UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842728208 said:

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[SIZE=4]
:cry: :bawl: :cry:
[/SIZE]
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[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]USC Snags Verbal Commitment from #3 Maggie Aroesty of LIAC for 2017-18[/SIZE][/COLOR]

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[COLOR="#006699"]
Oh well, not altogether surprising seeing Dave Salo's history & reputation of developing top breaststrokers. I'm sure Maggie will do well with the Trojans, great for her At least Mags isn't going to the Farm if that's any consolation :p

Moving forward, hope to see Grace Zhao, amongst others, visit this weekend...we really need to shore up our weaknesses in that dept...

Go Bears!
[/COLOR]

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842728218 said:

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[COLOR="#006699"]
Oh well, not altogether surprising seeing Dave Salo's history & reputation of developing top breaststrokers. I'm sure Maggie will do well with the Trojans, great for her At least Mags isn't going to the Farm if that's any consolation :p

Moving forward, hope to see Grace Zhao, amongst others, visit this weekend...we really need to shore up our weaknesses in that dept...

Go Bears!
[/COLOR]

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Quote:

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Think BD is expecting to see some combo of Maggie, Harnish, Popov, Zhao, Margett, Ault, and Kuks in Berkeley over the next few weeks? (i.e. not all of them necessarily on the official visit weekend)

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Thank goodness the recruits are expected this weekend. Already 2 (Maggie & Popov) of BD's expected recruits have committed :cry:. Both must have been offered good packages to commit so soon.

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842728218 said:

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[COLOR="#006699"]
Oh well, not altogether surprising seeing Dave Salo's history & reputation of developing top breaststrokers. I'm sure Maggie will do well with the Trojans, great for her At least Mags isn't going to the Farm if that's any consolation :p

Moving forward, hope to see Grace Zhao, amongst others, visit this weekend...we really need to shore up our weaknesses in that dept...

Go Bears!
[/COLOR]

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All I can say is that I'm glad she is not a Furd. I was getting that sinking feeling early that she wasn't going to be a Bear, and it's actually a relief that she didn't go to the dark side. I'm just a little surprised that she didn't go on all her visits before deciding. U$C is becoming a legitimate competitor, and Maggie will be great for their 4 x 100 Breast relay team , but I still think they are a step below us and the Furd. So we still have a gaping need for a breast stroker, but at least the Furd have the same problem. Somewhere there has to be more breast stroke options. International maybe? Who shows up this weekend will be a complete mystery to me. #zoebartel2018

OBear073akaSMFan;842728253 said:

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Thank goodness the recruits are expected this weekend. Already 2 (Maggie & Popov) of BD's expected recruits have committed :cry:. Both must have been offered good packages to commit so soon.

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[COLOR="#006699"]Well breaststrokers with scoring potential are always highly prized in the NCAA - heck, even if they aren't quite there yet in terms of making finals in the individual events, their contribution to the 2 medley relays can be the difference maker (relays = double points). So not completely caught off guard that both Nikol & Mags had committed so relatively early, they must surely have been offered very favourable & lucrative packages - or just felt their school & team choice was a perfect match!
[/COLOR]

tedbear;842728254 said:

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All I can say is that I'm glad she is not a Furd. I was getting that sinking feeling early that she wasn't going to be a Bear, and it's actually a relief that she didn't go to the dark side. I'm just a little surprised that she didn't go on all her visits before deciding. U$C is becoming a legitimate competitor, and Maggie will be great for their 4 x 100 Breast relay team , but I still think they are a step below us and the Furd. So we still have a gaping need for a breast stroker, but at least the Furd have the same problem. Somewhere there has to be more breast stroke options. International maybe? Who shows up this weekend will be a complete mystery to me. #zoebartel2018

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[COLOR="#006699"]The downside to all of this is I would reckon Greg Meehan has been pursuing Maggie quite aggressively too (they need breaststrokers almost as much as we do...Aroesty's an excellent student in addition to her skills in the pool), so "losing" out to $C may mean the Furd will now try to make a big play for PASA's Zhao - if they hadn't already done so.

