Ranking the 2024 Men’s Recruiting Classes: #8-5

Welcome to the second half of our rankings for the 2024 Men’s NCAA Division I recruiting classes. We’ve been counting down from #16 and you can check out the previously ranked programs below. In this article are the teams we’ve ranked eighth through fifth best, meaning that we’re now fully in “these are stacked classes” range. Stay tuned for our top four recruiting classes, coming later this week.

See Also:

• Men’s 2024 Recruiting Class Rankings: #9-12
• Men’s 2024 Recruiting Class Rankings: #13-16
• Men’s 2024 Recruiting Class Rankings: Honorable Mentions
• Individual Recruit Rankings: Boys Final Rankings

Before we get stuck in the rankings, a few important notes:

• The rankings listed are based on our Class of 2024 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. 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 they are weighed less than recruits who arrive 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 2024-25 team roster at the time these articles were published, meaning it’s possible we missed some names. Let us know in the comments below.

#8 Arizona State Sun Devils

• Top-tier additions: #15 Michael Hochwalt (WA -IM/fly/back), #19 Quin Seider (CA – free), HM Brady Johnson (IL – free/back), BOTR Tolu Young (WA/Fiji – sprint free)
• The “Rest”: Tommy Palmer (Arizona transfer – sprint free), Jonathon Adam (UK – back), Oscar Bilbao (UAE – breast), Alex Burton (Grand Canyon transfer – diving), Carson Christiansen (CA – diving), Isaac Fleig (IN – free), Finn Kemp (Luxembourg – breast), Jacob Pins (IA – free), Bryce Rohr (VA – distance free), Leo Verschooten (Belgium – free/fly), Lucien Vergnes (France – breast)

The reigning NCAA champions begin a new era this season as Herbie Behm takes the reins as head coach. This recruiting class reflects what the Sun Devils roster looked like last season: plenty of international recruits, rangy IMers that can also throw down in the stroke 200s, and drop dead sprinters.

Their two top-20 ranked recruits represent the team’s areas of strength well. #15 Michael Hochwalt is one of the most versatile swimmers in the class; he made dramatic improvements in his senior year, dropping to 3:42.88 in the 400 IM, which makes him one of ten swimmers in this class to have a time that would’ve qualified for 2024 NCAAs. He also popped a 15:05.76 in the 1650 freestyle (which gives ASU three 15-minute low first years in him, Isaac Fleig, and Jacob Pins). ASU can use him in the IMs, distance freestyle, and 200s of stroke. #19 Quin Seider projects as a 50/100/200 freestyle sprinter who’ll fit right in as a relay piece thanks to his personal bests of 19.78/43.03/1:34.97.

Arizona transfer Tommy Palmer adds his talents to the sprint group, as does BOTR Tolu Young. Palmer has two years of eligibility left and has thrown down an 18.45 flying 50 freestyle, which should earn him a spot on the 200 freestyle relay. Young, a freshman and Fiji Olympian, will be a good training partner for Seider in the 50/100 free as he owns lifetime bests of 19.61/44.14.

HM Brady Johnson is another Sun Devil recruit who made big jumps in his high school senior season. He and Jonathon Adam should help ease the loss of Hubert Kos and Owen McDonald, though it may take Adam and the other international recruits time to adjust to yards. He’s bringing in bests of 46.65/1:42.69 in the 100/200 backstroke, times that will put him in the ‘A’ final of 2024 Big-12s, which is ASU’s new conference.

International recruits Oscar Bilbao, Lucien Verges, and Finn Kemp add their firepower to the breaststroke ranks. Verges and Kemp finaled at European Juniors, with Verges winning the 2022 200 breast title. Kemp was also a finalist at World Juniors.

This is a strong class for the Sun Devils. It’s impossible to recreate the newly turned professional Leon Marchand, this class gives Behm and the ASU coaching staff a lot to work with, though with so many international recruits it’s hard to gauge long-term impact before they’ve had a chance to adjust to yards. That doesn’t only apply to the international Sun Devil recruits, but to all the foreign freshmen, no matter what school’s cap they put on.

