Wow, extremely good get. Bears needed another 200 Free swimmer individually and for the 800 Free relay. Ideally can swim the 50 and a 200 Relay leg too in order to maximize Abbey/Amy on relays. If Robin can add that, she's significantly better than any domestic 2017 sprint recruits.
"Berkeley" international reputation comes through again. A German buddy chided his tween daughter for wanting to buy a Cal hoodie at ASUC. The kill shot was nobody in Germany has ever heard of Cal, but everyone knows about Berkeley. She sullenly, but dutifully bought a Berkeley hoodie instead.
Wow, extremely good get. Bears needed another 200 Free swimmer individually and for the 800 Free relay. Ideally can swim the 50 and a 200 Relay leg too in order to maximize Abbey/Amy on relays. If Robin can add that, she's significantly better than any domestic 2017 sprint recruits.
"Berkeley" international reputation comes through again. A German buddy chided his tween daughter for wanting to buy a Cal hoodie at ASUC. The kill shot was nobody in Germany has ever heard of Cal, but everyone knows about Berkeley. She sullenly, but dutifully bought a Berkeley hoodie instead.
And domestically people think Berkeley = hippies, violent protests and radical leftist politics. The UC Berkeley/Cal model was favored by 70% surveyed and would not change recruiting foreign athletes as men's swimming was built on Europeans in the 70's. Birgeneau(Canada) and Jon Wilton (UK) had a hard on for trying this Euro-branding and it's been a disaster. Creating the use of "Cal-Berkeley" more than ever. Trying to change UC Berkeley to "Berkeley" is an absurd branding move; no other school does dual branding, for good reason; it's divisive, inauthentic and confusing.
Wow, extremely good get. Bears needed another 200 Free swimmer individually and for the 800 Free relay. Ideally can swim the 50 and a 200 Relay leg too in order to maximize Abbey/Amy on relays. If Robin can add that, she's significantly better than any domestic 2017 sprint recruits.
[COLOR="#006699"]Very excited TBH for Robin Neumann's potential contribution to the team, esp after the furdettes having snatched up 4 of SwimSwam's Top 10 + another Top 20 recruits in this class - whilst Bears ended up with none. Of course my (cautious) optimism needs to be balanced by realising that Cal's ongoing [U]breast[/U], [U]IM[/U] & [U]distance[/U] issues are still glaringly present, as far as top-end depth is concerned.
My admittedly high expectations for Robin should be tempered with the fact that our Dutch recruit has yet to prove that her ability will translate to collegiate racing in the little pool. Not to mention that Robin's best times so far have been achieved at her nation's trials rather than at the Olympics itself. Nor did she qualify to represent NED at an individual event @ [U]2016 SC Worlds[/U] in Dec...[/COLOR]
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[COLOR="#DAA520"][SIZE=5]Cal Gets Commitments from Robin Neumann, Natalie Tuck[/SIZE][/COLOR]
Cal will be adding 2 more to their roster next season, as Natalie Tuck and Robin Neumann have each given their verbals to join the Bears next season. Tuck, a native of California, will be staying in-state next season, while Neumann makes the move to California from the Netherlands.
[SIZE=3]ROBIN NEUMANN:[/SIZE]
Neumann was a 2016 Rio Olympian, finishing 26th in the 200 meter free and swimming as a part of the Netherlands' 13th place 800 meter free relay. This season, she'll be representing the Netherlands at the 2016 World Short Course Championships in Windsor, Canada. She doesn't have any yards experience yet, but she's shown strong potential in the free races in the long course and short course meters pools. Neumann's commitment should be good for Cal's relays, as they'll be graduating top-notch sprinter Farida Osman at the end of this season.
Tuck is currently living in Palo Alto, where she attends Castilleja High School and trains with Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics. She was a finalist at the 2016 CIF Central Coast state meet, where she finished 7th in the 200 IM with a personal best 2:02.93. Additionally, she competed in the 500 free there, touching 20th in that event.
[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]Divers Im, Thai, and Navas Sign with Cal Women[/SIZE][/COLOR]
[SIZE=3]JACKIE IM[/SIZE]:
Im is a resident of San Diego, California, where she currently attends Torrey Pines High School. She was a 2-time medalist at the 2016 California CIF San Diego Section meet, where she was the section champ in the 1-meter. She then went on to place 5th in the 1-meter at the state meet. This past summer, Im placed 4th among 16-18 year olds in the 1-meter at the 2016 USA Diving National Zone F Meet.
[SIZE=3]BRIANA THAI[/SIZE]:
Thai is from Alhambra, California, where she currently attends Alhambra High School. This past summer, Thai qualified to compete at the USA Diving Nationals. There, she took 2nd on the 3-meter and 11th on platform in the 16-18 age group. She was also the CIF Southern Section champion in the 1-meter last season.
[SIZE=3]KATHLEEN NAVAS[/SIZE]:
Navas is from San Jose, California, where she's currently being home schooled. At the 2016 USA Diving National Zone E meet, Navas was a 2-time medalist among 16-18 year olds. There, she won the 1-meter, finished 3rd on platform, and took 5th in the 3-meter. Additionally, Navas is a 6-time qualifier for USA Diving Nationals. At 2015 nats, she made it to the semifinals of all 3 events for the 14-15 age group.
