bearz012 said:
Thought I'd do a quick recap of all the recruits and their progressions (based on rankings on CS) All current rankings are as of March 30, 2018.
CAL
- Chloe Clark: 1/24/18 - #20 Nat, #4 CA --> #24 Nat, #4 CA
- Isabel Ivey: 1/28/18 - #1 Nat, #1 FL --> #1 Nat, #1 FL
VIRGINIA
- Maddie Donohoe: 2/19/18 - #10 Nat, #1 VA --> #11 Nat, #1 VA
- Ella Nelson: 2/24/18 - #13 Nat, #1 TN --> #13 Nat, #1 TN
- Kate Douglass: 2/27/18 - #4 Nat, #1 NY --> #4 Nat, #1 NY
- Lexi Cuomo: 2/28/18 - #36 Nat, #4 VA --> #34 Nat, #4 VA
- Katie Cronin: 3/16/18 - #126 Nat, #13 FL --> #125 Nat, #11 FL
- Caroline Kulp: 3/30/18 - #28 Nat, #2 VA --> #29 Nat, #2 VA
TEXAS
- Mary Smutny: 2/14/18 - #8 Nat, #2 FL --> #9 Nat, #2 FL
- Miranda Heckman: 3/4/18 - #19 Nat, #3 CA --> #19 Nat, #3 CA
- Cora Dupre: 3/4/18 - #27 Nat, #1 OH --> #31 Nat, #1 OH
- Kelly Pash: 3/5/18 - #7 Nat, #1 IN --> #6 Nat, #1 IN
KENTUCKY
- Caitlin Brooks: 1/16/18 - #12 Nat, #3 FL --> #12 Nat, #3 FL
- Kaitlynn Wheeler: 2/8/18 - #40 Nat, #1 IL --> #44 Nat, #1 IL
- Lauren Poole: 3/6/18 - #58 Nat, #1 MD --> #61 Nat, #1 MD
- Tori McCullough: 4/7/18 - #77 Nat, #2 MD --> #77 Nat, #2 MD
FLORIDA
- Talia Bates: 12/16/17 - #29 Nat, #5 FL --> #27 Nat, #5 FL
- Kathleen Golding: 12/16/17 - #27 Nat, #4 FL --> #26 Nat, #4 FL
- Allie Piccirillo: 4/7/18 - #58 Nat, #2 KY --> #59 Nat, #2 KY
NC STATE
- Maddy Flickinger: 3/18/18 - #80 Nat, #4 NC --> #82 Nat, #4 NC
- Heather MacCausland: 3/24/18 - #40 Nat, #2 PA --> #39 Nat, #2 PA
- Katie Mack: 3/25/18 - #31 Nat, #3 VA --> #33 Nat, #3 VA
INDIANA
- Emily Weiss: 7/1/17--> #13 Nat, #1 IN --> #16 Nat, #2 IN
- Ashley Turak: 3/26/18 - #42 Nat, #1 MI --> #43 Nat, #1 MI
ARIZONA STATE
- Riley Lexvold: 2/17/18 - #45 Nat, #6 CA --> #53 Nat, #8 CA
- Claire Nguyen: 2/23/18 - #86 Nat, #5 VA --> #92 Nat, #5 VA
MISSOURI
- Amy Feddersen: 4/5/18 --> #55 Nat, #2 IA --> #56 Nat, #2 IA
NOTRE DAME
- Coleen Gillilan: 3/6/18 - #5 Nat, #1 CO --> #4 Nat, #1 CO
DUKE
- Olwyn Bartis: 3/24/18 - #33 Nat, #2 NC --> #34 Nat, #2 NC
UNC
- Amy Dragelin: 2/25/18 - #83 Nat, #5 NC --> #83 Nat, #5 NC
Thought it might be interesting to compare the top 2019 verbals by school at this point, SwimSwam's metrics v. CollegeSwimming's (I'd tend to put more faith in SwimSwam's in spite of, or perhaps because of, their relative subjectivity).
@bearz012 - do feel very welcome to update your excellent breakdown with a combined SS-CS listing down the road, if you deem it useful or relevant...cheers!
VIRGINIA- #2 Kate Douglass (NY)
- #8 Ella Nelson (TN)
- #11 Maddie Donohoe (VA)
- #19 Lexi Cuomo (VA)
CAL- #1
Isabel Ivey (FL)
- #12
Chloe Clark (CA)
- #
HM Rachel Klinker (KY)
TEXAS- #10 Kelly Pash (IN)
- #16 Mary Smutny (FL)
- #17 Miranda Heckman (CA)
INDIANA- #4 Emily Weiss (IN)
NOTRE DAME- #5 Coleen Gillilan (CO)
GEORGIA- #6 Zoie Hartman (CA)
KENTUCKY- #9 Caitlin Brooks (FL)
FLORIDA- #13 Talia Bates (FL)
MICHIGAN- #18 Kaitlynn Sims (TX)
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Some SwimSwam reader comments on our 2019 Baby Bears (& prospects
):
BOBO GIGI: "I think that
Isabel Ivey has everything in store to make the 2020 olympic team, at least in the 4X200 free relay. Her 200 IM could become huge too. Katharine Berkoff is part of that great generation of US junior backstrokers with Regan Smith, Alex Walsh, Isabelle Stadden or Phoebe Bacon."
HSWIMMER: "
Ivey reminds me of Melanie Margalis with her range of events."
RACHEL: "While
Ivey has stalled in some of her major events especially her long course events, she has had some great breakthroughs is some of her other events, (200 IM, 100 breast)"
JIMBO: "Kate Douglass is a relay godsend.
