Just as yesterday we were relating that a sprint freestyler would be the one piece on that would place a cherry on the already phenomenal Tennessee women’s recruiting class for this year, guess what Matt Kredich and his staff did. They went out and signed a sprinter, specifically Michelle Cefal from Westview High School and the Tualatin Hills Swim Club.
Cefal isn’t quite in the most-elite class of sprinters with girls like Lia Neal, but she is a part of that next level with yards bests of 23.40 in the 50 free and 50.65 in the 100 free.
In reality though, Cefal was signed just as much as a third standout butterfllier in this class as she was a sprint freestyler. She has yards bests of 55.0/2:00 in the 100 and 200 butterflies. Her long course butterfly times have been really special, however. At this summer’s Junior Nationals, she was a 59.31 in the 100 fly and a 2:10.35 in the 200 fly. These results gave her a sweep of the butterfly events in Indy, and also earned her a spot on the junior team that USA Swimming is sending to FINA World Cup stops in Berlin and Moscow next week.
That long course 200 ranks her as the 11th-best American of any age in 2012; her challenge now becomes to replicate those times in yards.
With Kelsey Floyd running out of eligibility after this season, Kredich has worked hard to shore up the Tennessee butterfly groups, which is historic in its success, by the addition of Cefal, Trisha Forrester, and Heather Lundstrom. Volunteer fans are going to enjoy watching those three push each other and develop together over the next four years.
