#1 Recruit Meghan Small Chooses Tennessee For 2016 And Beyond

Meghan Small, the top-ranked high school senior in the nation, has made her college selection, verbally committing to the Tennessee Volunteers over the weekend.

Small swims for the York YMCA out of York, Pennsylvania, and has already cracked the U.S. Senior National Team at the age of 17.

A fantastic all-around swimmer, Small rose to the top of our recruiting rankings for the high school class of 2016 earlier this summer, and is a monster pickup for the Volunteers.

Small is probably best-known as an IMer, where she could be in the hunt for NCAA titles from the get-go, based on her lifetime-bests.

Small’s Top Times (in short course yards)

• 200 IM: 1:54.25
• 400 IM: 4:03.96
• 200 free: 1:45.48
• 100 back: 52.19
• 200 back: 1:51.74

That 200 IM time would have earned her 3rd place at last year’s NCAAs (behind only Olympian Missy Franklin and multi-time All-American Liz Pelton), and her 400 IM would have been 6th overall.

She’s also an extremely talented backstroker, and the 200 back might fit best as her third event in the NCAA meet format. Her lifetime-best there would have also placed 6th last year.

Small will be a huge boon to Tennessee, which dropped out of the top 10 in the nation last year and just graduated their top overall swimmer in Molly Hannis. 

Her versatility means she can plug in wherever Volunteers coach Matt Kredich needs her. Small already looks like a key player on the 800 free relay, and should be able to swim nearly any leg of the medley relays as well. She made the U.S. National Team in the 200 (long course meter) IM, but also qualified to represent Team USA in the 200 breaststroke at the Pan American Games earlier this summer.