I actually have a great deal of respect for the fast rising women of Troy, and feel that they may represent a threat sooner than later.

Salo had a strong incoming 2015 (scoring with La Crescenta's Kirsten Vose & Petaluma's Riley Scott), followed by a recruiting class which would have ranked ahead of ours last year, if it wasn't for Abbey's deferment...

The only thing holding the Trojanettes back, for now, is they have to first get past the intimidating furdette power duo of Manuel & Ledecky (not to mention the best recruiting class of 2016), as well as deal with our own Dream Team who are not going to go away anytime soon

If we miss out on Grace, wonder if Teri has approached NCAP's Russian breaststroker, Anna Belousova (#1 MD, #9 Nat), whose SCY times are comparable to Zhao's in the 100 distance? Wouldn't surprise me one bit if Anna, seen here @ Santa Monica pier just recently, has already drawn Salo's attention, though bringing Maggie on board should have been more than enough for 'SC...let's not get too greedy now shall we?! :p



Zoe would be a godsend, but don't think we can wait another year haha
[/COLOR]

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842728304 said:

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Well breaststrokers with scoring potential are always highly prized in the NCAA - heck, even if they aren't quite there yet in terms of making finals in the individual events, their contribution to the 2 medley relays can be the difference maker (relays = double points).

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[COLOR="#006699"]Upon further reflection, there's always the possibility that the top breaststrokers in this class may not even have been seriously wooed by Teri, so perhaps not the time yet to panic over all these breast commitments to the other schools (think back to Lilly King in 2015).

Truth be said, coach McKeever's enviable run of Top 3 finishes at the National Championships doesn't seem to have been impacted at all by the glaring holes in her teams' distance & breast, due to Teri's knack of loading up top end talent in specific areas to help offset some of this, to stack up the points and overwhelm our opponents in those events (i.e. 200 IM, 200 Free, 100 & 200 Back in 2015, in spite of not scoring a single point in the 100 & 200 Breast or Diving, with a points shutout in the 500 & 1650 Free averted thanks largely to Cierra, with help from Melanie in the latter event).

Admittedly not a model that I personally would be entirely comfy with going forward, despite it having worked out time after time in the case of our :bear:s.

In fairness to Teri, promising breaststroke elite Marina had been recruited to specifically address some of these deficiencies...it's just that many internationals do find it a massive challenge to make the transition from LCM to SCY smoothly & successfully, so there was always an underlying risk factor there (though things have worked out well in other areas for Marina, such as her integration into, and value to, her teammates...now a Team Captain in her senior year to boot :cheer)

Anyway, enough of my second-guessing lol, reckon we should start to have a clearer picture of Teri's strategy and of how Cal stands in the 2017 recruiting race this weekend - naturally not looking forward to being constantly on edge as we eagerly await/anxiously dread the verbals as they roll in afterwards...let the sweaty countdown begin! :p
[/COLOR]

[U]Note[/U]: wasn't paying attention earlier, and somehow ended up posting SwimSwam's 2016-2017 College Swimming Previews here ... have now relocated that to the "2016-2017 Season: Women's Swimming" topic to which I reckon it more properly belongs.

Sorry OBear if that may make your response to this post a bit confusing - I swear I'll make it up to you with some more sordid "boots & feet" photos, one of these days haha

I liked the way they are giving a grade for each strokes. Also maybe a grade for relays too? Mich rec'd 3 A's, ...not bad.

BearDevil;842716493 said:

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Immediate targets: Maggie, Marta, Harnish, Pitzer, and Forde.

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UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842722621 said:

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Marta Ciesla (#1 FL, #20 Nat) visited Carol Capitani's group over the weekend, so was on deck to witness the Horns' historic upset victory over the Irish earlier today.

