Throughout this recruiting season, we’ve maligned (and heard several college coaches do the same) about the lack of breaststroke depth overall on the women’s side. Though from top-to-bottom, this class hasn’t been as strong in the breaststrokes, that’s not to say that there isn’t still some high-quality breaststroking, there just isn’t as much of it.
Take, for example, Sarah Haase out of the Rockville-Montgomery Swim Club. She is a two-time USA Swimming Junior National Teamer who over the summer posted the 2nd-fastest junior breaststroke time in the country in long course en route to a B-Final at the USA Swimming Senior Nationals. (And at that, Emma Schoettmer, the only American junior faster than her, did so swimming out of the C-Final at that meet). That earned Haase a trip to the Junior World Championships, where she scored a silver medal in the 50 breaststroke.
Haase will be swimming at Stanford beginning next fall, and she already has bests of 1:00.44 and 2:12.08, the former of which would have put her in the top 12 at last year’s NCAA’s. This marks the second-straight season that Stanford will bring in the best breaststroker in the country, along with freshman Katie Olsen, which is huge for them. After last year’s graduation of Liz Smith and Alissa Finn, the Stanford breaststroking group was left very thin.
Thanks, me262. Enjoy this next year of swimming…collegiate season, trials galore, then London. Should be fun for the interested…
Finn has withdrawn from swimming to pursue other interests at Stanford.
Kraemer has been granted another season of eligibility (redshirted sophomore year) and will rejoin team in the winter quarter.
Curious about the Stanford women’s breaststroke swimmers…yes, Liz Smith was a Sr and graduated. Finn was a sophmore but is not listed on the roster this year – discontinued her swimming pursuits? Kraemer was also a Sr. and entered the same year as Smith, but *is* listed on the roster – petitioned another year, from injury/other? Any knowledge on either of these? Olsen and Haase will certainly be a big one-two punch for the Cardinal next year…
Will be interesting to see if Tosky also goes to Stanford, though USC seems to be a distinct possibility.