Ranking The 2023 Men’s NCAA Recruiting Classes: #9-12

With the NCAA season upon us, we continue our annual rankings of the incoming recruiting classes for the 2023-24 campaign.

See also:

• Men’s #13-16
• Men’s Honorable Mentions
• Women’s #5-8
• Women’s #9-12
• Women’s #13-16
• Women’s Honorable Mentions
• Individual recruit rankings – Girls final rankings
• Individual recruit rankings – Boys final rankings

We continue our 2023 recruiting series with a team-by-team look at the best recruiting classes entering the NCAA next season. The classes below are projected freshmen for the 2023-2024 season.

A few important notes on our rankings:

• The rankings listed are based on our Class of 2023 Re-Rank. “HM” refers to our honorable mentions and “BOTR” refers to our Best of the Rest section for top-tier recruits.
• Like most of our rankings, these placements are subjective. We base our team ranks on a number of factors: prospects’ incoming times are by far the main factor, but we also consider potential upside in the class, class size, relay impact and team needs being filled. Greater weight is placed on known success in short course yards, so foreign swimmers are slightly devalued based on the difficulty in converting long course times to short course production.
• Transfers are included, though weighed less than recruits who came in with four seasons of eligibility.
• For the full list of all verbally committed athletes, click here. A big thank you to SwimSwam’s own Anne Lepesant for compiling that index – without it, rankings like these would be far less comprehensive.
• Some teams had not released a finalized 2023-24 team roster at the time these articles were published, meaning it’s possible we missed some names. Let us know in the comments below.

BEST NCAA SWIMMING & DIVING RECRUITING CLASSES: MEN’S CLASS OF 2023

Previously Ranked:

• #16: Yale Bulldogs
• #15: Virginia Tech Hokies
• #14: Harvard Crimson
• #13: USC Trojans

#12: TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS

• Top-tier additions: BOTR Jed Garner (MD – breast), Nikoli Blackman (Trinidad and Tobago – free), Wyatt Carlton (WA – fly), Flynn Crisci (Pitt transfer – breast), Aidan Crisci (UNC transfer – IM/fly/distance free)
• The rest: Jonathan Freeman (PA – free), Harper Thornett (VA – diving)

Tennessee currently has a formidable 1-2 punch in the sprint free events with Jordan Crooks and Gui Caribe, and they’re adding to it this season with the addition of Nikoli Blackman.

A Trinidad and Tobago native, Blackman is coming off a breakout performance at the World Junior Championships in September, winning the 50 free and placing 6th in the 100 free, setting new long course best times of 22.33 and 49.54. He’s also sub-1:50 (1:49.94) in the 200 free, and should be an immediate NCAA scoring contender.

Jed Garner was featured as a BOTR breaststroker in the 2023 class re-rank, owning times of 53.7/1:56.8, giving the Vols exactly what they need given the departures of Michael Houlie and Lyubomir Epitropov.

Garner won’t need to be relied upon immediately, however, as Flynn Crisci joins the Vols as a graduate transfer from Pitt, coming in after recording a lifetime best of 51.87 in the 100 breast at the 2023 ACCs to place 5th (two-tenths shy of what was required to score at NCAAs, where he was 27th in 52.18). Crisci is also 1:54.5 in the 200 breast and 1:45.4 in the 200 IM, and has also proven to be reliable free relay contributor (19.0/43.2 splits).

His younger brother, Aidan Crisci, also heads to Knoxville as a transfer after two seasons at UNC, bringing a true grinder’s skillset as a 500 free, 200 fly and 400 IM swimmer. Crisci is currently in position to score ‘B’ final points in the 400 IM (3:45.6) at SECs, and some time drops could see him there in the 500 free (4:22.4) and 200 fly (1:45.8).

The incoming freshman class also includes Wyatt Carlton, a 48.0/1:48.2 fly swimmer who is coming off an impressive U.S. Junior National showing in the long course pool, setting bests of 54.2/2:02.0, indicating there’s impending improvement in yards.

