Each spring/summer since 2012, SwimSwam has been ranking out the top NCAA swimming recruits in the nation, and the high school class of 2022 now marks the 10th class we’ve scouted.
By popular demand (and the general craving for swimming nerd content during quarantine), we’re taking a look back over those ten classes, ranking out the top NCAA swimming recruits of the past decade. Here are a few parameters for our rankings:
- As always, these rankings view the athletes through the NCAA prism: sprinters are more highly-valued for their relay contributions, short course yards take precedence over long course meters, and special value is given to having three solid scoring events over a bunch of solid events that have to be pared down to an NCAA lineup.
- The times we’ve pulled are all as of June 1 after the athlete’s junior year. That’s about the time we’ve usually done our rankings (we originally did them when recruiting opened on July 1, but have moved up to April in recent years to account for earlier recruiting cycles).
- Though the sport has undeniably gotten faster since 2012, we’re trying not to use graduation year as much of a factor, keeping our ranks based on specific times. An athlete with times that were outstanding relative to their 2013 graduating class might get a small bump when we’re splitting hairs for ranks, but we’re not re-contextualizing times based on era, for the simple reason that the research work would just get overwhelming.
- We’ve done our best to pull all the top prospects from our previous recruiting ranks, but it’s certainly possible we missed someone. If you have a submission, please let us know in the comments – but do keep in mind that we’re only ranking based on times as of June 1, junior year, and nothing beyond that.
- This is purely about recruiting value – we’re not using the lens of hindsight to knock down any recruits who ‘busted’ or to include any college-level breakouts. Our goal here is to get a sense of these swimmers from when they were prospects – we’re not ranking the top NCAA swimmers or scorers of history.
- In some cases, the order of recruits within specific classes has changed. That could be for any number of reasons. We may have changed a little in how we value certain times and events. Viewing one athlete within the context of their recruiting class may have skewed our valuations at the time, or viewing them in the context of all these elite recruits may have skewed our new values the opposite direction. At the end of the day, this is a purely subjective exercise, as it always is.
We started ranking with the high school class of 2013, which does have a few very notable recruits. The current high school sophomores (class of 2022) is our 10th class ranked – those swimmers still have another year to better their times, relative to everyone else on this list.
Without further ado, let’s get to our ranks:
Top 50 NCAA Men’s Swimming Recruits, High School Classes of 2013-2022
Included: Athlete (home state), High School Class (Rank within that class) – College program(s)
1. Ryan Hoffer (AZ), Class of 2017 (#1) – Cal Golden Bears
- 100 free: 41.23
- 50 free: 19.06
- 100 fly: 45.46
- 100 back: 45.58
Hoffer was an unreal recruit who also fit perfectly in the NCAA format. No junior has even come close to his 50/100 free times since, and he holds four #1-ranked times among swimmers on this list.
2. Carson Foster (OH), Class of 2020 (#1) – Texas Longhorns
- 400 IM: 3:40.86
- 200 IM: 1:42.54
- 200 back: 1:40.07
- 200 free: 1:32.99
- 200 fly: 1:44.11
- 100 back: 46.28
Foster is extremely versatile and great in short course and long course. The best 200 free of this field adds much-needed relay impact.
3. Andrew Seliskar (VA), Class of 2015 (#1) – Cal Golden Bears
- 200 breast: 1:52.21
- 400 IM: 3:41.19
- 200 IM: 1:43.22
- 200 fly: 1:42.55
- 200 back: 1:42.23
- 100 fly: 46.50
Seliskar was an otherworldly prospect who would probably make this top 50 with any three-event combination outside of distance free. It took until the class of 2020 for anyone to better Seliskar’s IM times as a prospect.
4. Luca Urlando (CA), Class of 2020 (#2) – Georgia Bulldogs
- 200 fly: 1:40.91
- 100 fly: 45.62
- 100 back: 45.66
- 200 IM: 1:42.99
An elite flyer, Urlando was also 52.0/1:54.3 in long course fly as of our cutoff dates.
5. Reece Whitley (PA), Class of 2018 (#1) – Cal Golden Bears
- 100 breast: 51.84
- 200 breast: 1:52.37
- 200 IM: 1:43.93
The top overall breaststroker we’ve ever ranked by a longshot.
6. Sean Grieshop (TX), Class of 2017 (#2) – Cal Golden Bears
- 1650 free: 14:45.40
- 1000 free: 8:51.27
- 500 free: 4:15.53
- 400 IM: 3:44.30
Overshadowed a little by Hoffer in his own recruiting class, Grieshop was a major talent who was also 4:15.6 in the long course 400 IM.
7. Jack Conger (MD), Class of 2013 (#1) – Texas Longhorns
- 200 back: 1:40.41
- 500 free: 4:17.51
- 50 free: 19.85
- 100 back: 46.98
Conger was our first-ever #1 recruit on the men’s side, and it took seven more recruiting classes before anyone bettered his junior-year 200 back.