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UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842724345 said:

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Ashley, Marta & Maggie @ [U]'SC[/U] today.

Ummm, hope this was just a courtesy visit on their part, just a temporary stop to warm up for the main event @ Berkeley next weekend, as we want all 3 of them!!!

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[COLOR="#006699"]Well it does look like we won't be seeing Marta @ Memorial Stadium this evening, as she's visiting the [U]Tenn Vols[/U] instead :cry:
[/COLOR]
Marta, with Amanda Nunan (#1 NJ, #86 Nat)



[COLOR="#006699"]
So, guess we can scratch 3 of our major players off the list at this point - Nikol (#1 CA, #8 Nat) -> [U]UT[/U] ... Maggie (#1 NY, #5 Nat) -> [U]USC[/U] ... and now most likely Marta, unless she's going to make a trip here at a later date.

That leaves Lauren Pitzer (#1 TX, #6 Nat) & Ashley Volpenhein (#1 OH, #18 Nat) as the remaining elite sprint specialists in the Top 20. Will they show up tonight or not...

Hmmm, any chances of CollegeSwimming's Top 3, Courtney Harnish (#1 PA, #1 Nat), Brooke Forde (#1 KY, #2 Nat), or Sierra Schmidt (#2 PA, #3 Nat), being interested in or being sought by the Bears, assuming the fit is right on both sides??

Or in-states Grace Zhao (#2 CA, #12 Nat), Alexis Margett (#3 CA, #22 Nat) & Taylor Ault (#4 CA, #24 Nat)?

I would be happy to also see Ashlyn Schoof (#1 WI, #14 Nat), and Hannah Kukurugya (#1 IN, #21 Nat) or Taylor Pike (#1 AR, #15 Nat) pose on the field prior to today's home opener!

Of course we all know whose appearances tedbear's rooting for - the Canadians! In the form of Sarah Darcel (#1 BC, #9 Nat) & Mary-Sophie Harvey (#1 QC, #28 Nat).

One who won't be materialising here, at least for the weekend, is Olivia Anderson (#2 ON, #33 Nat), seeing that she was spotted @ Camp Randall Stadium an hour ago with Cierra (still feels odd/confusing to see a former :bear: all decked out in [COLOR="#B22222"]red[/COLOR] :bawl. Olivia had visited [U]UGA[/U] last weekend.



Neither will we be seeing Caitlin Tycz (#1 ME, #26 Nat) tonight, who was @ UVa last week but appears to be back in Maine today.
[/COLOR]

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842729219 said:

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That leaves Lauren Pitzer (#1 TX, #6 Nat) & Ashley Volpenhein (#1 OH, #18 Nat) as the remaining elite sprint specialists in the Top 20. Will they show up tonight or not...

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:woohoo

[COLOR="#006699"]Ashley's sporting her boot specially for OBear's viewing pleasure... :p

Maybe we'll get to see Nat Jr Team member Austin Katz (#1 FL, #10 Nat) make an appearance at Durden's equivalent recruiting fling?! [/COLOR]

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842729333 said:

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:woohoo

[COLOR="#006699"]Ashley's sporting her boot specially for OBear's viewing pleasure... :p

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rooling Yes but hopefully there are others?

OBear073akaSMFan;842729354 said:

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Yes but hopefully there are others?

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[COLOR="#006699"]
Ask and ye shall receive...or something like that




Out & about today, so haven't had the time to try to figure out the half dozen bright & shiny faces that I don't immediately recognise! Hopefully someone will chime in to help ID who's who here, pretty please?

Definitely at least a couple of vaguely familiar ones that I can't quite put a name to right now...maybe the brunette at the very back = PASA breaststroker Grace Zhao (#2 CA, #12 Nat)?

As for the dudes, I spot baby :bear: Michael Jensen (#1 PA, #1 Nat, back in 2016) at the back row to our left, with 2017 commit Ryan Hoffer (#1 AZ, #1 Nat) in front of him. The guys to our right may be Daniel Carr (#1 CO, #21 Nat) {the blonde} ... Bryce Mefford (#1 CA, #6 Nat) ... + ??