#11: NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS

• Top-tier additions: #18 Cade Duncan (TX – free/fly), HM Diego Nosack (IM/fly/distance free), Aaron Baltaytis (NJ – fly/back), David Gerchik (Israel – back/free), Stuart Seymour (WI – fly/back), Andrew Martin (Xavier transfer – free)
• The rest: Chris Leung (CA – free/breast/fly), David Vinokur (AZ – fly/distance free), Connor Schuster (IA – free/fly), Adam Cohen (Canada – diving), Ryan Augustine (CA – diving)

Given that Northwestern placed 7th (out of eight teams) at Big Tens last season and qualified just two swimmers—both seniors—to the NCAA Championships, it’s fairly significant for the program that they’ve got a top-12 recruiting class on the way.

Our 18th-ranked domestic recruit, Cade Duncan, owns best times in the 50 free (19.59), 100 free (42.85) and 200 free (1:36.36) that are all faster than the Wildcats’ fastest from last season, and he’s only two-tenths short of the same distinction in the 100 fly (47.15).

A native of Houston, Duncan is coming off of setting some notable long course bests this past summer, clocking 22.70 in the 50 free, 49.85 in the 100 free and 54.09 in the 100 fly.

HM Diego Nosack will immediately become the team’s top 400 IMer, with his PB of 3:44.77 under the Northwestern school record and ranking him 3rd overall in the class.

Also 1:45.5 in the 200 IM and 1:44.6 in the 200 fly, Nosack is an instant top-16 scorer at Big Tens in all three of his primary events, and he’s got a ton of potential to improve, coming off setting best times of 1:59.30 in the 200 fly, 2:01.65 in the 200 IM and 4:19.84 at Junior Nationals in August. He also went 3:58.5 in the 400 free, with SCY best times of 4:23.5/15:21 in the distance events.

Another key addition to the team is David Gerchik, who has represented Israel at two consecutive European Championships (LC) and will form a nice 1-2 punch with Tyler Lu in the backstroke group.

Gerchik earned a semi-final berth in the 200 back at the 2022 Euros, and his personal best time of 1:58.90 converts to 1:42-low in yards, while his 55.4 PB in the 100 translates to 46-mid, both putting him within striking distance of the NCAA cut line.

Aaron Baltaytis is perhaps the most versatile swimmer of the bunch, as he’ll be a good training partner for Nosack in the 200 fly (1:44.6) and for Gerchik in the backstrokes (46.7/1:45.8), not to mention he could also spend some time working alongside Duncan as a 20.2/43.9 sprint freestyler and 46.8 100 fly swimmer.

Stuart Seymour is another big get for the Wildcats, coming in with 47.7/1:45.9 backstroke times and a 47.6 100 fly.

#10: TEXAS A&M AGGIES

• Top-tier additions: #13 Logan Brown (TX – breast/IM), BOTR Ben Scholl (TX – free), Roberto Bonilla Flores (TX – IM/breast)
• The rest: Brendan Studdert (TX – back/IM), Josh Brooks (TX – free)

Texas A&M brings in an exclusively in-state class, led by Sugar Land native Logan Brown, our 13th-ranked recruit who is the fastest 200 breaststroker in the entire class.

Brown dropped down to 1:54.02 in March—in Texas A&M’s pool—to make him an SEC ‘A’ finalist and just over a second shy of the NCAA cut line before entering college. There’s an argument he’s the best all-around breaststroker in the class, coming in with the #2 100 breast time at 52.59, and he’s also very strong in the 200 IM (1:44.6) to make him a three-event threat right away.

Brown is also a 20.0/44.0 freestyler to give the team some depth in that area if needed.

BOTR freestyler Ben Scholl could end up jumping onto the Aggie relays right away, especially with the departure of Koko Bratanov, coming in as a 43.4 100 freestyler who has been 1:36 in the 200 free multiple times, with his PB of 1:36.79 stemming from December 2021. In the 50 free, he’s been 19.83 and split in the 19.5 range on relays.

