See Where SwimSwam’s Top 20 HS Girls Recruits of 2017 Have Committed

October’s almost over, which means many of the United States’ fastest high school seniors have committed to swim in college. Before we go over where everyone has ended up, we’ll remind you of our parameters for making the top 20 list:

Our goal in these rankings is to reflect what college coaches look for in recruits, based on many years of conversations and coverage.

We focus only on American-based athletes, simply because there is so much uncertainty with international recruits – if they’ll come to the states, when they’ll come to the states and with what graduating class they should be ranked. Projecting international recruits often becomes more a discussion of when they’ll first join a college program and not which program they’ll join.

A few other factors that weigh heavily in our rankings:

• Sprints over distance – Relay points count double in college swimming, and any program needs a strong stable of quality sprinters to fill out all 5 relays with studs. Obviously, a special distance swimmer can easily rank ahead of a very good 100 freestyler, but college swimming generally values a sprint freestyler over a distance swimmer, all other factors being equal.
• Improvements – Actual times are a the trump card, but any big improvements in quality can make a difference as well. For example, a swimmer who only took up year-round swimming as a junior in high school going the same time as a swimmer whose been swimming year-round since they were 8 will probably get the edge in our rankings. Think Breeja Larson.
• Short Course over Long Course – we recognize that some programs, many programs, put their focus with their high school aged swimmers on long course, especially depending on when the high school championships may fall. That said, college swimming is short course, so a swimmer who is great in short course but struggles in long course will have the advantage over the reverse.
• NCAA scoring ability – NCAAs are the big show for college teams, so we’ve weighted NCAA scoring potential very highly. Swimmers who already have NCAA scoring times wind up mostly filling out the top our of rankings. Since college athletic directors – and by extension coaches – also place high value on conference championships, scoring ability at conference meets is also a factor in our rankings.
• Relative depth in the NCAA and recruiting class – a wealth of elite depth nationwide in one stroke discipline makes a big difference in what times are considered more valuable in that event. For example, the women’s backstrokes have been loaded with stars in the NCAA the past few years. Though a 52-second backstroker is still valuable, that time won’t get you near as far as it would have in years past. In the same vein, if a recruiting class is loaded with swimmers in the same event, they all are devalued a little, relatively speaking. This year’s class of girls, for example, is thick with 22-mid sprinters and butterfliers, which makes swimmers in those events a little less valuable than an event like backstroke, where the recruiting class has less elite options to choose from.

**SWIMMERS ARE RANKED HERE IN THE EXACT ORDER AS THEY WERE WHEN THESE RANKINGS INITIALLY CAME OUT THIS JULY** 

TOP 10 SWIMMERS FROM THE CLASS OF 2017

1. Courtney Harnish – York YMCA – West York Area High School – York, PA **Verbally committed to Georgia**
Best Times: 500 free – 4:39.13, 200 fly – 1:54.37, 200 free – 1:45.62, 1650 free – 16:08.57, 400 IM – 4:11.93, 100 fly – 52.87, 100 back – 54.04, 200 back – 1:55.41

2. Sierra Schmidt – North Baltimore Aquatic Club – Erdenheim, PA **Verbally committed to Michigan**
Best Times: 1650 free – 15:57.89, 500 free – 4:38.47, 200 free – 1:47.63, 400 IM – 4:11.64

3. Margaret Aroesty – Long Island Aquatic Club – Long Beach Senior High School – Long Beach, NY **Verbally committed to USC**
Best Times: 100 breast – 58.98, 200 breast – 2:11.67, 200 IM – 1:57.76, 400 IM – 4:12.03

4. Brooke Forde – Lakeside Swim Team – Sacred Heart Academy – Louisville, KY **Verbally committed to Stanford**
Best Times: 400 IM – 4:07.49, 200 IM – 1:57.85, 200 fly – 1:57.03, 100 fly – 53.44, 200 free – 1:46.76, 200 breast – 2:11.29

5. Nikol Popov – Canyons Aquatic Club – Valencia High School – Santa Clarita, CA **Verbally committed to Tennessee**
Best Times: 100 breast – 59.64, 200 breast – 2:08.92, 200 IM – 1:58.78, 400 IM – 4:13.78

6. Lauren Pitzer – Lakeside Aquatic Club – Fossil Ridge High School – Haltom City, TX **Verbally committed to Stanford**
Best Times: 50 free – 22.66, 100 free – 48.72, 200 free – 1:45.68, 500 free – 4:42.80, 100 fly – 55.01, 400 IM – 4:16.77

