it at all possible that Miss C.Li showed disregard for team rules because missing a meet where you're placed into events that nobody else can do or nobody else wants to do isn't such a big deal. C.Li is an IMer, sprint (maybe middle distance) freestyler and yes she can do it all. And yet there she is swimming the thousand, the 200 fly (OK not such a big stretch) and the 200 breast. It's the old unfortunate practice, that's gone on at every level, of placing the best (or one of the best) swimmer on the team into the event that the team is weak in. Yes, it happens. In fact, at times, it's necessary. But nowhere does it happen more than at CAL. What's next M.Franklin swimming the 500 and/or the IM at NCAA's. Oh wait a minute, that's already happened (regularly).
I wish all of these ladies only the best, and success, and happiness in and out of the sport; they are truly exceptional people. But there's a part of this that is just not right. That said, I hate to be a bearer of bad news but I hope K.Baker knows that as of September/2015 she's the new CAL breaststroker. And maybe that's fine, hopefully she wants to be the breaststroker. However, when you've reached the level that these three ladies and many others have reached, you deserve better. A different level of consideration. You've earned it. Doing what's "best for the team" does not trump doing what's best for each and every individual athlete. My son was in this position of being the best in a couple of his off events and was more than willing to do it all for the team, but there was equity and balance.[/COLOR]
[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
Really love the tone & contents of this response which properly puts the above commenter in their place :rollinglaugh:
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#696969"][U]duckduckgoose[/U]: You honestly believe that three top ten recruits (Franklin, Li, and Baker), all of whom already had close friends/former club teammates at Cal and multiple offers from top ten programs, blindly chose Cal with zero discussion about which events they might swim in duals and NCAAs?!? Nobody at that level, with junior and senior national team experience and multiple attractive other options, is somehow being hoodwinked into joining a program against their will without sufficient information about what to expect in and out of the pool.

Todd Schmitz and David Marsh have coached alongside Teri McKeever and would never steer star swimmers somewhere they wouldn't be treated fairly and there wasn't "equity and balance". The Marsh family was in Berkeley last week so the daughters could check out the possibility of swimming for the Bears. I'm sure Alyssa Marsh, upon returning home to Charlotte, breathlessly clued her close friend Kathleen Baker in about the possibility she might swim breast legs on Cal medley relays next season. Surely was a terrible shock/surprise for all involved.
[/COLOR]
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OBear073akaSMFan
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UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842446075 said:

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[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
Not sure though if I'd be as pleased with the potential scenario you had outlined about Greg taking the reins of the men's team and Yuri the women's @ LSJU, as that might make furds more of a serious threat in both swimming genders haha
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+1000. I hope Ted Knapp remains there for another 10 years 8-)!! Worst scenario, Greg taking over both programs.
UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
[COLOR="#A52A2A"]BHP Aquatic Super Series, Day 2:[/COLOR]

Kathleen 4th in the [U]100m Back[/U] (1:00.92). Emily Seebohm (AUS) won the event with a phenomenal 58.89, which will serve as a serious warning/challenge to Missy since no one prior to now has ever dipped below 59 seconds in-season (fast as Missy used to be at the Grand Prix competitions when training under Todd and at altitude in CO, her best times outside of trials/World Champs/Olympics had all been in the 59 range).
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]
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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4248[/ATTACH] USA Swimming Stats - [COLOR="#696969"]Jan 31[/COLOR]

Emily Seebohm 58.89 100m Bk @AquaticSeries was a great swim. It's been 1.6 yrs since Missy Franklin has broke 59.


[COLOR="#808080"][U]Note[/U]: Top 2 times were achieved @ 2009 World Champs in Rome, i.e. with the aid of the now-banned "supersuits"[/COLOR]

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[COLOR="#3333ff"][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]
Kathleen, leading off on backstroke, also helped Team USA finish 2nd in the [U]200m Medley relay[/U] behind AUS (Aussies B team actually had the 2nd fastest time in that race, but only 1 team from each country's eligible for the scoring).

Becca Mann's 4:10.48 placed her 4th in the [U]400m free[/U]. Winner was CHN's Zhang Yuhan with a 4:06.83. For reference and context, Katie Ledecky raced a 4:00.47 recently at the Austin Pro Series, with her 3:58.37 WR achieved @ Pan Pacs last summer (Cierra came in 2nd with a 4:04.55 at that same comp).

