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Recent comments on SwimSwam's Top 20 recruits for 2019 article indicate that, unfortunately for Bears, Regan's homeschooling may not present the admissions obstacle to farming that we had all hoped for, since exceptions to the Furd's strict academics policies (incl. re homeschooling & online classes) are apparently dispensed in the cases of extraordinarily talented student-athletes, which Smith certainly more than qualifies for as a Budapest 2017 finalist for Team USA:
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Well, not the end of the world if Regan doesn't end up sporting the blue & gold, as Katharine Berkoff is presently still in play (fingers crossed), with Alex Walsh waiting in the wings...
Come to think of it, the HS class of 2020 is pretty loaded with a wealth of backstroke talent (flyers in the class aren't too shabby either lol), so there will be options aplenty for Backstroke U. in the wake of Thleen, Billy, Keeks, Coco & Aislinn's graduations (not to mention Sophie's potential development by then).
Here are the current personal bests of several backstroke prospects for 2020 (may have missed some other frontrunners)...note than several of these elites own really swift records in a variety of events in addition to their killer backstrokes!
Have included 2019's KB3 for comparison here, as #3 Katharine's the best backstroker in her class, with a particularly impressive 200 Back time...and more importantly, a wicked progression curve:
50 Back (200 Medley Relay value)
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24.17 - #1 Alex Walsh (Dec 06, 2017)
24.22 - #4 Olivia Bray (Mar 24, 2017)
24.33 - #6 Phoebe Bacon (Mar 17, 2018)
24.43 - #5 Isabelle Stadden (Mar 17, 2018)
24.51 - Katharine Berkoff (Mar 16, 2018)
24.62 - #2 Regan Smith (Mar 09, 2017)
24.62 - ***Keaton Blovad (Dec 02, 2017)
24.91 - ***Aislinn Light (Feb 21, 2018)
25.60 - ***Courtney Mykkanen (May 12, 2016)
100 Back (2018 NCAA finals qualifying time = 52.04)
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50.84 - #2 Regan Smith (Mar 24, 2018)
51.33 - #5 Isabelle Stadden (Mar 16, 2018)
51.45 - #1 Alex Walsh (Dec 08, 2017)
51.60 - #6 Phoebe Bacon (Mar 16, 2018)
51.83 - ***Keaton Blovad (Feb 23, 2018)
51.93 - Katharine Berkoff (Mar 17, 2018)
52.02 - #4 Olivia Bray (Mar 24, 2017)
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53.59 - ***Aislinn Light (Feb 23, 2018)
53.95 - ***Courtney Mykkanen (May 09, 2013)
200 Back (2018 NCAA finals qualifying time = 1:52.18)
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1:48.30 - #2 Regan Smith (Mar 22, 2018)
1:51.40 - Katharine Berkoff (Mar 15, 2018)
1:51.42 - #1 Alex Walsh (Dec 09, 2017)
1:52.04 - #5 Isabelle Stadden (Mar 14, 2018)
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1:52.84 - #4 Phoebe Bacon (Mar 14, 2018)
1:53.31 - ***Keaton Blovad (Feb 24, 2018)
1:54.36 - ***Courtney Mykkanen (Feb 21, 2018)
1:56.27 - ***Aislinn Light (Feb 24, 2018)
What I find quite astonishing is that EVERY SINGLE 2020 recruit above would have scored in the backstroke events @ 2018 NCAAs, with times that were achieved in their HS Sophomore year or earlier!!! (lone exceptions being Phoebe & Olivia in the 200 Back)
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Cassidy & Alex with the team:
https://instagr.am/p/BiH8d0aBe_Q
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Butterfly camp: Cassidy with Katie McL
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UrsusArctosCalifornicus said:Ooooh would be eva soo bear-y luvly if both Alex Walsh & Regan Smith were to join 2019 commits Izzy, Chloe & Rachel on the sidelines @ Memorial Stadium this coming Sept on an official visit!!! KB3 aka Katharine Berkoff would be very welcome too...swimmer19 said:
Also, is Regan -> Furd automatically assumed at this point, or are we purely basing it off of social media? Since the NCAA came out with new recruiting rules earlier this week, what are the chances of her being on Cal campus as early as this fall?
Furdettes may be feverishly working overtime to convert Regan to the Dark Side (Zoe, Lucie, Anya, Amalie, DRoy & JLeVant, but I'm clinging to my personal belief/hopes that she may yet see the light haha.