7. Ashlyn Schoof – Schroeder Swim Team – Muskego High School – Muskego, WI **Verbally committed to Louisville**
Best Times: 100 back – 51.98, 200 back – 1:54.35, 200 free – 1:47.76, 100 fly – 54.46, 200 fly – 2:00.65

8. Hannah Kukurugya – Crown Point Swim Club – Crown Point High School – Crown Point, IN **Verbally committed to Stanford**
Best Times: 200 fly – 1:55.64, 100 fly – 53.44, 200 IM – 1:58.59, 400 IM – 4:18.56, 200 free – 1:47.10, 500 free – 4:47.83

9. Taylor Pike – Razorback Aquatic Club Aquahawgs – Bentonville High School – Bentonville, AR **Verbally committed to Texas A&M**
Best Times: 200 fly – 1:55.57, 100 fly – 53.54, 1650 free — 16:41.77

10. Grace Zhao – Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics – Palo Alto High School – Palo Alto, CA **Verbally committed to Stanford**
Best Times: 200 breast – 2:09.23, 100 breast – 1:00.65, 50 free – 22.75, 100 fly – 55.87

HONORABLE MENTION (#11-20)

11. Victoria Edwards –  Longhorn Aquatics – Westlake High School – Austin, TX **Verbally committed to Texas**
Best Times: 200 fly – 1:56.08, 100 fly – 52.74, 100 back – 53.30, 200 back – 1:57.79, 200 IM – 2:00.85

12. Ashley Volpenhein –  Mason Manta Rays – Mason High School – Mason, OH **Verbally committed to Stanford**
Best Times: 50 free – 22.35, 100 free – 48.96, 200 free – 1:49.39, 100 fly – 54.73

13. Marta Ciesla – Pine Crest Swimming – Pine Crest School – Fort Lauderdale, FL **Verbally committed to USC**
Best Times: 50 free – 22.52, 100 free – 48.97, 200 free – 1:49.53

14. Caitlin Tycz – Long Reach Swim Club – Brunswick High School – Brunswick, ME **Verbally committed to USC**
Best Times: 100 fly – 52.43, 200 fly – 1:58.00

15. Alexis Margett – Brea Aquatics – Glendora High School – Glendora, CA **Verbally committed to Michigan**
Best Times: 100 fly – 52.59, 200 fly – 1:57.74, 200 IM – 1:59.78, 200 breast — 2:17.66

16. Anna Belousova – Nation’s Capital Swim Club – Bethesda, MD **Verbally committed to Texas A&M**
Best Times: 200 breast – 2:09.61, 100 breast – 1:00.58, 200 IM – 1:58.71, 200 back – 1:56.11, 100 back – 54.96

17. Taylor Ault – La Mirada Armada – Sonora High School – Sonora, CA **Verbally committed to Florida**
Best Times:  200 free – 1:46.07, 500 free – 4:41.73, 1650 free – 16:13.41

18. Paige Madden – City of Mobile Swim Association – UMS-Wright Preparatory School – Mobile, AL **Verbally committed to Virginia**
Best Times: 500 free – 4:42.17, 200 free – 1:45.68, 100 free – 49.75, 200 back – 1:55.57, 100 back – 53.71

19. Joy Field – Magnolia Aquatic Club – Magnolia High School – Magnolia, TX **Verbally committed to Texas A&M**
Best Times: 1650 free – 16:02.07, 500 free – 4:45.86, 200 free – 1:49.18

20. Regan Barney – Nitro Swimming/Longhorn Aquatics – Cedar Park, TX  **Verbally committed to Georgia**     **Verbally committed to Princeton**
Best Times: 400 IM – 4:10.99, 200 IM – 1:59.06, 200 back – 1:56.23, 100 back – 54.76

Georgia and Michigan snagged the #1 and #2 recruits, respectively, but it was Stanford who has clearly landed an incoming class above the rest– it’s even scarier considering theclass that the Cardinal currently have kicking off their freshman season.

USC looks to have gotten the 2nd-best haul behind Stanford, led by #3 Margaret Aroesty. She will likely be joined by Caitlin Tycz and Marta Ciesla to combine for a formidable medley relay, and Aroesty’s breaststroke potential is exciting for the Trojans.

Meanwhile, the only other teams besides Stanford and USC to snag more than 1 of our top 20 were Michigan and Texas A&M.

The Wolverines will re-stock their distance cupboards with the addition of Sierra Schmidt, while Alexis Margett addresses an area of the Michigan team that’s just starting to get on its feet with freshman Vanessa Krause: butterfly. The Aggies load up with distance swimmers Joy Field and Taylor Pike, two studs who will help A&M in their recent battles for SEC dominance with the Georgia Bulldogs.

Our update for the high school boys class of 2017 is coming up soon.

AB