Ivey is the individual/8 free relay godsend"
FOREIGN EMBASSY: "Would love to see Berkoff continue the backstroke legacy at Cal"
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Here are the currently
uncommitted Top 20 recruits from that SS article - all of these names have already been referenced on these pages (or thru PM) as potential targets or prospects...
3.
Katharine Berkoff Missoula Aquatic Club Hellgate High School Missoula, MT
Best Times: 100 back 51.93, 200 back 1:51.40, 200 free 1:46.81, 200 IM 1:59.71, 100 free 49.18, 50 free 22.99, 100 fly 54.97We noted that this is a relatively weak backstroke class, but Berkoff is clearly the exception. She's a faster two-distance backstroker than Beata Nelson (51.6/1:55.6) or Kathleen Baker (51.5/1:54.3) were as high schoolers, and her value skyrockets because there is maybe only one other comparable backstroker in the entire class. Berkoff is the daughter of two-time Olympic gold medalist David Berkoff, but she's going to be getting offers based on a lot more than her last name. Berkoff is also on a rapid improvement curve, dropping from 53.8 to 51.9 in the 100 back and 1:55.7 to 1:51.4 in the 200 back between December 2016 and now.
7.
Alexandra Crisera Beach Cities Swimming Mira Costa High School Manhattan Beach, CA
Best Times: 100 free 48.87, 50 free 22.43, 200 free 1:47.09, 100 back 53.50, 200 back 1:54.44, 200 IM 2:00.91Crisera doesn't yet have an NCAA scoring time, but she's got big talent in a wide range of events. Her 50 through 200 free make her a key relay pickup; in fact, her 50 and 100 free rival some of the best in the class. Crisera has also improved her 200 back a lot over her junior year, and her event to watch might be the 200 IM, where she improved from 2:04.0 to 2:00.9 over the year 2017.
14.
Caroline Cooper Highlander Aquatic Club Winter Park High School Orlando, FL
Best Times: 200 fly 1:56.03, 100 fly 53.99Cooper is the best 200 flyer in the class, but doesn't have a lot of complementary speed in other events. Her 200 is only seven tenths out of NCAA scoring range, though, and she's on a rocketship of improvement: Her 200 dropped from 2:01.8 in 2016 to 1:58.9 in 2017 to 1:56.0 already in 2018, and she's dropped more than a second in her 100 at the same time. That insane improvement curve bumps her up a bit in our rankings, especially when we've seen diamond-in-the-rough flyers like Kelsi Worrell and Sarah Gibson excel in recent years.
15.
Ashley McCauley Marlins of Raleigh Leesville Road High School Raleigh, NC
Best Times: 200 breast 2:09.54, 100 breast 1:01.01, 200 IM 2:00.46, 400 IM 4:16.11McCauley is a very good breaststroker who gets crowded out in our field of great breaststrokers. She dropped almost two seconds in her 200 between Winter Juniors in 2016 and 2017. She's also an outstanding long course swimmer, dropping from 2:32 to 2:29 in the 200 last summer.
20.
Ayla Spitz Irvine Novaquatics Newport Harbor High School Newport Beach, CA
Best Times: 200 IM 1:58.68, 100 back 53.46, 200 back 1:57.27, 200 free 1:46.41, 100 free 49.29Spitz finds herself on this list after a breakout winter of 2017. She had plateaued in her 200 IM since 2015, but blasted from a 2:03 to a 1:58 in December. In that same month, she cut from a 2:01 to a 1:57 in the 200 back, and she's also nearly dropped two seconds off her 200 free over the last year. Spitz, too, still has her high school championship season to come this spring.
HONORABLE MENTIONS - Sarah Dimeco (Issaquah Swim Team / Skyline High School / Sammamish, WA) an excellent mile (16:19) and a good 200/500 free (1:48/4:44), Dimeco is hurt by the NCAA's emphasis on sprinters. Her 200 fly and 400 IM are also very good, and it wouldn't be surprising to see her become the unranked star of this class.
- Gabby Dang (Wave Aquatics / North Creek High School / Bothell, WA) one of the class's best butterflyers at 52.7, plus 22.9/49.8 speed in free. A swimmer built for NCAA impact.
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Last but not least, some info & stats for that other very talented 2019 recruit (besides
Izzie) who I had championed from Day 1 (alright, maybe only a couple of years ago lol), "hoo" drank the UVa koolaid & bought into the DeSorbo Effect instead:
2.
Kate Douglass Chelsea Piers Aquatic Club Pelham Memorial High School Pelham, NY
**Verbally Committed to Virginia**Best Times: 50 free 22.04, 100 free 48.54, 100 breast 1:00.26, 200 breast 2:10.59, 200 IM 1:58.12, 100 fly 53.97, 400 IM 4:16.94, 100 back 55.72, 200 free 1:48.10 Douglass is the best 50 freestyler we've ranked since Abbey Weitzeil. She's already in line to have immense NCAA impact, both individually and on relays. She's also hyper-versatile, and it wouldn't be surprising to see her develop in free, breast or fly. The only downside here is that Douglass hasn't had a great junior year, plateauing so far in her best events. On the other hand, her fly has improved this year and she had a great long course season in 2017, so she might be on the cusp of another long course breakout.
Kate Douglass is the fastest 50 freestyler we've ranked since the historic Class of 2015 (Ledecky/Weitzeil/Baker/McLaughlin/Bilquist/Eastin/King) and sits at the exact same time that Class of 2014 star Simone Manuel was when we ranked her #1 back in the summer of '13.
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