See also:
- Women’s classes #5-8
- Women’s classes #1-4
- Men’s classes #9-12
- Men’s classes #5-8 (coming soon)
- Men’s classes #1-4 (coming soon)
- Individual recruit rankings – Women
- Individual recruit rankings – Men
It has been a very busy summer, with World Championships showcasing the best swimmers on the planet last month, world records going down left and right, and a lot of fast swimming yet to come at the World University Games and the World Junior Championships.
It’s time to start shifting attention to the NCAA season, though, as college swimmers nationwide are heading back to campus to shake off the summer and get down to business. We’ll kick off our annual rankings for the incoming classes in the NCAA with the girls numbers 9 through 12.
Please read these notes:
- The rankings numbers listed for some individuals are from our pre-recruiting season rankings done more than a full year ago. Had we re-ranked these swimmers today (including some previously-unknown internationals putting their hat in the ring), the rankings would undoubtedly be different.
- Like most of our rankings, these placements are subjective. Rankings are based on a number of factors, including prospect’s incoming times, team needs filled, prospect’s potential upside, class size, and potential relay impact. Greater weight is placed on known success in short course yards, so foreign swimmers are slightly devalued because of their inexperience in SCY.
- Transfers are included, and there were a lot of big ones this summer.
- For the full list of the 1200+ committed athletes, click here.
Here are the 9th-through-12th-ranked Women’s NCAA Swimming & Diving classes (plus some honorable mentions), with the top 8 to follow later this week:
HONORABLE MENTIONS (NO PARTICULAR ORDER):
- Mizzou
- Minnesota
- Ohio State
- Louisville
- Arizona State
#12: VIRGINIA CAVALIERS
Top-tier additions: #18 Paige Madden, Kyla Valls, Erin Earley, Abby Richter, Emma Seiberlich
Others: Anna Pang, Marcie Maguire, Caroline Gmelich, Jocelyn Porter (diver)
The UVA women are in rebuilding mode after losing a fantastic senior class that included Olympic bronze medalist Leah Smith, All-American stroke specialists Laura Simon and Kaitlyn Jones, and key relay piece Ellen Thomas, among others. They also just had most of their coaching staff ship off to other schools, with Augie Busch taking over the Arizona program (with Cory Chitwood in tow) and Sam Busch relocating to TCU.
There’s good news for UVA, though, as NC State’s Todd DeSorbo will get to work as their new head coach. Meanwhile, in the pool, there is a wealth of freestyle talent heading to Charlottesville, which is going to be a huge help– all four 4×100 free relay members at NCAAs are out of eligibility.
Kyla Valls and Paige Madden are both fantastic 200 freestylers (1:45.6 for Madden, 1:45.9 for Valls) that will likely join the 4×200 free relay immediately. Both will be powerful in other events, as Valls has been 49.9 and 22.8 in the sprints and Madden can extend to the 500 (4:42.1) and has a great 200 back (1:55.0). While Madden hasn’t hit best times recently, Valls has some momentum after going a lifetime best 2:00.9 in the 200 free long course at the US Open, and both she and Madden will be a big freestyle boost to the program. Additionally, Singaporean Anna Pang brings more sprint free power with a 26.0 in long course in the 50 free.
Like Madden, Erin Earley is more distance-oriented, with a 16:08 mile and a 4:46 in the 500, while she’s been a 1:54.2 in the 200 back. The 200 back will be a strong point for UVA– Abby Richter is a 1:54.8 200 backstroker who excels in IM as well (1:58.3/4:14.1), while Emma Sieberlich is yet another swimmer under 1:55 at 1:54.9.
#11: ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
Top-tier additions: Leonie Kullmann, Flora Molnar
Others: Amy Stevens (diver), Bean Faunce, Julia Kukla, Kaila Wong, Kathryn Nicholson, Leonie Kullmann, Lydia Jackson, Mallory Underwood, Maria Reed, Nicole Smith, Sezin Eligul, Sydney Dawson, Tori van Buskirk
This is a gigantic class for ‘Bama, a school that is trying to get their women’s team on par with recent success from their men’s program. The big names are German mid-distance freestyler Leonie Kullmann and Hungarian sprinter Flora Molnar. Both women swam for their respective countries at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, and they have some very impressive long course times that put them at the top of all incoming freshmen in the entire NCAA for this season.