[COLOR="#006699"] My admittedly high expectations for Robin should be tempered with the fact that our Dutch recruit has yet to prove that her ability will translate to collegiate racing in the little pool. Not to mention that Robin's best times so far have been achieved at her nation's trials rather than at the Olympics itself. Nor did she qualify to represent NED at an individual event @ [U]2016 SC Worlds[/U] in Dec...[/COLOR] -----
She has competed in the little(r) pool, at the 2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships. That was in the 25m pool. Results here:
Supposedly, one should multiply these SCM times by 0.906 to achieve the equivalent SCY time in the NCAA's records. However, I have no idea where this factor was derived; the meters-to-yards conversion factor is 0.9144. Does anyone know?
Thanks, UAC for the converted times. Robin looks like a two event (200/100 Free) scorer and two relay (800/400 Free) swimmer at NCAAs. Her converted 50 Free time (22.75) is below the NCAA B cut (22.99), but not close to a scorer, so she'd compete with Hull and Maddie for a spot on the 200 Free Relay. Converted 500 Free time (4:47.05) is also below the NCAA B cut (4:47.79), but also not close to a scorer.
Robin bumps Amy off the 800 Free Relay, so she can anchor the 200 Medley Relay (Baker, Dannie/mystery recruit/transfer, Noemie/McL, Amy). Abbey's such a stud that nobody on the planet other than Ledecky or Manuel would ever bump her off any of the five relays, but will only swim four. A breast ace would juggle the medley relays (replace Baker or Dannie in the 400 and Dannie in the 200).
Meanwhile, outstanding performances from a number of other NCAA swimmers at the inaugural [U]2016 USA College Challenge[/U] (Day 2 going on right now) forebodes an exceptionally fast & competitive championships this March. Mallory Comerford, Lilly King, Siobahn Haughey, Kirsten Vose, Leah Smith, Zhesi Li...amongst many others. Some really swift times for a November meet!
[COLOR="#006699"]Great swims from some [U]2017-2019 recruits[/U] previously mentioned on these pages, who are repping Team USA in this event that's contested in SCY (their teammates included Cal alums Madison Kennedy, Jacob Pebley, Tom Shields). Esp since they won't likely be fully tapered in Nov, albeit suited and with a bit of rest.
Notable PBs from Eva & Alex, both of whom are surely on Teri's :cheer, and Greg Meehan's :bawl:, shopping lists... [/COLOR] [INDENT]Eva Merrell - [U]200 Back[/U] (#1 - 1:52.20 PB), [U]100 Back[/U] (#3 - 52.26), [U]100 Fly[/U] (#4 - 52.14), [U]400 Free Relay[/U] (48.29 flying split)
[COLOR="#006699"]Great swims from some [U]2017-2019 recruits[/U] previously mentioned on these pages, who are repping Team USA in this event that's contested in SCY (their teammates included Cal alums Madison Kennedy, Jacob Pebley, Tom Shields). Esp since they won't likely be fully tapered in Nov, albeit suited and with a bit of rest.
Notable PBs from Eva & Alex, both of whom are surely on Teri's :cheer, and Greg Meehan's :bawl:, shopping lists... [/COLOR] [INDENT]Eva Merrell - [U]200 Back[/U] (#1 - 1:52.20 PB), [U]100 Back[/U] (#3 - 52.26), [U]100 Fly[/U] (#4 - 52.14), [U]400 Free Relay[/U] (48.29 flying split)
Alex swims for the same Nashville club as 2018 recruit Allie Raab. Raab's a double LSJU legacy (mom swam on the farm). Older Raab sister swims for Georgia.
Not a huge fan of collegeswimming's recruit rankings, but Robin now ranked 25th, behind Pitzer, AV, and Marta. Can see SCY issues, culture, training issues knocking her down a bit, but Robin's the fastest of all four in both the 100 and 200 Free.
Not a huge fan of collegeswimming's recruit rankings, but Robin now ranked 25th, behind Pitzer, AV, and Marta. Can see SCY issues, culture, training issues knocking her down a bit, but Robin's the fastest of all four in both the 100 and 200 Free.
[COLOR="#006699"]Agree, #25 in the class does seem more than a bit undervalued for our incoming Dutch Olympian, our obvious biases here notwithstanding :p
Keeping in mind that LCM to SCY time conversions tend to be optimistic, here's how Robin would currently fare in her 2 best events against her [U]top[/U] domestic counterparts from the class of 2017 recruits, when Neumann's long course metres PBs are converted to short course yards: [/COLOR] [SIZE=3][U]200 Free[/U][/SIZE]
Since CollegeSwimming rates recruits according to the criteria [COLOR="#696969"]"Your recruiting score is based on a weighted average of your best times (up to five) compared to the base time in each event"[/COLOR], is it possible that some of Robin's relatively slow off-event PBs (such as a 1:16.14 in the [U]100m Breast[/U], an event that she'd never be called upon to compete in @ NCAAs!) may have been entered into the calculations therefore pulling her rating down somewhat?