Suzuka Hasegawa (JPN) had apparently set the Junior World Record in the [U]200m fly[/U] with her 2nd place finish of 2:07.89. (Camille Adams won it for the US in 2:07.61). Katie McLaughlin has actually been quite a bit faster, but her 2:07.08 from 2014 Pan Pacs hasn't been recognized by FINA as the Jr WR for some reason...
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]


http://usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=0&itemid=7649&mid=14491

[COLOR="#006699"][SIZE=4]Australia Triumphs at BHP Aquatic Super Series Despite USA Surge[/SIZE][/COLOR]

http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/australia-triumphs-bhp-aquatic-super-series-despite-usa-surge/

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Cynthia A. Griffin - [COLOR="#696969"]Jan 31[/COLOR]
Great young Ambassadors representing @USAswimming @hbfstadium @bhpbillitonsuperseries swimming championships #perth


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Kathleen Baker - [COLOR="#696969"]Feb 2[/COLOR] - [COLOR="#808080"][SIZE=4]���� ���� ���� ����[/SIZE] ��(almost)[/COLOR]

4 countries, 3(000) hours worth of traveling, 2 day meet, 1 sunny pool

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Kathleen Baker - [COLOR="#696969"]Feb 3[/COLOR]

Official time from Perth, Australia to Charlotte, NC [COLOR="#FFA07A"][SIZE=4]�� ��[/SIZE][/COLOR]



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UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4248[/ATTACH] USA Swimming Stats - [COLOR="#696969"]Jan 31[/COLOR]

A look at the top 10 in the women's [U]50y Fr[/U] for 2015. Simone Manuel with a strong 22.24 today.



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UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4271[/ATTACH] Abbey Weitzeil - [COLOR="#696969"]1 Feb, 2015[/COLOR]

Thanks @rschulzphotog for an awesome shoot! It was fun to catch up with you guys! [SIZE=4]�� ��[/SIZE]



[U]Amy Bilquist[/U] : [SIZE=4][COLOR="#FFD700"]������[/COLOR][/SIZE] 11/10

https://instagr.am/p/ykT-m2BagR

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UrsusArctosCalifornicus
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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4278[/ATTACH] Amy Bilquist - [COLOR="#696969"]3 Feb[/COLOR]

Excited and humbled to be on the cover of Current in Carmel such a great experience! #Carmel





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http://currentincarmel.com/born-to-swim


[INDENT][COLOR="#FF0000"][SIZE=5]Born to swim[/SIZE][/COLOR][/INDENT]


Amy Bilquist prepares to dive in during a Carmel High School swimming practice (Photo by Heidi Schmidt).


[COLOR="#0099cc"][INDENT][SIZE=4]Carmel's Amy Bilquist's blazing run may lead to Olympics[/SIZE][/INDENT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="#696969"]By Mark Ambrogi
February 3, 2015

The last 18 months have been a wild wave for Amy Bilquist.

When Bilquist moved with her family from Goodyear, Ariz., in the summer of 2013 she knew little about Carmel Swim Club and still considered herself a volleyball player and a swimmer.

Fast forward to now and the Carmel High School senior is being touted as possibly the school's first Olympic swimmer.

"It's so crazy to me that people are using my name and Olympian in the same sentence," said Bilquist, who will swim for the University of California next season. "But it's so flattering and so honored that people see me in that light. I wanted to do the best thing for my team and myself. Hopefully become an Olympian that's one of my goals. I'm going to try to push anyone I can achieve it. It doesn't scare me people are saying that. It gets me motivated to come to practice and do what I love."

Bilquist and her Carmel girls swimming teammates are aiming for the team's 29th consecutive state championship. Bilquist won the 50 and 100-yard freestyle, setting a state record in the 100 in 48.93 seconds, and was on two winning relay teams in last year's state meet. Not long after that, Carmel swimming coach Chris Plumb noticed a big leap in her ability and she's kept progressing.

"She's way ahead of where she was a year ago," Plumb said. "She's swimming faster and much stronger. She's much more prepared to handle the big stage. She proven that over and over again."


Bilquist during a recent practice. (Photo by Heidi Schmidt)

Bilquist won two silver medals and one gold on relays at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar in early December. Bilquist was on the second-place 200 freestyle relay team in the final. She earned her other medals by competing in the prelims in mixed 200 free relay (gold) and 400 women's relay (silver). Bilquist had previously won five medals, including four golds, at the Pan Pacific meet in Hawaii in August.

Plumb said he is not shying away from talk of Bilquist in the 2016 Olympics anymore.

