Note: Pleasantly surprised but at the same time dead chuffed with SwimSwam's ranking of our Bears @ #4!
Mentions of LSJU have been kept minimised here in case I get into further trouble
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RANKING THE 2021 WOMEN'S NCAA RECRUITING CLASSES#16: Michigan Wolverines
#15: North Carolina Tar Heels
#14: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
#13: Indiana Hoosiers
#12: USC Trojans
#11: Wisconsin Badgers
#10: Texas Longhorns
#9: Auburn Tigers
#8: Florida Gators
#7: Ohio State Buckeyes
#6: Georgia Bulldogs
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#5: Virginia CavaliersThis is where the rankings become a question of depth versus high-end ability, with Virginia bringing in one of the fastest high school sprinters of all time and, by and large, a very talented class, but not as many swimmers as some of the other schools.
All three of Virginia's swimmers are in a position to be instant scorers and have a long-lasting impact on relays for the duration of their careers.
Our #2-ranked recruit Gretchen Walsh is the marquee name of the group, having held the #1 spot each of the last two years only to be overtaken by Torri Huske after her phenomenal senior year.
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#4: CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS- Top-tier additions: #15 Mia Kragh (CA - fly/free), Fanni Fabian (Hungary - free/fly), Alicia Henry (GA - breast), Elizabeth Cook (OR - fly/free), Annika McEnroe (SC - IM/fly), Lea Polonsky (Israel - breast/IM/free), Ella Mazurek (CA - free), McKenna Stone (IL - free), Reed Broaders (IL - back/fly), Melanie Julia (CA - breast), Shelby Suppiger (CA - breast)
- The rest: Jessica Davis (CA - back), Stephanie Akakabota (FL - free), Daniela Cogswell (UAE - free/back), Lara Phipps (NY - diving)
Cal brings in a deep class that lacks one true standout but has several women brimming with potential.
#15
Mia Kragh highlights the domestic recruits as a 52.0/1:56.1 flyer, with her 100 time making her the class's third-best in the event behind
Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh. Kragh, also a 22.8/49.8 freestyler, is coming off a brilliant performance at the Speedo Summer Championships in August, winning the 100 fly and taking second to the 200 fly, so she comes into college riding momentum.
Hungarian
Fanni Fabian and Israeli
Lea Polonsky offer the Bears two extremely elite international recruits, with Fabian more of a free/fly specialist and Polonsky an all-arounder that should have more of a breast/IM focus.
Fabian has the ability to be an individual NCAA scorer in the 500 free, 200 free and 200 fly if conversions carry over, with respective bests of 4:04.57 (SCM), 1:59.37 (LCM) and 2:09.94 (LCM) translating towards times of 4:39.5, 1:44.6 and 1:54.5. The 500 is 'A' final worthy, and both 200s are close. She could also race some IM (2:02/4:13 conversions).
Polonsky is extremely well versed in fly, breast and IM, and could also be a free relay asset if needed. She projects to be a scorer in the 200 IM (2:12.6 LC, 1:56.6 conversion) and under the cutline in the 400 IM (4:44.8, 4:10.8), 200 fly (2:12.8, 1:57.1), and knocking on the door in both breaststrokes (1:00.3/2:10.7 conversions). Polonsky will most likely push to continue her medley training and dabble in both breast and fly and race wherever the team needs, at least early on.
Other swimmers set to enter the fold that have an event under last season's NCAA cutline are South Carolina native
Annika McEnroe and Oregon's
Elizabeth Cook.
McEnroe owns a lifetime best of 4:12.9 in the 400 IM, and also has a solid 1:59.2 200 medley and a 2:10.4 200 breast, giving her three strong events to key in on at Cal. Cook is under the cutline in the 200 fly (1:56.1), putting her a half-second within NCAA scoring range, and she's also 53.1 in the 100 fly (less than half a second off a cut) and is sub-50/sub-1:48 in the 100/200 free.
The Bears also add a ton of breaststroke depth from the U.S. ranks in
Alicia Henry,
Melanie Julia and
Shelby Suppiger.