For reference, here's [U]SwimSwam[/U]'s rankings of the 2017 recruits (does differ quite a bit from [U]CollegeSwimming[/U]'s ratings above):
[/COLOR]
[SIZE=3]Women[/SIZE]: https://swimswam.com/top-20-ncaa-recruits-girls-high-school-class-2017/

[SIZE=3]Men[/SIZE]: https://swimswam.com/top-20-ncaa-swimming-recruits-boys-high-school-class-2017/

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842729219 said:

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That leaves Lauren Pitzer (#1 TX, #6 Nat) & Ashley Volpenhein (#1 OH, #18 Nat) as the remaining elite sprint specialists in the Top 20. Will they show up tonight or not...

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[COLOR="#006699"]
Lauren visited Michigan Stadium this weekend, seen here with Erin Earley (#1 CT, #18 Nat). Both had made trips to [U]UVa[/U] last week.
[/COLOR]

thanks for posting this pictures. Seem like a good turnout of recruits and better yet saw an exciting game.

OBear073akaSMFan;842730711 said:

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thanks for posting this pictures. Seem like a good turnout of recruits and better yet saw an exciting game.

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[COLOR="#006699"]Oski looks real happy in that photo, tho it's tough when following the football here with the almost mandatory accompanying nervy rollercoaster rides (exciting may be a bit of an understatement lol) - very happily, even the wobbly rushing defence and Vic's premature celebratory antics as he crossed the goal line right there at the end didn't quite spoil the party, for once :p
[/COLOR]

BearDevil;842726710 said:

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More surprised by Margett visiting 'Bama than Popov committing to UT. Santa Rosa's Molly Hanis became an Olympic breaststroker after swimming at UT.

Bears are in good shape with flyers (Noemie, McL, and Maddie), but would be surprised if Teri isn't recruiting Margett and/or Kuks. Odd visit for Margett unless she has family in Alabama. Hull spending a year at Auburn never made sense.

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[COLOR="#006699"]Finally got a chance to look at that photo a bit more closely, actually here's another one of the prospective 2017 Bears recruits that we can all cheer for:


[INDENT]
Farida is flanked by Ashley Volpenhein (#1 OH, #18 Nat) to her right, and Grace Zhao (#2 CA, #12 Nat) on her left.
The tall brunette between Grace & KV is Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou (#6 CA, #37 Nat).
I think the recruit with the blue shades on top (next to Katie & Courtney) is Alexis Margett (#3 CA, #23 Nat), but could be wrong there?
Dannie Dilsaver ((#2 NE, #83 Nat) is on Abbey's right.
Haven't figured out who the person in front of Courtney may be...anyone able to help us here?
[/INDENT]

So there you have it, for now.

Who from this fine group of student-athletes will be the first one to announce her verbal...stay tuned! (there will also surely be other visitors scheduled for later dates, usually lower-profile trips as happened with Maddie, Courtney & Aislinn last year)

:gobears:

(going to be on the road the next few days, hope I won't miss out on any interesting developments!)
[/COLOR]

Swimmer with the blue shades on top is Alexa Buckley, one of this year's freshmen.

Good work, UAC!

HBear;842731276 said:

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Swimmer with the blue shades on top is Alexa Buckley, one of this year's freshmen.

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[COLOR="#006699"]Ooops - cheers for spotting my glaring faux pas, was in a bit of a hurry getting ready to take off on my road trip so didn't do the due diligence in double checking my dodgy guesses, eek!