"I certainly believe she has good a chance as anybody," Plumb said. "She's improving at a tremendous rate. She needs to continue at this rate to be there."

It doesn't hurt that Bilquist, 17, is 6-foot-2. She credits the Carmel Swim Club's weight-room program with helping her strength.

"When I moved here, I was very weak. I couldn't even do a pull-up," she said. "I can do about six pull-ups. I've been tall my whole life and it's been hard for me to gain muscle and keep up with my growing body."


Bilquist swimming at the World Championships in December (Submitted photo)

Beyond her height and natural ability, Plumb said Bilquist is mentally suited to succeed.

"She's driven to be the best," Plumb said. "You see it with the questions she asks. She challenges me and it's my job to challenge her back. She highly motivated to be the best and she does the things in the pool every day to get there. It's a rare combination when you put that talent and work ethic together."

Bilquist began swimming competitively at age 4.

"I was basically swimming when I was walking," she said.

Her father Brent swam collegiately and played water polo at Princeton. Yet Bilquist said her parents have never pushed her to swim and left the decision of giving up volleyball to her.

"The motivation has turned intrinsic for me and I found it within myself, which was hard for me growing up because I was shaky about the sport and didn't have a lot of self-confidence in it," Bilquist said. "This season especially I feel a little more confident in the water. I really feel I put my mind to it, I can achieve it."

Her dad agreed his daughter is self-motivated.

"She drives herself a lot harder than any parent ever could," Brent said.


Bilquist swimming at an Arizona swim meet at age 14 (Submitted photo)

Since Bilquist was 10, she played volleyball along with swimming. She didn't give up volleyball until she got to Carmel and learned how many hours were required to train at Carmel.

"When I moved here I really had to focus on which one I wanted to became great at and not just be OK in both," Bilquist said. "I chose swimming and I'm really glad I did."

Her father credited Plumb and Carmel Swim Club associate head coach Ian Murray for helping Bilquist's rapid rise both mentally and physically.

"It's pretty amazing how much they care about the kid just as much as they care about the swimmer," he said.

Bilquist feeds off the energy from club. She said she knew knew nothing of the team's string of state championships when she got to Carmel. Her father said he didn't know all the details, either, only knowing that the school has a strong program when he decided Carmel would be the best place to live after taking a job with AmeriCold Logistics in Indianapolis.

"At first I thought they were a little obsessive about swimming," Bilquist said. "But it kind of grew on me. I learned they're super passionate about it and it spread on to me."


At age 11, Amy Bilquist dives into the water in an Arizona meet


[CENTER][SIZE=3][U]Meet Amy Bilquist[/U][/SIZE][/CENTER]

Age: 17 (birthday is Aug. 11). Born in Edina, Minn. Has brother Brian, 26, played basketball and baseball in high school and sister Berit, 25, competed in volleyball and track and field.

Most interesting place you've visited: "Hawaii was the most beautiful. We went there for Junior Pan Pacific (meet). But Qatar (site of World Championships) was the most interesting. Being in the Middle East, things are a lot different. You just get such a respect for other cultures with the diversity. I don't think I would be exposed to that without swimming."

[COLOR="#FFD700"]What made you pick University of California as your college choice:[/COLOR] [COLOR="#000066"] "It came down to Georgia, USC, University of Arizona and Cal. It really came down to where I felt most at home and where I felt I could excel both as a person and an athlete. I definitely thought Cal could offer me the best opportunities. I love the team. I clicked with them immediately and the academics there are out of this world. The diversity was just so different and the breath of fresh air for me."[/COLOR]

How do you relax: "I hang out with my friends a lot. When we're not at the pool, we're hanging together watching a movie, going to dinner, relaxing."

Favorite restaurant: "I really liked Benihana last time I went. It was really great."

Favorite type of music: "It changes a lot but I'm very into Beyonce right now."

Favorite movie: "I would say 'Miracle' the hockey one (about 1980 U.S. Olympic team)."

Favorite TV show: "Grey's Anatomy."[/COLOR]


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tedbear
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What I love about Amy and our other swim recruits is that they all seem like genuine students. Academics, diversity, and the beautiful Bay Area are examples that we all used when deciding to attend Cal. Maybe it's because the swimmers know they are not going to make millions of dollars in swimming compared to football or basketball. But to me, I just relate better with athletes who are true students. As for the fretting the football and basketball boards about the loss of recent recruits, don't we all want students who really want to be here?
 
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