Oh, here's what CS had to say on how they rate [U]Internationals[/U]: [COLOR="#696969"]"Because American college swimming is conducted in yards and clients prefer yard to meter times in the recruiting process, Collegeswimming.com maintains separate base times for short and long course meters. These base times are 1-1.5% faster than their SCY equivalents. These better represent a recruit's impact in college swimming. This also mitigates the difference between international and domestic recruits. (International freshmen are, on average, 18 months older than their American teammates)."[/COLOR]
UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842760993 said:
Notable PBs from Eva & Alex, both of whom are surely on Teri's :cheer, and Greg Meehan's :bawl:, shopping lists...
[INDENT]Brooke Forde - [U]400 IM[/U] (#1 - 4:02.67 ... that time would have placed Brooke 2nd @ 2016 NCAAs, behind Ella!), [U]200 IM[/U] (#4 - 1:57.38), [U]200 Breast[/U] (#5 - 2:09.47), [U]200 Free[/U] (#6 - 1:46.30)[/INDENT]
[COLOR="#006699"]Hmmm, guess I wasn't paying proper attention to a recruit who had already committed to the dark side hehe, but my quoted stats above had grossly undersold Brooke Forde's accomplishments @ the USA College Challenge, so apologies are in order! Reckon I may have also got too excited & focussed too much on Eva's 5 sec drop in the [U]200 Back[/U] (prev PB of 1:57.41 down to 1:52.20)...
Well, every single one of those times are actually new PBs for Brooke! Her prev. bests being: [INDENT][U]400 IM[/U] (4:07.49) [U]200 IM[/U] (1:57.85) [U]200 Breast[/U] (2:11.29) [U]200 Free[/U] (1:46.76)[/INDENT]
Quite remarkable is Forde's drop of almost 5 seconds in the [U]400 IM[/U] (in fact, her 2014 PB = 4:14.61)...
Meehan must be very, very happy with how well his protg-to-be had raced this weekend.
btw, tedbear, not trying to throw you into a panic attack or anything lol, but Brooke may be working on recruiting Eva & Alex (from the USA College Challenge photo a few posts back) as well as Lucie, Anya, Zoe etc. (see below)...or at least developing close friendships via these National Junior trips & outings... :p [/COLOR] -----
SwimSwam had Pitzer as the highest ranked sprinter in the class (#6 overall), but Robin's converted times in the 50/100/200 are all faster. Can see penalizing Robin a bit for previously named factors, but #10 seems like a fairer ranking than #25, Euro Bear or not.
Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou: Super excited to officially be a baby bear and counting down the days until I'm at Cal!! ������
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SantaClara Swim Club: Congratulations to these seven high school seniors who have committed to swim for their respective schools next year! We are proud of you!
A Duke swimmer is transferring to Michigan as a grad student. Chuck Katis wasn't a grad student, but a key member of an NCAA championship team after transferring from Harvard. Tarwater and Mullins are Ivy Leaguers who helped men's hoops as grad students. Iffy, but the right grad student could help both teams (swimming or diving).
Remaining Top 20 recruits who haven't announced a verbal commitment at this point, and the schools they have visited: [INDENT][COLOR="#696969"]Anna Belousova (breast) -'SC?[/COLOR][/INDENT]
Breaststrokers Dannie Dilsaver & Ali Harrison are already officially baby :bear: verbals, so it would be a mite surprising if Anna was to join the fold even if her breast times are currently faster...also consider that her being out-of-state (and an international?) would equate to more scholly funds involved.
Keeping in mind that LCM to SCY time conversions tend to be optimistic, here's how Robin would currently fare in her 2 best events against her [U]top[/U] domestic counterparts from the class of 2017 recruits, when Neumann's long course metres PBs are converted to short course yards:
[COLOR="#006699"]Robin's competing @ the [U]2016 Danish SC Championships[/U] in Esbjerg over the weekend, in preparations for Short Course Worlds in Windsor a fortnight from now.
Busted out 1:58.16 in the [U]200m free[/U] finals (SCM), solid enough of a swim for Robin considering that she wouldn't be in full taper mode yet for this competition. Is actually the 2nd fastest time in the field behind Mie Nielsen's swift 1:57.01, but counts as only an exhibition swim since Neumann isn't a Dane.
SCM => SCY conversions tend to be more accurate than LCM => SCY...in this instance, her time was roughly equivalent to a 1:46.45 in the [U]200y free[/U] event.[/COLOR]
Not sure if this was posted earlier, but a sobering read from the Chronicle of Higher Education (linked below) on women's swimming recruiting, featuring Allison Goldblatt of NCAP in Northern Virginia, and a recent c/o 2017 UCLA commit:
Recruits start looking at colleges as early as eighth grade. (Many serious conversations with coaches happen in the spring of junior year.)
Colleges sometimes pressure recruits to commit to official visits (remember, each recruit only has five) even before offers are made.
