SwimSwam Pulse: 34.8% Think Yamato Okadome Will Be Top Male International Freshman

SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.

Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers which male first-year swimmer will make the biggest impression on their squad this season in the NCAA:

Question: Which of these international freshmen will make the biggest impact on their NCAA team?

RESULTS

• Yamato Okadome (Cal) – 34.8%
• Miroslav Knedla (Indiana) – 20.2%
• Apostolos Siskos (Harvard) – 15.1%
• Aiden Norman (Florida) – 11.0%
• David Betlehem (NC State) – 9.4%
• Junhao Chan (USC) – 4.7%
• Lucien Vergnes (ASU) – 2.7%
• Nans Mazellier (Cal) – 2.0%

There’s an influx of international freshmen on the men’s side of the NCAA this season—with more yet to arrive—and they’ve already started making an impact early in the campaign.

After some noteworthy performances from the likes of Yamato Okadome, Miroslav Knedla and Junhao Chan at some early-season meets, we took it to the SwimSwam poll to see who readers believe will be the most impactful international freshman this season.

Note that this is not an exhaustive list of first-years competing in the collegiate system from outside the United States, but rather a select group who all figure to have a chance to be valuable contributors to their team right away, but aren’t necessarily slam dunks.

Coming out on top of the poll with more than a third of the votes was Okadome, a Japanese breaststroker at Cal who turned heads when he dropped a 1:52.85 200 breaststroke during the Bears dual with UC San Diego two weeks ago.

That performance won him the event by more than six seconds at the dual, and ranks him 2nd in the NCAA this season, only trailing Carles Coll Marti‘s sizzling 1:50.77 from the SMU Classic.

Okadome, 19, also clocked 52.02 in the 100 breast, good for 5th in the country, and added a time of 1:48.45 in the 200 IM.

He joins the Bears owning impressive best times in the short course meter pool, including 27.22/58.35/2:08.13 in the breaststrokes, and seems to have needed no transition period to the NCAA, indicating he’ll be one to watch as we head into the college postseason early next year.

Earning the second-most votes in the poll was Indiana’s Miroslav Knedla, a Czech native who was a semi-finalist in the men’s 100 back at the Olympics this past summer in Paris.

Knedla showed impressive form at the SMU Classic, winning the 200 back (1:39.88) and posting a time of 45.27 in the 100 back leading off the Hoosiers 400 medley relay that ranks 1st in the nation this season.

His 200 back time sits 2nd in the NCAA, and he also posted an intriguing 21.69 lead-off 50 back on IUs 200 medley relay. He won the 2023 World Junior title in the 50 back, and given his pedigree as a 53.2 LCM backstroker, he figures to challenge for points at the NCAA Championships.

Two more backstrokers, Greece’s Apostolos Siskos and Canada’s Aiden Norman, ranked 3rd and 4th in the poll, respectively, with just over 15% of votes for Siskos and 11% for Norman.

Siskos is at Harvard, and the Crimson have yet to compete this season. However, he brings plenty of promise after qualifying for the semi-finals of the 200 back at the Olympics and winning silver in the event at the European Championships one month earlier in an elite LC time of 1:55.42.

Norman, who is at Florida, is coming off sweeping the 100 and 200 back at Junior Pan Pacs in August, and was impressive at the Gators’ SCM dual with Virginia, clocking 24.07, 51.69 and 1:51.02 in the three backstroke distances. That marks new best times in the 50 and 200 for Norman, and in the 100, he was just .01 off.

Also featured in the poll were NC State distance freestyler David Betlehem, USC’s breaststroker Junhao Chan, ASU breaststroker Lucien Vergnes and Cal freestyler Nans Mazellier.

Chan and Vergnes rank in the top seven so far this season in the men’s 200 breast, while Mazellier sits 10th in the 200 free. Betlehem, who was 4th in the 1500 free at the Paris Olympics, is slated to compete for the Wolfpack for the first time this weekend.

Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Will either SCM super-suited world record survive the rest of the year?

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The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.