Massive, massive apologies to Alexa - hope you'll find it in your generous heart to forgive my unconscionable blooper one of these days (said slightly tongue-in-cheek since the chances of anyone from our swimming team, let alone Ms. Buckley herself, ever bothering to read the random posts on our humble little message board range from infinitesimally slim to virtually non-existent lol). In my defence, probably a wishful case of imagining Alexis was ever here over the weekend, seeing that she would be an immediate impact recruit as pointed out by BearDevil below. Alexis, Alexa ... hey what's the difference anyway :p
[/COLOR]

BearDevil;842731270 said:

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Zhao, AV, and Margett could all help the Bears immediately.

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[COLOR="#006699"]In all seriousness, Alexis Margett would have been an invaluable asset for Bears, great in her butterfly and pretty solid in her shorter IM. Esp when one considers that the others in this class with mad fly skillz either didn't visit us last weekend (Courtney Harnish, Taylor Pike, Caitlin Tycz), or have already committed (Victoria Edwards -> Horns).

In addition, looking more & more likely that Hannah Kukurugya will verbal to the Furd when/if she shows up for their recruiting weekend (1 Oct?).

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Well, catching up belatedly on several recruiting developments whilst I was away...

Ashlyn Schoof (#1 WI, #15 Nat) -> [U]Louisville Cards[/U] (photo below), joining Morgan Friesen (#2 CO, #63 Nat) there ... Cardinals def on the rise, despite having already lost Rio Olympian Kelsi Worrell to graduation this season:



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Sammie Burchill (#2 IN, #31 Nat) will be joining big sis Veronica as a [U]Georgia Bulldawg[/U] - both are from Amy's record-breaking swim club & HS in Carmel.



[U]UGA[/U] has also secured verbals from Emmaline Peterson (#2 NC, #54 Nat), as well as Maddie Wallis (#1 MA, #187 Nat). A noticeable improvement v. their commitments at this point the past couple of seasons, IMO.
[/COLOR]
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[COLOR="#006699"]
Here's one of Sophie w/froskis Courtney & Chenoa. Krivokapic-Zhou had visited College Station (A&M) the prev weekend.
[/COLOR]

Glad you are back !! Whose nickname is Coco? You used that name previously. Thanks in advance.

[COLOR="#006699"]Courtney. Tho I may be taking some liberties with the assumption that it's a widely adopted nickname with her new teammates at this very early stage of the season lol[/COLOR]

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[COLOR="#336699"][SIZE=5]USA Swimming Creates First-Ever 18 & Under World 100 Program[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[INDENT]http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=1&itemid=16013&mid=14491[/INDENT]



[SIZE=3]Selections List[/SIZE]: https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/results/pdf/2016-17-usa-swimming-world-100-roster-usa-senior-national-2016-09-21.pdf

[SIZE=3]Selections Criteria[/SIZE]: http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/dd5bb002-f999-4d63-b145-dc8b3234af6e/18%20and%20Under%20World%20100%20Selection.pdf


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..think last year, we got some early recruits but so far, 'nada' so far for the women and a big one for the guys, Ryan Hoffer. One thing about the women, noticed lots of the breaststroke swimming seem to be making earlier commitments. Wonder since this stroke is a premium schools are just offering more schollys $$$ for them. Stilling looking for help in Breast and long distance races.

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842729219 said:

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I would be happy to also see Ashlyn Schoof (#1 WI, #14 Nat), and Hannah Kukurugya (#1 IN, #21 Nat) or [U]Taylor Pike[/U] (#1 AR, #15 Nat) pose on the field prior to today's home opener!

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UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842732920 said:

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Esp when one considers that the others in this class with mad fly skillz either didn't visit us last weekend (Courtney Harnish, [U]Taylor Pike[/U], Caitlin Tycz), or have already committed (Victoria Edwards -> Horns). In addition, looking more & more likely that Hannah Kukurugya will verbal to the Furd when/if she shows up for their recruiting weekend (1 Oct?).