Kullmann has been as fast as 1:58.6 in the 200 LCM free and 4:11 in the 500 free. Her 200 is very strong; it would’ve been 11th at the 2017 U.S. Worlds Trials for some context. Her times convert to 1:43.98 and 4:42.16, and if she can hit those times in short course, she’d be far and away Alabama’s best swimmer in both events. Her 200 converted time would’ve also been fast enough to win the 2017 title in the uber-competitive SEC.
Molnar is more sprint-based, with really impressive speed in the 50’s. She’s been 32.1 breast, 26.1 fly, and 24.9 free in long course– she could feasibly swim any of those legs on a medley relay, and considering ‘Bama’s 200 medley legs were 28.3 breast and 23.8 fly at NCAAs last year, she’ll probably be a significant upgrade on either of those strokes. Molnar has also been 54.9 in the 100m free and 59.3 in the 100m fly, so if she can translate into short course, she’ll be one of the best and most versatile sprinters in the SEC.
While Kullmann and Molnar are really impressive prospects, they have yet to prove themselves in yards, which is why ‘Bama isn’t ranked any higher. The Crimson Tide also doesn’t have a ton of impact players in their big class, although Austrian Julia Kukla (56.8/2:01 free LCM) is another nice pickup.
#10: NC STATE WOLFPACK
Top-tier additions: Julia Poole, Tamila Holub, Olivia Calegan, Jacquee Clabeaux, Summer Finke (transfer), Lexie Lupton (transfer)
Others: Maddie Morello, Miranda Donley, Olivia Fisher, Kate Moore, Danika Huizinga, Anna Shumate
Like Alabama, this is another big class. NC State continues to have stronger and stronger classes coming in, and this one has two key transfers to note.
Summer Finke and Lexie Lupton come by way of Florida State and Texas A&M, respectively, and both have NCAA experience, making them proven assets for the Wolfpack. They’re on opposite ends of the distance spectrum, with Finke’s best event being the mile and Lupton’s the 50 free. Finke had a great summer, finishing top 8 in both the 1500 and 800 at Worlds Trials in Indy. Her long course times (16:22/8:34/4:12) from this summer are much more impressive than her SCY bests (16:17/9:46/4:47), suggesting that she’ll be riding an improvement curve into the 2017-18 season. Lupton, meanwhile, has been a key 200 free relay piece for the Aggies, and she’s split sub-22 in the past.
For the freshmen, Portuguese Olympian Tamila Holub is right on par with Finke in long course (16:20/8:36/4:14). Considering the development of senior Hannah Moore in the distance races, the coaching staff will get two more distance aces with big potential in Finke and Holub, making for a continued tradition of distance excellence in Raleigh. Speaking of Moore, her sister Kate will be joining the Wolfpack as a 53.9/1:56.4 backstroker as well as a 2:00/4:13 IM’er.
The Wolfpack will get a breaststroke boost with Jacquee Clabeaux and Olivia Calegan, as Clabeaux has been 1:00.8 and Calegan 1:01.5 in the 100, while the former has been 1:09 in long course and was the 11-12 NAG record-holder in the 50m breast up until Zoe Skirboll broke that mark recently. This is really big for NC State, as All-American breaststroker Kayla Brumbaum just exhausted her eligibility after last season.
Finally, Julia Poole is one of the best 200 IM’ers in the entire incoming NCAA class, having been 1:57.1. She would’ve been #2 on the team with that time last year, and she’s also been 4:13 in the 400 IM and 2:12 in the 200 breast.