Recent comments on SwimSwam's Top 20 recruits for 2019 article indicate that, unfortunately for Bears, Regan's homeschooling may not present the admissions obstacle to farming that we had all hoped for, since exceptions to the Furd's strict academics policies (incl. re homeschooling & online classes) are apparently dispensed in the cases of extraordinarily talented student-athletes, which Smith certainly more than qualifies for as a Budapest 2017 finalist for Team USA:
BRADEN KEITH said:Someone surely knows the details better than me, but every year, Stanford athletics gets a certain number of "trump cards" to push through admissions (though, I think even in these cases, there's an expectation that they won't reach too far for students who will flunk out anyway). That's across all sports, not just swimming, seem to remember it being 5 or 6. World Championship team member would seem to fall into that territory, if you ask me.SWIMMERTX said:
Regan's taking online classes, and from what I've heard, homeschooled student-athletes are traditionally frowned upon, which was the case with Eva Merrell and Kathleen Baker in the years past. Unless Meehan can pull some strings with the AO (which hasn't seen any success), doubt Regan's a tree for the time being
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- UPDATE => seems there's a potential ray of sunshine here:
SWIMCOACHDAD said:
I was talking to a Stanford assistant at a meet a year or so ago and was told Stanford admin was holding athletic recruits more closely to "regular" Stanford admissions standards. It sounded like a policy change toward being more strict about the academic standing of incoming athletes, the way it was said.
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Well, not the end of the world if Regan doesn't end up sporting the blue & gold, as Katharine Berkoff is presently still in play (fingers crossed), with Alex Walsh waiting in the wings...
Come to think of it, the HS class of 2020 is pretty loaded with a wealth of backstroke talent (flyers in the class aren't too shabby either lol), so there will be options aplenty for Backstroke U. in the wake of Thleen, Billy, Keeks, Coco & Aislinn's graduations (not to mention Sophie's potential development by then).
Here are the current personal bests of several backstroke prospects for 2020 (may have missed some other frontrunners)...note than several of these elites own really swift records in a variety of events in addition to their killer backstrokes!
Have included 2019's KB3 for comparison here, as #3 Katharine's the best backstroker in her class, with a particularly impressive 200 Back time...and more importantly, a wicked progression curve:
- *** = Current Bear graduating when the 2020 recruits class comes in...
50 Back (200 Medley Relay value)
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24.17 - #1 Alex Walsh (Dec 06, 2017)
24.22 - #4 Olivia Bray (Mar 24, 2017)
24.33 - #6 Phoebe Bacon (Mar 17, 2018)
24.43 - #5 Isabelle Stadden (Mar 17, 2018)
24.51 - Katharine Berkoff (Mar 16, 2018)
24.62 - #2 Regan Smith (Mar 09, 2017)
24.62 - ***Keaton Blovad (Dec 02, 2017)
24.91 - ***Aislinn Light (Feb 21, 2018)
25.60 - ***Courtney Mykkanen (May 12, 2016)
100 Back (2018 NCAA finals qualifying time = 52.04)
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50.84 - #2 Regan Smith (Mar 24, 2018)
51.33 - #5 Isabelle Stadden (Mar 16, 2018)
51.45 - #1 Alex Walsh (Dec 08, 2017)
51.60 - #6 Phoebe Bacon (Mar 16, 2018)
51.83 - ***Keaton Blovad (Feb 23, 2018)
51.93 - Katharine Berkoff (Mar 17, 2018)
52.02 - #4 Olivia Bray (Mar 24, 2017)
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53.59 - ***Aislinn Light (Feb 23, 2018)
53.95 - ***Courtney Mykkanen (May 09, 2013)
200 Back (2018 NCAA finals qualifying time = 1:52.18)
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1:48.30 - #2 Regan Smith (Mar 22, 2018)
1:51.40 - Katharine Berkoff (Mar 15, 2018)
1:51.42 - #1 Alex Walsh (Dec 09, 2017)
1:52.04 - #5 Isabelle Stadden (Mar 14, 2018)
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1:52.84 - #4 Phoebe Bacon (Mar 14, 2018)
1:53.31 - ***Keaton Blovad (Feb 24, 2018)
1:54.36 - ***Courtney Mykkanen (Feb 21, 2018)
1:56.27 - ***Aislinn Light (Feb 24, 2018)
What I find quite astonishing is that EVERY SINGLE 2020 recruit above would have scored in the backstroke events @ 2018 NCAAs, with times that were achieved in their HS Sophomore year or earlier!!! (lone exceptions being Phoebe & Olivia in the 200 Back)
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Cassidy & Alex with the team:
https://instagr.am/p/BiH8d0aBe_Q
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Butterfly camp: Cassidy with Katie McL
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