Offers are often made on the Sunday following an official visit over the weekend.
Due to the NCAA-imposed limits on athletic scholarships (14 for women, 9.9 for men), coaches will over-promise academic aid while remaining stingy on athletic aid.
Coaches will even pressure recruits for verbal commitments before discussing financial offers.
[COLOR="#006699"] Appreciate your sharing of the highlights above, beaverbear - not a subscriber to the Chronicle of Higher Education, so apparently can't access the article itself...
btw, looks like Robin has been nominated for Sportsgala's "[U]Amsterdam Talent of the Year[/U]" award: [/COLOR] -----
Robin Neumann: Excited to say that I've been nominated for the Amsterdam Talent of the Year award ! Would really like it if you guys could vote for me �� Link is in the bio #sportgala020
Robin: Because I've been nominated as 'Talent of Amsterdam 2016' I'll be taking over the Instagram account of @topsportadam tomorrow! I'll be showing how I'm preparing for the World Champs short course in Canada (6-11 Dec) �������� #Sportgala020
[COLOR="#006699"] Appreciate your sharing of the highlights above, beaverbear - not a subscriber to the Chronicle of Higher Education, so apparently can't access the article itself...
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Apologies; for anyone wanting to read the original article, send me a PM with your e-mail address, and I'll send you a PDF if you promise not to repost for commercial purposes. :-)
(UAC, I will send you a message shortly.)
If you are on a university campus's wired or WIFI network, you most likely have access, but no guarantees.
[COLOR="#006699"] Thank you very much for the pdf, beaverbear - your summary was spot on in your OP, but reading the entirety of that article really helped fleshed things out!
Sobering indeed - now really feel for all these recruits esp with so much potential BS that they have to go thru (along with their families) in the course of the recruiting process... [/COLOR]
[COLOR="#006699"] Don't forget to check out & cheer on several of our 2017 Bears commits who are competing at [U]2016 Winter Nattys[/U], tonight (relays only) thru Sat :cheer [/COLOR]
UrsusArctosCalifornicus;842770360 said:
[COLOR="#696969"]3) [SIZE=3][COLOR="#000080"][U]AT&T Winter Nationals[/U][/COLOR] (30 Nov - 3 Dec 2016)[/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#006699"] Don't forget to check out & cheer on several of our 2017 Bears commits who are competing at [U]2016 Winter Nattys[/U], tonight (relays only) thru Sat :cheer [/COLOR]
I'm watching Nationals on NBC right now. Missy Franklin was just mentioned in the broadcast. Rowdy Gaines, the go-to commentator for USA Swimming, said that "Teri McKeever didn't do such a great job with her." Who is behind these derogatory statements? Coupled with the sentiments in this article linked below to promote her new book, I am not certain that Missy Franklin is the best ambassador for the Cal women's swim team (contrary to popular belief here). Someone, please convince me otherwise.
Who is behind these derogatory statements? Coupled with the sentiments in this article linked below to promote her new book, I am not certain that Missy Franklin is the best ambassador for the Cal women's swim team (contrary to popular belief here). Someone, please convince me otherwise.
[COLOR="#006699"]Reading that article you had linked to did stir up some mixed feelings and even sadness at my end. But will wait to read [COLOR="#DAA520"]Missy[/COLOR]'s book for myself to see what she had actually written in it (and most importantly the surrounding context), before I'll feel qualified enough to comment further on this...
Was away for the weekend (though did try to follow both of our teams out at the [U]Georgia Invite[/U]), so didn't get a chance to check on how our future bears fared at [U]Winter Nationals[/U]. There were several articles from the swimming media that caught my eye in passing, on commit [COLOR="#DAA520"]Sean Grieshop[/COLOR], as well as potential recruits Isabel Ivey, Erica Sullivan, Emma Muzzy & Olivia Bray.
Anyway, back to [COLOR="#DAA520"]Robin[/COLOR] [/COLOR]
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robin__n: Ready to race here in Canada ���� Tomorrow I'll be swimming the 4x100 free and on Friday the 400 free ���� #racemode�� #windsor2016 #WKkb
At a quick glance, following froskie c/o 2017 commits will be present (may have missed some names): [INDENT][COLOR="#DAA520"]Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou Ali Harrison Natalie Tuck[/COLOR][/INDENT]
2018 in-state prospects who had visited the campus on Jr. Day: [INDENT][COLOR="#696969"]Elise Garcia Jessica Epps Mikki Thompson[/COLOR][/INDENT]
Other talented recruits, c/o 2018-2020: [INDENT][COLOR="#696969"]Eva Merrell Zoe Bartel Grace Ariola Regan Smith Sam Shelton[/COLOR][/INDENT]
On the [U]men[/U]'s side: [INDENT][COLOR="#DAA520"]Ryan Hoffer Bryce Mefford Daniel Carr Jarod Hatch[/COLOR][/INDENT]
Also spotted on the psych sheet - [COLOR="#2F4F4F"]Albert Gwo[/COLOR]
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[COLOR="#4B0082"] [SIZE=3]2016 U.S. WINTER JUNIOR CHAMPS [U]EAST[/U][/SIZE] [INDENT]Wed, 7 Dec Sat, 10 Dec @ Ohio State Uni[/INDENT]
Recruits of potential interest (even if a couple of them may be destined for the evil empire :p): [INDENT][COLOR="#696969"]Isabel Ivey Morgan Tankersley Alex Walsh Kate Douglass Ella Nelson Tristen Ulett Kelly Pash Caitlin Brooks Madison Homovich Allie Raab[/COLOR][/INDENT]
2017 commit on the men's team: [INDENT][COLOR="#DAA520"]James Daugherty[/COLOR][/INDENT]
[COLOR="#006699"] Alex Walsh busted out a 1:54.48 meet record to take the [U]200 IM[/U] at the Winter Jr Natty East meet, beating both 2017 furdette commit Brooke Forde, and freestyle prospect Isabel Ivey!