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[COLOR="#990033"][SIZE=5]Nat'l Teamer [U]Taylor Pike[/U] (Our #9) Announces Verbal Commitment to A&M[/SIZE][/COLOR]



https://swimswam.com/natl-teamer-taylor-pike-9-announces-verbal-commitment/

OBear073akaSMFan;842733138 said:

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..think last year, we got some early recruits but so far, 'nada' so far for the women and a big one for the guys, Ryan Hoffer. One thing about the women, noticed lots of the breaststroke swimming seem to be making earlier commitments. Wonder since this stroke is a premium schools are just offering more schollys $$$ for them. Stilling looking for help in Breast and long distance races.

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[COLOR="#006699"]
Wouldn't sweat it (too much)...yet :p

Each individual's on their own personal schedule, so will be different from person to person, year to year, etc.

I've reconstructed a roughshod timeline from campus visit to verbal commitment for the past 2 recruiting classes, for your reference. Some inaccuracies + incomplete details due to limited info, so don't take this too seriously hehe...just thought it might be fun to compare:
[/COLOR]
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[COLOR="#696969"]
[INDENT][SIZE=3]* CLASS OF 2015 *[/SIZE][/INDENT]

05/15/14 Ledecky -> LSJU
[U]09/06/14[/U] - Cal hosts 1st group of 2015 recruits: Katie, Kathleen, Amy, Abbey, Ella Eastin, Kirsten Vose & Megan Popp
09/07/14 Katie => :bear:
09/11/14 Eastin -> LSJU
09/16/14 Thleen => :bear:
09/30/14 Kim William -> LSJU
10/01/14 Popp -> Harvard
10/06/14 Vose -> USC
10/08/14 Amy => :bear:
10/10/14 - LSJU hosts their 2015 prospects
10/15/14 Stevens -> LSJU
11/12/14 Abbey => :bear: (may have made her decision earlier, after confirming w/Teri that it was OK to defer for Rio??)
11/13/14 Jenna & Phoebe => :bear:
05/05/15 Madi => :bear:


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[INDENT][SIZE=3]* CLASS OF 2016 *[/SIZE][/INDENT]

07/20/15 - Keaton => :bear:
[U]9/12/15[/U] - Cal hosts 1st group of 2016 recruits: Meghan Small, Hannah Cox, Katie Drabot, Anina, Keaton (amongst others)
09/16/15 Aislinn => :bear:
[U]09/19/15[/U] Chenoa & Amy Okada visit Cal
09/20/15 Small -> Tenn
09/24/15 Chenoa => :bear:
09/28/15 Cox -> Zona
09/29/15 Alexa => :bear:
[U]10/03/15[/U] Courtney & Maddie visit Cal (Aislinn also present)
10/04/15 LSJU hosts Drabot, Voss & Szekely (amongst others)
10/06/15 Voss -> LSJU
10/06/15 Maddie => :bear:
10/07/15 Okada -> UCLA
10/08/15 Drabot -> LSJU
10/10/15 Anina=> :bear:
10/15/15 Courtney => :bear:
10/29/15 Szekely -> LSJU
[/COLOR]
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UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842732920 said:

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In addition, looking more & more likely that Hannah Kukurugya will verbal to the Furd when/if she shows up for their recruiting weekend (1 Oct?).

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[COLOR="#006699"]Or my reading of Kuks' leanings may be way off here as she's visiting [U]'SC[/U] this weekend (seen here w/2017 Trojan commit Isabella Rongione):





Still have a feeling Hannah's en-route to the Farm (but hoping my guess there will come to nought haha)...where I wouldn't be shocked if Grace makes an appearance next weekend, as Zhao is surely being wooed as hard by Meehan as she is by Teri...
[/COLOR]

[COLOR="#006699"]
Courtney (prev known visits = [U]UGA[/U]) & Ashley ([U]UVa[/U], [U]'SC[/U] & [U][COLOR="#DAA520"]Cal[/COLOR][/U]) + the boot spotted in Austin today!