#9: GEORGIA BULLDOGS
Top-tier additions: #1 Courtney Harnish, Sammie Burchill, Olivia Anderson, Danielle Dellatorre
Others: Donna Blaum, Emmaline Peterson, Kayla Tennant, Maddie Wallis
A solid UGA class is spearheaded by our #1 pick Courtney Harnish, who is very dangerous in the 200 free (1:44.7), 500 free (4:39.1), and 200 fly (1:54.3). Harnish is also an exceptional distance freestyler, IM’er, and 100 flier/backstroker– there’s not much that Harnish can’t do. Of all of the freshman we’ve talked about (not including transfers), Harnish is the first who is fast enough to score at NCAAs– with her lifetime bests, she would’ve scored in the 200 fly A final and B finals of the 500 free and 200 free.
That’s pretty huge; just getting a newcomer who can score in the NCAA B final of one event would be big for a team, but she’s able to supply a lot of speed across multiple events. Besides her best events, she’s also a 52.8 flier, 53.7/1:54 backstroker, and 16:05 miler, so she will be a huge plus in dual meets who can also help out in medley relays and the 800 free relay.
Sammie Burchill will join sister Veronica in Athens this season. She’s the best SCY 200 IM’er in the class besides Stanford’s Brooke Forde at 1:56.6, and she is also a strong backstroker (53.7/1:56.8) to go along with that. There aren’t many places better than UGA or better coaches than Jack Baurle for IM development, so Burchill could rapidly improve into a team leader in just a season or two with the ‘Dawgs. The same goes for Danielle Dellatorre, a 1:59.9 IM’er who also goes 1:01.6 breast and 49.9 free. She’s going to be a helpful addition for their breaststroke group, but UGA is still going to be without a thunderous sprint breaststroker this season.
The final big addition is Canadian distance specialist Olivia Anderson, the 2016 Jr Pan Pac silver medalist in the 1500 free. She’s just a bit faster than the NC State additions Holub and Finke (16:18/8:32), and she’s following in UGA distance star Brittany Maclean’s footsteps. Anderson trains with coach Kevin Thorburn at Etobicoke Swimming, which is where Maclean trained before moving to Athens for her freshman year. UGA just graduated their best distance freestyler in Rachel Zilinskas, so Anderson is arriving at an opportune time.
Jared Anderson contributed to this report.
another singaporean? They seem to really be making improvements to an already south-east Asian region very dominant swim team. I however have never heard of Anna Pang
Whomever pick an York YMCA girl has not gone wrong! It seems Courtney made the right choice swimming under Jack! Good luck!
I feel like Georgia is a little underrated, harnish, burchill, and Anderson are big names that should develop really well at Georgia based off past girls with similar skill sets as them
Wait where is Ohio University on this list? Must be saving RKB’s “greatness” for the top 5!
Predictions:
#5-8 (In no particular order)
Florida – Not a ton of huge recruits, but Liliana Szilagi and Taylor Ault are both huge pick ups. Ault is a great distance swimmer and Szilagi is a World Champs finalist.
Tennessee – Biggest pick up is breaststroker Nikol Popov (59/2:08), but also some other good swimmers such as sprinter Bailey Grinter (22.6/50.9) and IMer Alexis Yager (1:58/4:12) who also has a 2:11 200 breast.
Cal – Looks relatively weak as there are no top-20 recruits, but have some strong international options in Sarah Darcel and Robin Neumann if they can develop them
Texas A&M – Lots of high profile recruits in Hayley Pike, Anna Belusova, and Joy Field, but still… Read more »
Hannah/Rachel – please make sure you’re following our commenting guidelines, specifically the ones with regard to using multiple usernames in the same conversation. Thanks!
We are not the same person. We are actually identical twins who are commentating from the same domain and location. I don’t know why we show up the same.
Just alternate which one of you uses Rachel and which one uses Hannah. Sydney is also a nice name.
you’ve got to be joking right? Michigan over Stanford?
I did the math and they have more NCAA and conference points. Honestly, Miranda Tucker was the big turning point for me, and since she has 3 years of eligibility left, she counts as almost a full recruit. I do have to say that a lot of it was wishful thinking. I fully expect Stanford to be #1.
My guesses for #1-8 before the list is published 🙂
#5 to #8 (in no particular order):
– Texas, Tenn, Florida, Indiana
Top 4:
#1. Stanford (by a HUGE margin): no surprise there as they have 4 of the Top 10, 5 in the Top 20!!
