The Stanford Cardinal women have nabbed the best remaining domestic swimmer in the class of 2012 – Allison Brown of the Pleasanton Seahawks.
Brown is an excellent middle-distance freestyler, with her 200 free of 1:46.50 ranking her #5 in the class. She’s also got bests of 4:46.8 in the 500 free and 16:27 in the mile.
Brown’s addition, along with Julia Anderson, gives Stanford the #4 and #5 ranked 200 freestylers in the class, which helps to counteract the fact that their mega-rivals Cal have nabbed #’s 2 and 3 (Pelton and Bootsma).
As the 4th-best recruit in the country, Brown also brings in great IM times, with bests of 2:00.11 and 4:13.88.
The Stanford women have also added another sprinter to pair with Anderson. This time, they’ve stayed close to home and kept one of Palo Alto’s best in Julia Ama. According to collegeswimming.com, she’s the #64-ranked recruit in the class.
Ama is all speed, with a best of 23.11 in the 50 free and 50.32 in the 100. She’s also done a 1:51.0 in the 200 free.
The Cardinal weren’t the only ones getting new commitments as the country rolled into the early signing period. Their male counterparts signed Ryan Arata out of Colorado Springs.
He’s an equally-impressive butterflier and backstroker. His bests in the backstroke events (where he’s probably a touch better) are 49.72 and 1:48.27. In the butterfly events, he goes 49.3 and 1:49.3. He fits right into the recent Stanford mold of recruiting swimmers with big-time versatility.
