The Arizona Wildcats beefed up their recruiting class in a big way, nabbing a verbal commitment from Illinois freestyle sensation Kirsten Jacobsen.
Jacobsen comes from the Barrington Swim Club and Barrington High School in (you guessed it) Barrington, Illinois. With open water star Becca Mann committed to the USC Trojans, Jacobsen is arguably the top distance freestyler left on the recruiting market in the class of 2016.
We ranked her #15 in our list of the top 20 recruits nationally. She sits one spot behind the other distance freestyler on the list, NCAP’s Megan Byrnes. Byrnes has a slightly faster 1650 time, but Jacobsen has range down to the 100 that will make her an ideal pickup for Arizona.
Jacobsen’s Top Times
- 1650 free: 16:06.66
- 500 free: 4:42.31
- 200 free: 1:46.98
- 100 free: 49.66
That kind of sprinting ability coupled with great distance prowess means Jacobsen could be the rare miler who can contribute on several relays as well. Her 200 free should certainly put her onto Arizona’s 800 free relay as a key leg.
Jacobsen announced her verbal commitment via Twitter on Wednesday.
Super excited to announce my commitment to swim for University of Arizona! Can't wait to be a Wildcat! #beardown ?❤️ pic.twitter.com/cpb8j8ixat
— Kirsten Jacobsen (@kirsten_jake22) October 7, 2015
Arizona already has a solid recruiting class, with #20 commit Kennedy Lohman already on board as well.
The Wildcats are coming off of a 15th-place finish at the NCAA Championships, but are really beginning the Rick DeMont era with his second full class of recruits as head coach.
Congrats Kirstan, as a new Wildcat!
I feel like she’s more of a 100/200/500 freestyler rather than a distance swimmer but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Great job KJ! Bear down!
Don’t forget they have mid-D superstar Hannah Cox in this class too!