Iris Brand of the Pleasanton Seahawks verbally committed to the Wisconsin Badgers late last week, according to her Twitter feed. That makes her the first (public) verbal commitment to the Badgers this fall.
Brand is a U.S. Nationals-qualifying sprinter with yards bests of 22.96/49.85/1:50.78 in the 50/100/200 yard freestyles.
She will miss overlapping with Wisconsin senior Ivy Martin, who will be one of the best sprinters in the country in the 2014-2015 season, but when Brand arrives at Wisconsin, she will be a great addition to a stacked sprint freestyle group.
Among those who will still be in Madison when Brand arrives are:
- sophomore Chase Kinney (22.44/49.24 as a freshman),
- freshman Marissa Berg (23.15/51.30 in high school while splitting time with three other sports),
- freshman Solveig Viren (23.46/51.13, former Minnesota HS State Champion),
- sophomore Emma Paulson (22.87/51.46), and
- junior Annie Tamblyn (22.94/50.30)
Brand competes for the Pleasanton Seahawks in California and Amador Valley High School on the East side of the San Francisco bay. She is the defending California North Coast Section Champion in the 50 free and was the runner-up last year in the 100 free as she led her team to a 5th-place finish in one of the best high school meets in the country.