Roberto Bonilla Flores, a Guatemalan native out of The Woodlands Swim Team, is already fast enough to be an SEC consolation finalist in the 400 IM (3:46.6), and given that he’ll have the benefit of training with one of the top medley swimmers in the nation, Baylor Nelson, his improvement curve should continue and put him in the NCAA qualifying window sooner rather than later.

Bonilla Flores is also 1:46.8 in the 200 IM, 1:46.3 in the 200 fly and 1:56.8 in the 200 breast, showing an impressive level of versatility.

Brendan Stuttert is also versatile across back (49.3/1:48.1), fly (49.2), free (20.7/45.2/1:38.1) and IM (1:48.5), making him an intriguing prospect with plenty of potential, and Josh Brooks (21.0/45.8) adds depth as a developmental sprinter.

#9: GEORGIA BULLDOGS

• Top-tier additions: #19 Tristan DenBrok (GA – distance free), HM Tomas Koski (GA – free), Ruard van Renen (SIU transfer – back/fly), Miles Simon (Howard transfer – back/IM/free)
• The rest: Matthew Bray (VA – diving)

Georgia welcomes a talent-stacked class that includes two key transfers, giving the Bulldogs a big boost coupling with their slew of fifth-year seniors returning.

All of the freestyle distances are covered between their only two incoming freshman swimmers, as #19 Tristan DenBrok is elite in the distance events and HM Tomas Koski has sprinting chops, with both meeting in the middle with strong 200s.

DenBrok comes in as one of only two freshmen this season who has been sub-4:20 in the 500 free and sub-15 in the mile, joining #1 Rex Maurer, as DenBrok has been a blistering 4:16.6 in the 500 and 14:58 in the 1650.

His current best times, all set at the 2022 Winter Juniors last December, show an impressive range all the way down to the 50, having been 20.6/45.0/1:35.4 in the sprints to go along with his distance ability (he also split 43.7 in the 100 free on a relay).

DenBrok will get to train alongside one of the NCAA’s top distance swimmers, Jake Magahey, and is within striking distance of the 2023 NCAA cut line (4:14.3/14:53.5).

Koski’s best event is the 200 free, boasting an impressive 1:33.8 PB that puts him within a second of the individual NCAA cut from last season and an instant addition to the UGA 800 free relay that placed 11th at NCAAs last season.

A Finnish native and the younger brother of Olympian and former Bulldog Matias Koski, Tomas is also coming off producing a very impressive long course time of 1:47.7 at the U.S. Pro Championships in late July.

Koski is also a 19.9/43.2 sprinter, so he has three clear events to focus on and will be a cornerstone of the team’s free relays throughout his collegiate career.

One of the surprises of the 2022-23 NCAA season was SIU freshman Ruard van Renen, a South African native who heads to Athens after emerging as a clear-cut scorer in the backstroke events.

van Renen swept his individual events at the Mid-American Championships at the beginning of March, and then three weeks later had a standout NCAA performance that included placing 9th in the 100 back (44.67) and 13th in the 200 back (1:39.73 in prelims). That gave him 13 individual points, but there’s no doubt there’s a chance that increases this season, especially given that his winning time from the consols in the 100 back would’ve been 6th in the ‘A’ final.

van Renen only raced the backstrokes at NCAAs last season, but went 46.10 to win the 100 fly MAC title and is also 19.9/44.1 in the freestyles for some relay depth.

Another significant transfer add for Georgia is Miles Simon, who comes over from Howard University after being named the NEC’s Most Oustanding Swimmer last season after he swept conference titles in the 100 back (47.8), 200 back (1:46.3) and 200 IM (1:46.8).

He also led off the team’s free relays with best times across the board, hitting 19.4/43.4/1:36.2, which might have more of an impact in his graduate season with the Bulldogs than his backstroke/IM times do.

Simon will have one season of eligibility, while van Renen has three remaining. Georgia’s ranking is partially based on van Renen staying for the remainder of his eligibility, which isn’t a guarantee. His countryman Matt Sates only spent one semester at Georgia before turning pro.