Her prev PB was a time of 1:55.89 from the recent USA College Challenge.
Alex's time from this evening would rank her currently #5 amongst all Division I swimmers (if she was eligible to compete collegiately ), behind only Madisyn Cox, our own Thleen, Kaitlyn Jones & Ella Eastin!
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Wow, 2019 recruit (#2 behind Penny) Kate Douglass took down her 22.21 PB from last month's NY HS States, claiming the [U]50 Free[/U] title in a scintillating 22.04 and tying Simone's 15-16 NAG Record! Isabel Ivey followed her with a 22.44, just off her own 22.43 PB from Florida States back in Nov.
Kate's time ranks #12 in Division I, currently ahead of Amy & Val in this event for the season! [/COLOR] [video=youtube;9plnGfyYl0g][/video]
[COLOR="#006699"] Alex Walsh busted out a 1:54.48 meet record to take the [U]200 IM[/U] at the Winter Jr Natty East meet, beating both 2017 furdette commit Brooke Forde, and freestyle prospect Isabel Ivey!
Her prev PB was a time of 1:55.89 from the recent USA College Challenge.
Alex's time from this evening would rank her currently #5 amongst all Division I swimmers (if she was eligible to compete collegiately ), behind only Madisyn Cox, our own Thleen, Kaitlyn Jones & Ella Eastin!
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Wow, 2019 recruit (#2 behind Penny) Kate Douglass took down her 22.21 PB from last month's NY HS States, claiming the [U]50 Free[/U] title in a scintillating 22.04 and tying Simone's 15-16 NAG Record! Isabel Ivey followed her with a 22.44, just off her own 22.43 PB from Florida States back in Nov.
Kate's time ranks #12 in Division I, currently ahead of Amy & Val in this event for the season!
[/COLOR]
Yes, very impressed with both Kate Douglas and Alex Walsh, who we still don't know which class she belongs. I always though of Kate as primarily a breast stroker, so her 200 IM and 50 Free results were rather eye opening. Also, thought of Alex as primarily a back stroker, so she has proven her versatility too. On the west coast side of things, two of my favorite 2018 recruits, Eva Merrell and Zoe Bartel are doing well. Zoe is showing her versatility with good 200 IM results, and we know Eva can do everything from the 200 Back, to the Fly events, and the sprint Free events. Another, 2019? member to follow is Regan Smith, an extraordinary back stroker, but also very good all around swimmer.
[COLOR="#006699"] [COLOR="#8B4513"][INDENT][SIZE=3]* WEST *[/SIZE][/INDENT][/COLOR]
Of our 2017 Baby Bears, [COLOR="#DAA520"]Ali Harrison[/COLOR] did well to qualify for tonight's [U]100 Breast[/U] A finals (1:01.96), whilst [COLOR="#DAA520"]Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou[/COLOR] made the B final of the [U]100 Back[/U] (54.46). [COLOR="#DAA520"]Natalie Tuck[/COLOR] was shut out of a 2nd swim, however.
Our Junior Day visitors from the c/o 2018 had a decent showing this morning too. Mikki Thompson laid down a 4:15.79 (old PB = 4:19.72!) for the 2nd fastest time in the [U]400 IM[/U]. Jessica Epps made the B final of that event. Elise Garcia swam fast enough to earn an A finals spot in the [U]100 Fly[/U]. Not to neglect 2018 #2 CA recruit Sam Shelton, who will lead the pack in the [U]200 Free[/U] in the evening.
The headliner was 2020 phenom Regan Smith, again, who earned the top seed in both the [U]100 Back[/U] (51.70 = 2016 NCAA A final scorer!), and the [U]100 Fly[/U] (52.22, 2016 NCAA B finalist). Eva Merrell & Zoe Bartel are also poised for standout performances in tonight's session. You can read all about them here:
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[COLOR="#000080"][SIZE=5]2016 U.S. Winter Jr Champs (West): Regan Smith Drops 51.7 100 Back in Day 3 Prelims[/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#8B4513"][INDENT][SIZE=3]* EAST *[/SIZE][/INDENT][/COLOR]
Not to be outdone by Regan Smith's eye-catching outing at the other meet, Alex Walsh (class of 2019? 2020?) dazzled once again by breaking the minute barrier in the [U]100 Breast[/U]! Our backstroke starlet (the #2 seed in the [U]100 Back[/U] tonight), having already busted out a meet record in the [U]200 IM[/U] last night in a time that would have placed her 4th @ 2016 NCAAs, wasn't content to rest on her laurels this morning, Alex's 59.77 breast a substantial upgrade over her prev 1:01.25 PB from Dec 2015!
