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Charlotte Crush, the #1 recruit on our Way Too Early list of top-20 girls from the high school class of 2026, has chosen the University of Tennessee for her collegiate career.
“‘One who carries a torch stands in the shadow to give light to others.’ SO proud to be a Lady Vol 🧡🩵 All glory to God for this opportunity and blessing! Thank you Lakeside and all of the Tennessee staff! Cannot wait for the future 🍊GBO🍊”
Crush will be a second-generation SEC swimmer, as both her parents (Chip Crush and Mimi Bowen Crush) swam at Auburn. Chip held the Independent High School National Record in the 100 back in 1994, then went on to Auburn where he was a 3x SEC individual champion and an All-American. Mimi and her sister Maggie Bowen both swam at Auburn, too. Mimi won NCAA titles in the 100 fly and 200 medley relay in 1997. Maggie won 9 NCAA titles during her years with the Tigers (200 IM x3, 400 IM x3, 400 free relay, 800 free relay, 400 medley relay).
The Crush family is also present on swimming and diving rosters in the ACC and the Patriot League. Annabel Crush is a senior at NC State, while Charlie Crush is a junior at Louisville. Johnny Crush is a freshman at Army West Point, meaning all four Crush siblings will swim at different colleges.
Charlotte Crush is by far and away the top swimmer in the high school class of 2026. A junior at Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, Kentucky, she boasts the cohort’s fastest times in the 100/200 back, 100 fly, and 50/100/200 free. Her times in the 100 back, 100 back, and 100 fly would already score in the A finals at the NCAA Division I Women’s Championships, and her 50 free time would score in the B final. She is the NAG record-holder in the 13-14 SCY 100 back and 200 back and the 15-16 SCY 100 back.
Crush won the 100 fly (51.41) and 100 back (51.59) at the 2024 KHSAA State Swimming and Diving Championships. Those were repeat performances from 2023, when, as a freshman, she won the same events with 51.56 and 51.14, respectively.
Crush does her club swimming with Lakeside Swim Team. She won the 100 back (50.23) and was runner-up in the 100 free (47.86), 200 back (1:52.67), and 100 fly (50.46) at 2023 Winter Juniors East. She also came in 9th in the 50 free (22.02) and 11th in the 200 IM (1:57.38). She left the meet with new times in the 50/100/200 free, 50/100 back, 50/100 fly, and 200 IM. Three months later, she updated her PBs in the 50/200 free, 200 back, 100 fly, and 200 IM at Southern Premier, where she won the 50/200 free, 100/200 back, and 100 fly, and was runner-up in the 200 IM.
This summer, she represented Team USA at 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, placing 2nd in the 100 back (1:00.19) and 100 fly (58.19). A month earlier, she had won the 50 back (28.70), 100 back (1:00.63), 200 back (2:10.29), 50 fly (26.48), and 100 fly (58.45) at the NCSA Summer Championships.
As the Lady Vols had recently received verbal commitments from the top two breaststrokers in the class of 2026 (#3 Molly Sweeney and #13 Eliza Wallace), they now have the fastest swimmers in the cohort in all four of the 100 strokes.
Best SCY times:
- 100 back – 49.53 (best in class)
- 200 back – 1:50.55 (best in class)
- 100 fly – 50.19 (best in class)
- 50 free – 21.88 (best in class)
- 100 free – 47.86 (best in class)
- 200 free – 1:45.33 (best in class)
- 200 IM – 1:56.44
- 200 fly – 1:57.67
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Added Madison Kryger plus another today. This class is insane.
Becomes incredibly easy to secure talent when you promise every kid a full ride… interested to see if that money is actually there in two years after all the ncaa changes
Not really. All the top schools have 14.9 scholarships so they all can do that.
Huh? You’re acting like it will be an uneven playing field…
I would think it’s easier at this very moment to offer a full ride on the women’s side than it’s ever been.
The scholarship caps are off and roster sizes will eventually shrink. Less people in the overall pie.
I imagine certain schools are looking at this moment of time to ‘go for it’, and increase funding to maximize the opportunity. Others will be forced to recede.
Just an absolutely phenomenal 2026 recruiting class for Tennessee. Wow.
I’d love to see the High School records at that Sacred Heart School in Kentucky. They churn out studs year after year who turn into top recruits, elite collegiate swimmers, and sometimes even Olympians. Let’s see the records! @Pat Forde, can you help us out!
You mispelled “Lakeside Seahawks”
Sacred Heart, in the day of Brooke Forde et al., had girls with OT cuts who did not make a state championship relay. But all swim credit goes to Lakeside.
Is Lakeside a summer club or year round team? Ive seen Pat Forde’s photos and the outdoor pool he posts every summer look amazing.
Originally, the swim team and the club itself were one entity. The two are now separate entities, and the Lakeside Seahawks, the club team, keeps the name as a connection to the past and because they train at the swim club (the quarry) in the summer only. Lakeside Swim Club is open year-round as a membership club. The Seahawks train at other facilities from September-May.
Tennessee is the next Virginia
Tennessee is the next Tennessee
If their coaching staff had a history of their ladies hitting their tapers at NCAAs, then there would be the potential for a championship in 2028 or beyond. 2024 is really the outlier over the past several years. But perhaps it’s the start of a new trend. We’ll see.
Virginia’s women have been very consistent in scoring at or above their psych sheet projections. If that continues, they’ll continue to be very difficult to beat.
Not cal *everyone liked that*
Shut up
MA 30.69
Generational hater
Two more commits from this weekend! Any guesses?
I’m going to stick with my prediction of Tennessee to continue to reel in strong Canadians. I know Kryger and Tigert visited there (as did Halle West but she committed to Cal already).
Make it 3. 😎
Bocksa, Gigovic, Buff, and Weiler have also been on campus. Antoniewski was there with the three public commits so maybe she’s feeling the big orange fever.
Madyson Kriger and Leah Tigert
Boom 🤯
Buff committed too on IG
Congratulations! Is Charlotte the first #1 recruit for Tennessee since Meghan Small?
Ella Jansen
Go to Swim cloud, she literally has a “1” next to her name. Unless you’re talking domestic, which you did not clarify
Katie Grimes is obviously the #1 swimmer in the class. Ella Jansen is great but she is not as good of a recruit as Grimes.
Swimcloud has 5 #1 recruits and Grimes at #12. It is a great platform for data but it obviously has its flaws.