[COLOR="#696969"]Logan Shiller (#16 TX, #153 Nat), Courtney Harnish (#1 PA, #1 Nat), Ashley Volpenhein (#1 OH, #18 Nat), Elizabeth Bailey (#6 GA, #104 Nat), Camryn Toney (#11 TX, #129 Nat)[/COLOR]


Carol Capitani had hosted Brooke Forde (#1 KY, #2 Nat) & Marta Ciesla (#1 FL, #20 Nat) a couple of weeks ago.

Longhorns have already secured verbals from Victoria Edwards (#2 TX, #7 Nat) & Evie Pfeifer (#1 MO, #28 Nat).




[/COLOR]

UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842726592 said:

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[COLOR="#006699"]Speaking of British breaststrokers who are planning to study & compete in American colleges, Emma Cain (mentioned a couple of posts back) visited [U]UVa[/U] this weekend. Emma may be heading out west to check out the [U]Bruins[/U] this coming weekend.[/COLOR]

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Emma Cain: So happy to announce my verbal commitment to UCLA! Go Bruins! ������

:cry:Anyone knows who are the top breaststrokers left (USA or abroad) on the board?:cry:

OBear073akaSMFan;842735531 said:

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:cry:Anyone knows who are the top breaststrokers left (USA or abroad) on the board?:cry:

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[COLOR="#006699"]Grace Zhao (#2 CA, #12 Nat), who visited last weekend, is just about the remaining "top breaststroker" that :bear:s are pinning all our hopes on, though it'll (likely) be an all-out slugfest between Teri & Greg to determine whether Grace will choose the good school or the dark side...or elsewhere :p

There is Russian Anna Belousova (#1 MD, #9 Nat) who currently swims for NCAP and has similar br times to Grace - but haven't heard any rumours connecting her to Cal in any way, and Anna may have visited 'SC earlier (though would be a bit surprised if Salo's looking for a 2nd elite breaststroker after having snagged Maggie, having already acquired Kristen Vose & Riley Scott 2 cycles back).

Brooke Forde (#1 KY, #2 Nat) could throw out a serviceable 200 breast split if called upon at a pinch (i.e. less useful in terms of relay value), though her skills would be better utilised in the IMs and some of the longer events (200 fly etc). However, unlikely to be considering Teri's team, seeing that Brooke has already made trips to Charlottesville & Austin thus far.

As for internationals, reckon you can always fly out to Turkey and try to recruit our fave Ukrainian studette Viktoriya Zeynep Gneş - if she hasn't already gone pro and is actually eligible for the class of 2017...

Or just wait for the Zoe Bartel or Allie Raab (latter more likely reserved for the furdettes or lady dawgs) the next recruiting cycle, even if Thleen or Abbey will be cursing you big time when they are pressed into breaststroke relay duties come March 2017... :p
[/COLOR]

OBear073akaSMFan;842735531 said:

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:cry:Anyone knows who are the top breaststrokers left (USA or abroad) on the board?:cry:

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Grace Zhao (Cal or LSJU) or Anna Belousova. AB (1:00 mid) is on the border for a healthy scholly. Emma Cain wouldn't have got much money at UVa or Cal as she got at UCLA. Options are GZ, AB, an international, or a transfer.

Sorry for the late post, UAC. Abbey's never swimming breast legs for Cal when it matters. Baker would only swim breast legs at PACs or NCAAs this season if both Marina and Celina were injured.

Posting a couple of recruiting updates, on behalf of UAC:

• Joy Field (distance swimmer), from Houston, has verballed to Texas A&M. She is a two-time medallist from the recent Junior Pan Pacific Championships. She's also Swimswam's #19 ranked recruit from the c/o 2017. A&M is really on the rise; weren't they 4th last year? They won SECs as well last year, and could soon be an even bigger threat. Lots of A&M swimmers to keep in mind this year: Lisa Bratton, Bethany Galat, Sarah Gibson, Beryl Gastadello (any others ?).
  