Other notable performances by UNCOMMITTED recruits from this morning's session include Isabel Ivey (Izzy is the top seed in the [U]200 Free[/U] but may well have a fight on her hands with Morgan Tankersley in finals, and 2nd in the [U]100 Fly[/U] with a 53.52 PB), and Kelly Pash who achieved a 1:47.29 PB in the [U]200 Free[/U] in addition to a 4:14.36 PB in the [U]400 IM[/U] (prev best = 4:18.30), both these times good enough for the No. 5 seed in the A finals.
SwimSwam's write-up:
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[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]2016 U.S. Winter Jr Champs (East): Whitley Drops 3:48 400 IM in Day 3 Prelims[/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#006699"] Yet another Claire to watch out for down the road: [/COLOR] [INDENT]KBDSWIM (Swimswam comment) : "While Regan Smith is out west chasing Alex Walsh’s 13-14 100 back NAG, Claire Curzan of Raleigh Swimming Association will be chasing Smith’s 11-12 100 fly NAG. Curzan’s only 12 years old and put up a 55.12 in prelims earlier today, enough to earn a spot in the C final.
Smith’s NAG is a 54.73. According to the all-time top 100 rankings, Curzan skyrockets from 46th coming into the day all the way to 2nd, passing names such as Ella Eastin, Whitney Phelps, Dana Vollmer, and Cassidy Bayer along the way. Will be interesting to see how Curzan performs tonight. And according to USA swimming, she was 11 at meets last March as well, meaning this may not be the last chance she has at chasing this NAG."[/INDENT]
[COLOR="#006699"] [COLOR="#8B4513"][INDENT][SIZE=3]* EAST *[/SIZE][/INDENT][/COLOR] Shortly after taking her [U]100 Fly[/U] lifetime best of 53.42 (from prelims) down to 52.61 to win the championship final this evening, Isabel Ivey completed her tough double with a 1:43.64 PB/meet record in the [U]200 Free[/U]. That time is a mere 0.01s off the 2017 NCAA 'A' standard, and would have scored double-digit A final points at last year's National Championship.
Izzy may not be blessed with the towering height of some of her competitors or the most accomplished underwaters, but she seems to more than make up for that with a great feel for the water, back end speed, and a set of powerful flippers (feet ). Morgan Tankersley came in 2nd with her 1:44.39, with furdette-to-be Brooke Forde, who had earlier easily won the [U]400 IM[/U], behind her at 1:45.68.
Also:
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[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]Claire Curzan Downs Regan Smith's 11-12 NAG With 54.57 100 Fly[/SIZE][/COLOR]
Crikey, Alex Walsh elevates her [U]100 breaststroke[/U] to yet another level just now - new 58.80 PB!!!
Takes down 2017 Trojan commit Maggie Aroesty's 58.98 meet record ... would have scored in A finals of 2016 NCAAs ... good for a 2017 NCAA 'A' cut ... ranked in the Top 5 out of all Division I swimmers at this point in the season.
Perhaps experiencing a bit of fatigue after the quick turnaround from her double, Alex didn't deliver a new PB (currently a 51.62 from last year) in the [U]100 Back[/U], but still wins the A final in 52:32.
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Going out for the evening so won't be updating this post, but lots of studly swims going on @ both the East & West meets (watch for Regan Smith...and our own Ryan Hoffer on the men's side!), which you can follow at [U]USA Swimming[/U]'s live stream here: http://www.usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=2146&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en
Crikey, Alex Walsh elevates her [U]100 breaststroke[/U] to yet another level just now - new 58.80 PB!!!
Takes down 2017 Trojan commit Maggie Aroesty's 58.98 meet record ... would have scored in A finals of 2016 NCAAs ... good for a 2017 NCAA 'A' cut ... ranked in the Top 5 out of all Division I swimmers at this point in the season.
Perhaps experiencing a bit of fatigue after the quick turnaround from her double, Alex didn't deliver a new PB (currently a 51.62 from last year) in the [U]100 Back[/U], but still wins the A final in 52:32. [/COLOR]
Alex Walsh is amazing! Breast, Back, IM, Free, she can do it all!
[COLOR="#006699"] [COLOR="#8B4513"][INDENT][SIZE=3]* EAST *[/SIZE][/INDENT][/COLOR] Shortly after taking her [U]100 Fly[/U] lifetime best of 53.42 (from prelims) down to 52.61 to win the championship final this evening, Isabel Ivey completed her tough double with a 1:43.64 PB/meet record in the [U]200 Free[/U]. That time is a mere 0.01s off the 2017 NCAA 'A' standard, and would have scored double-digit A final points at last year's National Championship.
