NISCA Announces 2019-2020 High School All-Americans In Swimming

The National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) has released its All-America lists for high school swimmers in the 2019-2020 school year.

You can see the full high school All-America lists here

NISCA compiles the All-America lists each year. A few of the rules for selection:

  • The lists only include swimmers between 9th and 12th grade.
  • Swimmers must be on a school swim team and scholastically eligible to compete.
  • The lists are compiled based on times swum during high school swim seasons and submitted by programs during the application window from November 1 through June 15.
  • Athletes must hit All-America standards to be considered: those hitting “automatic” All-America times earn All-America status immediately. Those hitting “consideration” times earn All-America status if they rank within the top 100 of eligible, submitted times in that event.

The lists typically compile the top 100 times in each event – but this year, a number of events don’t have 100 names. That’s likely owing to faster “consideration” times and the cancellation of high school sports seasons in multiple states due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The lists include national high school record-holders Matt Brownstead (50 free), Claire Curzan (100 fly), Torri Huske (100 fly), Phoebe Bacon (100 back), Kaitlyn Dobler (100 breast) and Gretchen Walsh (50 free/100 free).

Three swimmers head up two different events apiece: Walsh (50/100 free), Bacon (200 IM/100 back), and Jake Mitchell (200/500 free). By state, Indiana leads 6 of 22 total events. Tennessee leads 4 events and Pennsylvania 3.

Notably absent are the #1-ranked recruits in both the girls and boys senior classes. Regan Smith didn’t compete in Minnesota’s high school season, and Carson Foster didn’t compete in Ohio’s high school season. #2-ranked boys recruit Luca Urlando is also absent – his high school season was canceled during the coronavirus pandemic.

Here are the list leaders in each event:

Girls:

  • 200 free: Lillie Nordmann (TX) – 1:43.62
  • 200 IM: Phoebe Bacon (MD) – 1:55.39
  • 50 free: Gretchen Walsh (TN) – 21.59
  • 100 fly: Claire Curzan (NC) – 50.35
  • 100 free: Gretchen Walsh (TN) – 46.98
  • 500 free: Emma Weyant (FL) – 4:40.85
  • 100 back: Phoebe Bacon (MD) – 50.89
  • 100 breast: Kaitlyn Dobler (OR) – 58.35
  • 200 medley relay: Harpeth Hall (TN) – 1:40.02
  • 200 free relay: Carmel High (IN) – 1:32.61
  • 400 free relay: Harpeth Hall (TN) – 3:20.81

Boys:

  • 200 free: Jake Mitchell (IN) – 1:34.05
  • 200 IM: Rick Mihm (PA) – 1:43.98
  • 50 free: Matt Brownstead (PA) – 19.24
  • 100 fly: Matthew Jensen (PA) – 46.58
  • 100 free: Sam Hoover (NC) – 43.10
  • 500 free: Jake Mitchell (IN) – 4:14.68
  • 100 back: Wyatt Davis (IN) – 45.80
  • 100 breast: Ethan Dang (WA) – 52.76
  • 200 medley relay: Carmel High (IN) – 1:27.94
  • 200 free relay: St. Xavier High (OH) – 1:20.86
  • 400 free relay: Carmel High (IN) – 2:56.36

For the first time, NISCA has also released Para Swimming All-America lists. You can see those lists and more below:

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Working Swim Mom
3 years ago

Braden,
Since folks are indicating that a number of states didn’t finish (or have) their high school season, what percentage of NISCA All Amercians has typically have come from those states? I know I’ve got some bias here, being from Texas where we did get to finish and had good representation in the list. How many were likely left out of consideration?

With that said, congrats to the young people of the list. It’s not easy to end up there as consideration times keep getting faster. Kuddos to you all!

Admin
Reply to  Working Swim Mom
3 years ago

Here are the 2018-2019 by state.

https://www.niscaonline.org/AALists/2019/aafreq19.htm

California is the big one. In 2019, 400 and 350, respectively, were boys and girls AA from California, which accounted for about 18% of total awards. Colorado boys (80) and Nevada (14) were also cancelled.

Pennsylvania’s was partially cancelled. In 2018-2019 they contributed 364 total All-Americans.

Cale F. Brownstead
Reply to  Braden Keith
3 years ago

Yes, PA missed half of the events’ finals.

GA Boy
3 years ago

GA boys looking really good on this list!

Sid Frisco
3 years ago

Obviously a lot of swims were not to be had. Kudos to the hard working swimmers that made the list and here’s hoping that everyone is back in the pool next year. Congrats to 19-20 All Americans.

Matt
3 years ago

Anyone else gonna mention that Sean faikish is All American in both water polo and swimming

Swammer
Reply to  Matt
3 years ago

If California had a season there would have been others.

Lpman
Reply to  Matt
3 years ago

Awesome feat, but by no means the first to do so

Springbrook
Reply to  Matt
3 years ago

Shades of Matt Biondi . . .

Lpman
Reply to  Springbrook
3 years ago

That is a tough sell

SwimFan49
3 years ago

Hayden Zheng (SwimSwam #13 in Class of ’21) easily with cuts in breast and IM and not on this list.

https://swimswam.com/hayden-zheng-sweeps-events-edina-boys-win-minnesota-class-aa-state-title/

Admin
Reply to  SwimFan49
3 years ago

The most likely explanation is that his coach did not submit the paperwork, or did not submit it by the deadline.

SoCal Swim Dad
3 years ago

Congrats to all of these incredible student-athletes, but I am going to agree with the others. There are many swimmers who are not on the list because they never had a high school season this year.

Anonymous
Reply to  SoCal Swim Dad
3 years ago

Or as Braden mentions, the coaches never submitted the paperwork. I wish our state, and our high school coaches, paid any kind of consideration to high school swimming. It’s a joke meant to throw a couple of meets in the fall and call it “high school swimming”

PrivateSchoolCoach
3 years ago

Tough to be a complete list without CA involved…..Props to all the fast swimming though – some amazing swims!

James Beam
3 years ago

I’m torn about this. On the one hand, kudos to those who got the cuts fair and square..on the other hand, what about the states that didn’t either finish the high school season (PA, NJ, CT etc) or didn’t even start as HS swimming is a spring sport…

NJSwimmer
Reply to  James Beam
3 years ago

New Jersey finished their high school season literally a week before everything started

Cale F. Brownstead
Reply to  James Beam
3 years ago

Our Pennsylvania State meet was cut short. At least the kids got to swim one set of finals.

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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