• (Not a women's swim team recruit, but) Sean Grieshop has visited UT, UGA, and now ASU. Was the UT football game our men's team's main recruiting weekend alongside the women's team's recruiting weekend?
  

[COLOR="#006699"]
Many thanks, beaverbear - I really like all the extra details & context that you added, helps paint a more comprehensive picture of the recruit and their value to their chosen programme :beer:

Massively frustrating not being able to share any of these updates since this morning...my dodgy online issues are temporarily fixed for now, but may rear their ugly heads again. So just posting a few quick photos here (& elsewhere) before I may possibly get cut off again!

Here be the visuals for Joy Field's joyful announcement (pun intended :p)



[U]A&M[/U] has already received verbals from Taylor Pike (#1 AR, #15 Nat), & Haley Yelle (#7 TX, #45 Nat).
[/COLOR]

wonder if Joy was invited but just didn't come. She surely was needed. Tic Toc..tic toc still waiting for our first women recruit! This is probably a critical year for new assist coach Ian Walsh too. He seems very young and wonder does he have the experience & respect to close the deals. Think Natalie would had been a good choice to be an assist but of course, she was still trying to make the Olympics. Except for the breaststroke would be strong teacher in the other 3 disciplines. No one is more well known that Natalie.

[COLOR="#006699"]
Bailey Kovac (#1 CO, #48 Nat) -> [U]Indiana[/U]

Breaststroker, with some IM ability? Should help fill the breast gap @ IU after Miranda Tucker's transfer to the Michigan Wolverines, at least at the B1G Conference level... goes without saying Lilly is still King in that dept, whether it be the NCAA Championships or the Olympics
[/COLOR]
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Bailey Kovac: Guess wHOOS a HOOSIER ❤️��



https://instagr.am/p/BKzWFq_g_AL


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UPDATE (SwimSwam): https://swimswam.com/indiana-pulls-colorados-bailey-kovac-2017-18/


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Carley Lowe (#2 FL, #50 Nat) -> [U]Louisville[/U]

200 fly + 400 IM?
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UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842736293 said:

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Bailey Kovac (#1 CO, #48 Nat) -> Indiana

Breaststroker, with some IM ability? Should help fill the breast gap @ IU after Miranda Tucker's transfer to the Michigan Wolverines, at least at the B1G Conference level... goes without saying Lilly is still King in that dept, whether it be the NCAA Championships or the Olympics

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The wealthy get wealthier! UI with 3 outstanding breaststrokers in the last 3 years. She would be treated like royalty here.

OBear073akaSMFan;842736267 said:

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wonder if Joy was invited but just didn't come. She surely was needed. Tic Toc..tic toc still waiting for our first women recruit! This is probably a critical year for new assist coach Ian Walsh too. He seems very young and wonder does he have the experience & respect to close the deals. Think Natalie would had been a good choice to be an assist but of course, she was still trying to make the Olympics. Except for the breaststroke would be strong teacher in the other 3 disciplines. No one is more well known that Natalie.

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This is a good point about Coach Walsh; I would imagine that for this year, both coaches would conduct the in-home visits for the top recruits. It's important to note that we haven't yet "lost" any recruits that have come to visit. It's possible that when a recruit commits relatively early (before they've taken all five official visits), it's because they have some sort of conditional offer from a school, and have to decide quickly. (You see this all the time in real estate, to put a non-human spin on this.)

Also, there is some sort of impedance matching between swimmers and schools. Sometimes I wonder if we automatically assume that all Californians should pick Cal, Stanford, or USC (maybe UCLA), but it seems like the new trend is to try a school far from home, and then move back "home" eventually. Also, academic fit is important. For example, Kathleen Baker has mentioned that she wants to go into nursing eventually. Cal has no pre-nursing major, so she'll likely go for public health instead. That's fine, but thank goodness she chose Cal over another school that has a BSN program.

Natalie has said multiple times that she doesn't have the patience to be a coach, and she is now probably more interested in the nutrition/wellness side of things.