Izzy may not be blessed with the towering height of some of her competitors or the most accomplished underwaters, but she seems to more than make up for that with a great feel for the water, back end speed, and a set of powerful flippers (feet ). Morgan Tankersley came in 2nd with her 1:44.39, with furdette-to-be Brooke Forde, who had earlier easily won the [U]400 IM[/U], behind her at 1:45.68.
Also:
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[COLOR="#000066"][SIZE=5]Claire Curzan Downs Regan Smith’s 11-12 NAG With 54.57 100 Fly[/SIZE][/COLOR]
Crikey, Alex Walsh elevates her [U]100 breaststroke[/U] to yet another level just now - new 58.80 PB!!!
Takes down 2017 Trojan commit Maggie Aroesty's 58.98 meet record ... would have scored in A finals of 2016 NCAAs ... good for a 2017 NCAA 'A' cut ... ranked in the Top 5 out of all Division I swimmers at this point in the season.
Perhaps experiencing a bit of fatigue after the quick turnaround from her double, Alex didn't deliver a new PB (currently a 51.62 from last year) in the [U]100 Back[/U], but still wins the A final in 52:32.
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Going out for the evening so won't be updating this post, but lots of studly swims going on @ both the East & West meets (watch for Regan Smith...and our own Ryan Hoffer on the men's side!), which you can follow at [U]USA Swimming[/U]'s live stream here: http://www.usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=2146&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en
Regan Smith wins both the 100 Fly and 100 Back, and she is breaking records doing it. She is only a high school freshman, so it will be a long time before she has to choose a school. Possible number Cal recruit for next year, Eva Merrell came in second in the 100 Fly and sixth in the 100 Back. Eva is better in the 200 Back. Dream breast stroke recruit, Zoe Bartel won the 100 Breast, a full second and a half in front of runner up, furdie commit Grace Zhao. Cal Junior Day attendee Mikki Thompson finished 8th in the 400 IM, but regressed from her prelim times. Going in the opposite direction, Jessica Epps, dropped over four seconds, to finish second in the B final. Elise Garcia finished seventh in the 100 Fly. Another 2018 recruit that should be a high priority is Samantha Shelton of Mission Viejo. She finished first in the 200 Free.
[COLOR="#006699"]Bit of wishful thinking, perhaps, but I'm cheering on Ryan below (& Daniel - see his comment) to help recruit Nat Jr Teammates, Zoe, Eva & Grace, to commit here next year lol[/COLOR]
Eva Merrell: just a lil reunion with my favs ���� ❤️ #winterjrs
[INDENT][COLOR="#696969"]Zoe Bartel, [COLOR="#DAA520"]Ryan Hoffer[/COLOR], Eva Merrell, Grace Ariola[/COLOR][/INDENT]
[COLOR="#DAA520"]Daniel Carr[/COLOR]: Great meet Eva ��
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[COLOR="#006699"]...who (Zoe & Eva) in turn will then work on fellow Jr teamers Regan & Lucie to join the :bear: family :p[/COLOR]
Regan Smith: If you know, you know #owleyes
[INDENT][COLOR="#696969"]Joy Field, Regan Smith, Zoe Bartel, Eva Merrell, Lucie Nordmann[/COLOR][/INDENT]
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[COLOR="#006699"]Would also love to welcome this pair of Nadadores come 2018...Katie, pls recruit your former clubmates! [/COLOR]
[COLOR="#003366"][SIZE=5]Moving On Up: The Not-So-Junior Level Swims at Junior Nationals[/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#696969"]Alex Walsh. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick[/COLOR]
By David Rieder.
While following the two Junior National meets being held concurrently this weekend in Columbus, Ohio, and College Station, Texas, you might have noticed that some of the times seemed especially quick.
Well, they were. Ten different athletes posted times that would have placed in the championship finals at last year’s NCAA championships.
Remember that these are high schoolers, and only two of the ten are seniors. Three are 15 years old or younger.
[SIZE=3]Hypothetical Placement of Junior Nationals Swimmers at 2016 NCAA Championships[/SIZE][COLOR="#696969"][/COLOR]
[INDENT][U]Name | Event | Time | Place[/U] [COLOR="#808080"]Brooke Forde[/COLOR] | Women's 400 IM | 4:02.51 | 2 Alex Walsh | Women's 200 IM | 1:54.48 | 4 [COLOR="#808080"]Brooke Forde[/COLOR] | Women's 200 IM | 1:55.55 | 5 Zoe Bartel | Women's 200 Breast | 2:07.73 | 6 Gabrielle Kopinsky | Women's 500 Free | 4:37.94 | 6 Regan Smith | Women's 100 Back | 51.09 | 6 Isabel Ivey | Women's 200 Free | 1:43.64 | 7 Morgan Tankersley | Women's 500 Free | 4:38.13 | 7 Alex Walsh | Women's 100 Breast | 58.80 | 7 Isabel Ivey | Women's 100 Free | 47.88 | 7 (prelims) Zoe Bartel | Women's 100 Breast | 59.03 | 8 Regan Smith | Women's 200 Back | 1:51.79 | 8 (prelims) Kate Douglass | Women's 50 Free | 22.04 | tie-8 (prelims) [/INDENT]
Special mention as well to Grace Ariola (22.20 in the women’s 50 free), Eva Merrell (22.26 in the women’s 50 free, 51.93 in the 100 fly), [COLOR="#808080"]Grace Zhao[/COLOR] (2:09.23 in the women’s 200 breast) and Ruby Martin (1:54.74 in the women’s 200 fly), all of whom almost made the cut as well.