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#2. USC
#3. A & M
#4. Michigan
Thoughts:
– UGA ranked #9 after having been Top 3 for so long – Bauerle fallout? 2018 working out great for the Bulldogs though.
– Cal doesn’t even make Top 12?? No recruit ranked in the Top 20, wow! They will bounce back.
– Notre Dame making some moves (up)
– Louisville worth… Read more »
Bears will be fine with Sarah Darcel, Robin Neumann, Ali Harrison & Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou heading their class. The 2 internationals are quite underrated in my opinion. Harrison hitting PBs consistently this summer too.
That Stanford freshman class though. So impressive! Hopefully they will develop on the farm to be every bit as fast as they promise to be.
Two of Cal’s top incoming freshmen are from Canada and The Netherlands. I suggest you look them up. Also-Ali Harrison has shown great progress the last six months (check US Open results). She will only get better training with Baker, McLaughlin, Bilquist et. al. Cal as the sleeper this year?
Cal needs weitzell at her best. No distance group to speak of. I’ll be interest to see where they get ranked in preseason
I am quite aware of the 2 but was basing my ranking heavily on SwimSwam’s Top 20 which didn’t list a single Cal recruit on it.
I now see that Darcel is ranked #12 and Neumann #33 by College Swimming so maybe a case can be made for Cal at #8?
Do still agree with Rachel that ‘Cal looks relatively weak’, and don’t readily buy into LCM to SCY conversion tables until the recruit actually starts swimming yards and we have an opportunity to assess how well or poorly they adapt to this.
Case in point being the disparity between Spain’s Garcia in meters vs. yards throughout her Cal career.
Bilquist and McLaughlin haven’t really set the world on fire at Cal
McLaughlin 2nd in the 200 fly, after Eastin, at NCs this year after recovering from her neck injury. Bilquist not as great this year but was 4/5th in the 100/200 in 2016, I believe? They’re also not exactly slacking…
But it isn’t like they are at another level after swimming at Cal either? Most people thought both of them should be scoring more points this year at NCAAs and both making the National A team meet!
You think Uga will be better than their 4th place this year? They graduated two stud sprinters in Smoliga and Chantal! And a top 10 class won’t be able to replace that.
Notre Dame is a great up and coming program. Great to see such a prestigious university enhance its swim / dive program
May I suggest a subject for a future article: The Top Ten women HS recruits, have verbally committed to Stanford. That’s 40% of the ten best swimmers in the nation. Stanford admissions only accepts approximately 5% of all applicants ( Most selective in the nation), and the Stanford women’s swim team just reported that the SwimTeam has an average 3.65 GPA. How can such a large percentage of the best swimmers in the nation ALSO be some of the best students, and able to achieve a National Championship while maintaining such lofty GPA’s at one of the nations top schools? The combination of athletic and academic excellence for an entire team is certainly not the norm, and I feel would… Read more »
Kudos to the programs that don’t get top notch recruits and do really well. It is easy to win conference and NCAAs with several top notch recruits.
Obviously their standards are lower for student athletes. still need to be good students but not Stanford good
I think some swimmers (doctor’s kids, etc) will be happy just to get into Stanford even if there is no scholarship!!!
Stanford has the #2 #3 and #9 recruits, and those rankings are subjective (for example, I think Julia Cook and Dakota Luther should be ranked higher than Allie Raab). The #1 and #4 recruits have not verbally committed yet. The #5 recruit committed to Cal, the #6 recruit committed to Florida, the #7 recruit committed to Texas A&M, the #8 recruit committed to USC, and the #10 recruit committed to Texas. To say that the top 10 women high school recruits committed to Stanford is a gross over exaggeration. That being said, I do think your idea to discuss how Stanford’s swimmers can be so dominant athletically and academically is interesting. Maybe you could title the article instead Stanford’s recruiting… Read more »
Hannah/Rachel – all good points but I had thought Dave was referring to the 2017 HS recruits (i.e. topic of this article) where Stanford did get 40% of the Top 10? 😉