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

Sophie Kaufman
by Sophie Kaufman 47

September 10th, 2024 News

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.

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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

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 Vergnes, and Finn Kemp add their firepower to the breaststroke ranks. Vergnes and Kemp finaled at European Juniors, with Vergnes 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

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

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 recruit Luke Corey. 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

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.

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Virginia / Harvard over priced; a lot
24 days ago

You need to slide this entire section two spots forward, regardless of arguments over where these place in 5-8, but these 4 are clearly all well ahead of Harvard and Virginia.

Wanna Sprite?
25 days ago

More sprinters need to go to ASU. They are clearly doing something special there with the relays

Bob
25 days ago

You have Aiden Norman of Florida in best of the rest.I think you’re wrong.Top additions all day long.

mckendreefanatic
26 days ago

I’ve looked at this and the 1-4 ranking and I dont understand why McKendree bearcats are not on this list seeing as they could easily beat all of these teams in a dual meet……

James
Reply to  mckendreefanatic
26 days ago

Are you kidding? McKendree would rank high in Div 2 recruiting class, but I would put them way before all of these schools listed in the 5-8 spots

jp input is too short
Reply to  mckendreefanatic
26 days ago

C’mon man, there’s not many bigger D2 swimming fans then me, but please don’t be embarrassing.

Zeph
Reply to  mckendreefanatic
26 days ago

Why are people so oblivious to jokes

Last edited 26 days ago by Zeph
swimapologist
Reply to  Zeph
26 days ago

When the joke is just a little too real to the things they actually mean…

Swimmer
Reply to  mckendreefanatic
26 days ago

It would be nice if swimswam did a d2 version of the class rankings

Samuel Huntington
26 days ago

“Tomac is working on his compliance” Well, yea, dude’s been a professional swimmer for 5 years. lol.

Admin
Reply to  Samuel Huntington
26 days ago

Which…may not be against the rules anymore soon.

Jimbo
Reply to  Braden Keith
26 days ago

So Carson Foster, Caspar Corbeau and Drew Kibler in January?

Justin Pollard
Reply to  Jimbo
26 days ago

If they have eligibility left … I guess Carson might? But didn’t Corbeau & Kibler exhaust their eligibility?

This Guy
Reply to  Justin Pollard
26 days ago

Foster showing up for the spring would be interesting

tea rex
26 days ago

I guess only domestic high schoolers are eligible for “top-tier additions”? For all of these schools “The Rest” might be better than their “top tier”.

Wolfpack March Motor
Reply to  tea rex
26 days ago

David Betlehem is this year’s class highest placed individual swimmer at the Olympics (I believe) and it’s only shown as a BOTR. So I guess it’s only for domestic high school swimmers, which is fair. Betlehem and Tomac may be exceptions, but with international swimmers, they don’t even know what they are going to get sometimes.

ooo
Reply to  Wolfpack March Motor
26 days ago

He must be. Bronze medal in the 10K

SHRKB8
Reply to  Wolfpack March Motor
25 days ago

Betlehem is the real deal, Wolfpack have an absolute gun with his commitment. Seriously interested to see what his college training does for (or to) his Openwater endurance or ability to even race his regular Openwater swims.

limited
Reply to  SHRKB8
24 days ago

Real deal, but an odd caliber.

He should be a prohibitive favorite in the 1650 but would be a surprise to score in any other events, individual or relay.

PK Doesn't Like His Long Name
26 days ago

Mahabir’s SCY times are pretty funny.

cow from china
Reply to  PK Doesn't Like His Long Name
26 days ago

59 lcm and 55 scy is not real

PK Doesn't Like His Long Name
Reply to  cow from china
26 days ago

Nor is 2:11 and 2:01.

snailSpace
26 days ago

I understand why it’s worded that way, but the two categories of “top-tier” and “the rest” are really funny when you mostly get some fairly random high schoolers in the top-tier category, and the rest has the likes of European championship silver medalist Mewen Tomac and Olympic bronze medalist David Betlehem, who would already be among the best of the established training groups of where they are headed.

limited
Reply to  snailSpace
24 days ago

SnailSpace — Based on career bests coming in:

Betlehem should be favored in the 1650 but could very well not score elsewhere.

Tomac’s value is likely limited to two events, both Backstrokes – both of which he could compete for the podium, but he may or may not be on any relays depending on how Durden chooses to deploy Lasco.

About Sophie Kaufman

Sophie Kaufman

Sophie grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, which means yes, she does root for the Bruins, but try not to hold that against her. At 9, she joined her local club team because her best friend convinced her it would be fun. Shoulder surgery ended her competitive swimming days long ago, …

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