One of Whitley’s fellow high school juniors got some love last week when joined some older faces a cup of coffee in Atlanta last week. At Winter Nationals, Isabel Ivey finished a close second to Olympic gold medalist Melanie Margalis in the 200 free and then won her first National title in the 100 free.
Next up on Ivey’s busy travel schedule was a trip to Columbus for Junior Nationals, and while there she put on a show. Friday night, she won the 100 fly in 52.61 and then minutes later took first in the 200 free in 1:43.61. A day later, she dominated the 100 free final, finishing in 47.88.
For some comparison, her best times entering last week stood at 1:46.88 in the 200 free and 48.44 in the 100 free, both from Junior Nationals last year in Atlanta, when a giddy 15-year-old Ivey won her first Junior National title.
[video=youtube;HKg2axZfSlA][/video]
Yes, that was a long time ago.
But perhaps no one left the kind of impression this weekend that Alex Walsh did. A year ago at Juniors, it was her backstroke races (51.62/1:52.07) that got the rest of the country’s attention, but right now, it’s hard to even declare backstroke her best stroke.
In fact, she actually added times in both backstroke events this past weekend (52.32/1:53.70) and still had a remarkable meet. She won the 200 IM in 1:54.48, a two-second drop from last year, and she also took first in the 100 breast in 58.80, dropping almost two-and-a-half seconds from her entry time of 1:01.25.
The 100 breast time was a new 15-16 NAG record, and her 200 IM ranks Walsh fourth all-time for 15-16 girls, trailing the not-too-shabby trio of Dagny Knutson, Meghan Small and Elizabeth Pelton. Walsh, of course, still has another year in that age group.
And then there’s the one 14-year-old on the list: Regan Smith. In College Station, Smith lowered Walsh’s 13-14 NAG record in the 100 back with an impressive time of 51.09, and she swam a 1:51.79 in the 200 back, a time only one woman her age has bettered: Missy Franklin.
If for some reason you’ve skipped the last 20 or so paragraphs, here’s the gist: the all-time age group lists took a beating this weekend.
Still, while all these NAG records and Junior National titles are great, they are merely precursors. Michael Phelps was not sitting at an interview podium in Brazil in August reminiscing about how many Junior National titles he won (surprisingly, not a lot) or NAG records he set (quite a few).
But to say that results from Junior Nationals mean nothing would be simply foolish. Need proof? Look no further than three years back, to the 2013 Winter Junior Nationals in Greensboro.
That was the meet where Dressel became the first high schooler to swim under 19 in the 50 free, and Ella Eastin, Lilly King, Townley Haas and Abbey Weitzeil all won individual events.
Chances are, you know exactly who those swimmers are now. For Hoffer, Whitley, Walsh, Smith and the others, their time is coming.
Is it to early to start a [U]2018 recruiting thread[/U] for Durden's men?
[COLOR="#006699"]tedbear (or anyone who wants to do so ) - feel like creating a [U]2018 recruits[/U] thread for the women?
Seeing that we've already been discussing at some length about a number of highly-touted 2018-2020 prospects on this 2017 thread! (a problem that was common to the original 2015 & 2016 recruits topics as well, I seem to recall lol) [/COLOR]
[COLOR="#0066cc"][SIZE=5]The Top 8 Women in Each Event from Combined Winter Juniors[/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="#696969"]Isabel Ivey. Archive Photo via Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com[/COLOR]
The 2016 U.S. Winter Junior Championships for the East and West are now complete. We've gone through the results of each meet and put together lists of the top 8 swimmers in each event from the 2 meets combined. We've also listed the top 8 teams in each of the relays. This article is for the women's events only. For a look at the top 8 in each of the men's races, click [URL="https://swimswam.com/top-8-men-event-combined-winter-juniors/"][COLOR="#8B4513"]here[/COLOR][/URL].
There were several individual women's National Age Group Records broken at the meets, including the 11-12 100 fly NAG by Claire Curzan, 15-16 100 breast NAG by Alex Walsh, 15-16 200 breast NAG by Zoe Bartel, and Regan Smith's 13-14 NAGs in the 100 fly and 100 back. Additionally, Kate Douglass tied Simone Manuel's 15-16 NAG in the 50 free.
Riptide Swim Team's Smith and Nashville Aquatic Club's Walsh are on the short list of swimmers who ranked #1 in multiple events in the combined results. Gator Swim Club's Isabel Ivey, who ranks #1 in the 100 free and 200 free, joins them on that list.
**(NOTE: We used finals times for each swimmer when compiling the top 8)**