#7 California Golden Bears

• Top-tier additions: #3 Lucca Battaglini (NC – sprint free), HM Nick Mahabir (CA/Singapore – breast), BOTR Thackston McMullan (OH – sprint free), BOTR August Vetsch (AZ – sprint free), BOTR Freddy Klein (NC – distance free), BOTR Carter Lancaster (FL – IM), Mewen Tomac (France – back)
• The “Rest”:  Frank Applebaum (CMS (D3) grad transfer – fly/IM), Edward Huang (CA – free/back/fly), Lars Antoniak (Estonia – breast), Matthew Elliott (CA – sprint free), Trey Hesser (AZ – free), Yamato Okadome (Japan – breast), Nans Mazellier (France – sprint free/fly)

Speaking of international recruits, Cal is bringing in a strong group of its own, highlighted by Mewen Tomac, a French national record holder fresh off a home Olympic Games. Tomac is still getting his NCAA compliance sorted out, sources tell SwimSwam, so there’s some hedging on his arrival – but if that all gets straight, he he adds a strong bat to an already deep Golden Bear backstroke contingent. Japan’s Yamato Okadome, a 2022 Junior Pan Pacs silver medalist, and Estonia’s Lars Antoniak join the Cal roster, as does France’s sprint freestyler/butterflier Nans Mazellier, who arrives in Berkeley after a gap year.

Cal’s recruiting class is headlined by #3 Lucca Battaglini, the fastest 50 freestyler in the class (19.04), who projects as a 50 free/100 fly/100 freestyler in the NCAA format. Battaglini’s 19.04 propelled him up the class’s rankings as it all but guarantees Cal another 18-point relay swimmer, even if he does not crack the ‘A’ relay right away. “Best of the Rest” recruits Thackston McMullen (20.20/43.67) and August Vetsch (19.71/43.21) also add fuel to Cal’s formidable sprint group, as does Matthew Elliott (19.89/44.39).

This is a well-rounded class for the Golden Bears, as they add at least one swimmer to every discipline. BOTR Carter Lancaster (1:45.02/3:46.65) joins the IM crew, Freddy Klein (4:19.68/15:02.12) and Trey Hesser (4:19.37/15:15.56) join the distance freestylers, HM Nick Mahabir (55.13/2:01.09), Antoniak, and Okadome add their firepower to the breaststroke group, and Frank Applebaum (47.13/1:43.39) won the DIII title in the 200 fly twice.

A new era starts for Cal this season as they join the ACC. They’re also seeking to reclaim the national title after ASU beat them in 2024. This class may help them in that mission and will certainly help them make themselves known as a threat in the ACC, but more importantly, it’s an evenly spread group that should develop well in Berkeley and keep Cal at the top of the national rankings beyond this 2024-25 season.

#6 Florida Gators

• Top-tier additions: #9 Luke Whitlock (IN – distance free), HM Devin Dilger (MI – sprint free), BOTR Luke Corey (MD – distance free), BOTR Michael Mullen (FL – fly),
• The “Rest”: Matthew Cairns (England – back/free/fly), Paul Dardis (Canada – free), Fred Lindholm (Denmark – ), Aiden Norman (Canada – back), Alex Painter (England – free)

The Florida Gators did well in their domestic recruiting, snagging commitments from #9 Luke Whitlock, the fastest distance swimmer in the class and now a U.S. Olympian; HM Devin Dilger; and BOTR recruits Luke Corey and Michael Mullen. They’ve also got a growing number of Canadians on their roster as sprint freestyler Paul Dardis and backstroker Aiden Norman arrive in Gainesville this fall. Their other international recruits include Matthew Cairns, Alex Painter, and Denmark’s Fred Lindholm.