Henry is one of the fastest 100 breaststrokers in the class at 1:00.2, and made strides last season to get her 200 down to 2:12.5. California natives Julia (1:00.8/2:13.8) and Suppiger (1:01.3/2:12.4) give the class threefour if Polonsky focuses on breaststrokeswimmers that will challenge for a top-eight spot at Pac-12s. Last season the Bears had rising senior Ema Rajic and the now-graduated Alicia Harrison leading the breaststroke charge, so getting some new faces in the mix was critical, and they did just that.
Cal has always been known as a great backstroke school, and
Reed Broaders will join a training group that already includes the likes of Izzy Ivey and Isabelle Stadden, who were fourth and fifth, respectively, at last season's NCAAs in the 100 back. Broaders owns a PB of 53.2 in that event, two-tenths off an NCAA cut, and she's also elite in the 100 fly (53.4).
Jessica Davis (54.4/1:58.9) is another backstroke addition with a high ceiling.
Two swimmers that figure to be future players on the sprint free relays are Illinois native
McKenna Stone and in-state product
Ella Mazurek. Stone is nearing the NCAA cutline in the 50 free (22.61), 100 free (49.12) and 100 fly (53.04), and is also a 2:00 IMer and 1:01.7 breaststroker. Mazurek's best event comes in the 100 free, where she's been 49.35, and also has potential in the 50 (23.0) and 200 (1:47.9).
All four members of Cal's NCAA-winning 200 free relay are returning this season (as well as the entire 400 free relay that placed third), meaning swimmers like Stone and Mazurek will get a chance to develop in an elite sprint group without the expectation that they need to step in and be counted on from the get-go.
Stephanie Akakabota (22.8 50 free) and UAE's
Daniela Cogswell (22.8/49.9 conversions) add freestyle depth.
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#3: NC STATE WOLFPACKNC State's freshman class isn't as big as Tennessee or Cal, but it's loaded with talent. The Wolfpack bring in two swimmers with instant NCAA 'A' final abilities and two more in range of the consols.
The Sheble twins, Grace and Caroline, are two cornerstone pieces of the class.
Stanford was the only other school to land two swimmers ranked inside the top 11 of our recruiting re-rank this season, as NC State also adds #11 Annabel Crush.
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#2: TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERSWow. Tennessee's class brings in a staggering 16 swimmers and one diver, including three transfers and a plethora of high-end freshmen, both American and international.
The sheer size and depth of the Lady Vols' class is remarkable, led by our ninth-ranked domestic recruit, Josephine Fuller, and German standout Julia Mrozinski.
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#1: STANFORD CARDINALAfter a relatively down year, Stanford delivers a mammoth recruiting class as the Cardinal women aim to charge back to the top of the NCAA mountain.
It's scary when you consider that Stanford claims the #1 spot while not even factoring in 2020 commits Regan Smith, Samantha Pearson and Lillie Nordmann, who all deferred enrollment for one season, not to mention the return of redshirt junior Taylor Ruck.
The Cardinal class is headlined by our top-ranked recruit this season, U.S. Olympic medalist Torri Huske, who is an absolute stud and can race an incredible number of events at a high level.
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Updates from the "peanut gallery" :p
SwimSwam commenters said:
Toastedcoco: "Grad transfer Maddie Ward is using her 5th year at Cal. 1:00/2:12 breaststroker"
sticky rice: "Cal's done a pretty good job with developing talent the last few years but I'm not sure if I see a case for Cal over UVA. Cal's class is deep but it lacks projected NCAA scorers and doesn't bring in much sprint depth. Fabian could be huge asset for the bears but I always take LCM to SCY conversions with a grain of salt."
Huh: "How is Cal's class ranked higher than Virginia? Am I the only one who thinks this makes no sense."
Chief Erroneous: "Wait… WHAT?!? Where is Virginia? Desorbel put together a strong team through and through and had multiple Olympic medalists. And you put NC State, Tennessee, and Cal above then?"
Huh: "For some reason, SwimSwam is favoring the "quantity" over "quality"."
Ridiculous: "That could be the only way Cal is ranked better than Virginia. I hardly doubt there are 4 incoming classes that will out score Virginia's in coming class at NCAAs."
Mel: "UVA is safe. Meehan will screw this class up too."