“Freestyle University” is an apt nickname for Florida and unsurprisingly, many of their recruits specialize in that discipline. Whitlock, Dilger, Corey, Dardis, and Lindholm will help them continue that freestyle legacy. Whitlock arrives in Gainesville with a sub-15 minute mile time (14:50.37), and a 500 free time (4:15.75) about a second off what it took to qualify for 2024 NCAAs. Corey also adds his talents to the distance group (1:37.3/4:21.4/15:04.8) as does Lindholm, a multi-time Danish and Nordic national and junior national champion. Dropping down in distance, Dilger is a strong sprinter for Florida who could grow into a relay role later in his career (19.69/42/72), as could Dardis, a World Juniors finalist.

But as with any team frequently contending for a top-five finish at NCAA Championships, the Gators are good at more than just one thing. Norman just swept the backstrokes at the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships and should fit in nicely with a backstroke group that contains fifth-year Adam Chaney and sophomore Jonny Marshall.

Painter and Cairns both arrive from Millfield as versatile swimmers who could swim backstroke, freestyle, or butterfly events (Painter leans towards an emphasis on sprint free and Cairns on backstroke).

Florida returns a stacked roster and all twenty of their NCAA relay legs as they look to continue their streak as SEC champions and improve on their 3rd place finish at 2024 NCAAs. With such a deep crew returning, it may be hard for these swimmers as a class to make the same immediate impact that some freshmen classes at other programs will. But even if they don’t burst onto the scene, this class has the potential to develop into a strong one that continues Florida’s conference and national success.

#5 NC State Wolfpack

• Top-tier additions: #1 Kaii Winkler (FL – sprint free), #18 Matt Marsteiner (NC – distance free), BOTR Charlie Bufton (IL – IM), BOTR Nolan Dunkel (VA – back/free), BOTR Hudson Schuricht (AZ – breast), David Betlehem (Hungary – distance free)
• The “Rest”: Simon Bermudez (VA/Colombia – free/fly/back), , Hudson DeGroote (NC – free/IM), Arsen Kozhankhmetov (Kazakhstan – breast), Calvin LeBlanc (RI – diving),  Will Schwallier (MI – diving), Brasen Walker (NC – breast), Noah Wanzer (VA – diving)

The Wolfpack’s recruiting class depth took a hit when Daniel Diehl graduated high school early and joined the roster in January—but only a small one. Kaii Winkler, our #1 recruit in this high school class, arrives on campus this fall. Winkler fractured his wrist and elbow last summer, but he still posted lifetime bests in the 200 freestyle and the 100 fly in his senior season. He swam a national high school record of 1:32.68 in the former, adding another NCAA-qualification-worthy event to his arsenal that put more distance between himself and the #2 swimmer on our list.

Winkler will make an immediate impact for the Wolfpack, both in his individual events and as a member of their relays. He’s not the only ranked recruit joining NC State either, as #18 Matt Marsteiner also suits up for NC State this fall. Marsteiner owns the second-fastest mile time in this class with a 15:00.38. He’s also a strong 200 flyer and while that may mean there’s a dirty double in his future, it does give him a third event which many distance swimmers struggle to find in an NCAA championship schedule without the 1000 free. NC State’s formidable distance core also gains David Betlehem, a Hungarian national record holder who just finished fourth in the 1500 freestyle at the 2024 Olympics (14:40.91).

NC State graduated a strong fifth-year class but they’re looking to offset the loss and continue their reign as one of the top teams in a new-look ACC by also adding Charlie Bufton, Nolan Dunkel, and Hudson Schuricht, three “Best of the Rest” recruits, who cover a wide spread of disciplines. Breaststroke is an area where the Wolfpack are often weak, and they’ve made an effort to right that by bringing in Schuricht, Arsen Kozhankhmetov, and Brasen Walker. Meanwhile, Dunkel brings in sprint freestyle talents; Bufton and Simon Bermudez add IM depth, and Bermudez in particular projects as a strong utility man.

It’s a tough call between Florida and NC State for which program breaks into the top five, but we ultimately chose the Wolfpack. They have more ranked recruits than Florida, both in the top 20 and by totaling the top 20, HMs, and BOTR. But also, in the NCAA format, Winkler is an exceptionally valuable addition which is too hard to ignore.