8. Drew Kibler (IN), Class of 2018 (#2) – Texas Longhorns
- 200 free: 1:33.30
- 500 free: 4:15.36
- 100 free: 42.99
- 50 free: 19.66
9. Aiden Hayes (OK), Class of 2021 (#1) – NC State Wolfpack
- 200 fly: 1:41.34
- 100 fly: 46.01
- 50 free: 19.58
- 100 back: 46.31
10. Anthony Grimm (VA), Class of 2021 (#2) – Texas Longhorns
- 100 back: 45.60
- 100 breast: 52.51
- 50 free: 19.67
11. Ryan Murphy (FL), Class of 2013 (#2) – Cal Golden Bears
- 200 back: 1:40.90
- 100 back: 46.72
- 200 IM: 1:45.77
Murphy dropped to 54.9/1:57.8 in long course backstroke in the spring of his junior year. The summer after our cutoff, he would really announce himself on the national stage with times of 53.7 and 1:57.3 at Olympic Trials.
12. Jake Magahey (GA), Class of 2020 (#5) – Georgia Bulldogs
- 1650 free: 14:51.54
- 1000 free: 8:55.33
- 500 free: 4:14.61
- 200 free: 1:35.13
It doesn’t show up as well in an elite field like this, but Magahey’s freestyle range is unparalleled. In long course, he swam down to 1:48.6 and 50.5 as of our cutoff.
13. Josh Matheny (PA), Class of 2021 (#3) – Indiana Hoosiers
- 200 breast: 1:52.12
- 100 breast: 52.52
A 2:09.4 long course 200 breast is the easily best we’ve seen among top recruits within our time frame.
14. Destin Lasco (NJ), Class of 2020 (#3) – Cal Golden Bears
- 100 back: 45.93
- 200 back: 1:41.77
- 200 IM: 1:44.59
15. Adam Chaney (OH), Class of 2020 (#4) – Florida Gators
- 50 free: 19.64
- 100 free: 43.00
- 200 free: 1:35.99
16. Alexei Sancov (CA), Class of 2018 (#3) – USC Trojans
- 200 free: 1:33.93
- 500 free: 4:19.85
- 100 free: 43.46
Sancov put a lot of focus on long course in high school, highlighted by a 1:48.5 in the 200 free.
17. Jake Foster (OH), Class of 2019 (#1) – Texas Longhorns
- 200 IM: 1:44.15
- 400 IM: 3:45.46
- 200 breast: 1:55.40
18. Brendan Burns (PA), Class of 2019 (#2) – Indiana Hoosiers
- 200 fly: 1:42.94
- 200 back: 1:42.17
- 100 back: 46.24
- 100 fly: 46.61
Burns had a big senior-year breakout to 46-lows in both fly and back.
19. Patrick Callan (OK), Class of 2018 (#6) – Michigan Wolverines
- 500 free: 4:14.66
- 200 free: 1:34.06
20. Townley Haas (VA), Class of 2015 (#2) – Texas Longhorns
- 200 free: 1:35.19
- 500 free: 4:17.45
- 1000 free: 8:53.31
- 1650 free: 14:59.94
Haas had a ton of range as a junior, and was probably better in long course at 50.6/1:50.3/3:51.9.
21. Joseph Schooling (FL), Class of 2014 (#1) – Texas Longhorns
- 100 fly: 46.50
- 200 fly: 1:45.00
A 46-second butterfly as a junior in high school was outlandish back in 2013. Schooling was also 1:56.6 in the long course 200 fly.
22. Alex Valente (CA), Class of 2015 (#10) – USC Trojans
- 200 fly: 1:44.10
- 100 fly: 46.69
23. Camden Murphy (MI), Class of 2017 (#4) – Georgia Bulldogs
- 100 fly: 46.25
- 200 fly: 1:44.31
24. Bobby Finke (FL), Class of 2018 (#7) – Florida Gators
- 1650 free: 14:37.71
- 1000 free: 8:49.71
- 400 IM: 3:47.65
25. Jack Aikins (GA), Class of 2021 (#5) – Virginia Cavaliers
- 200 back: 1:41.73
- 100 free: 43.27
- 50 free: 19.68
26. Jack Dolan (MO), Class of 2019 (#3) – Arizona State Sun Devils
- 200 free: 1:34.78
- 200 back: 1:43.42
- 100 fly: 46.81
- 50 free: 19.62
27. Jack Walker (NC), Class of 2019 (#4) – Virginia Cavaliers
- 200 free: 1:33.73
- 100 free: 43.52
28. Tim Connery (NC), Class of 2021 (#4) – Michigan Wolverines
- 200 IM: 1:44.05
- 200 free: 1:34.77
- 100 fly: 46.73
Connery has a ton of versatility without a major standout event to climb this list, but 1:44.0/2:01.5 in the short course/long course 200 IM is a nice resume headline.
29. Trey Freeman (TN), Class of 2018 (#9) – Florida Gators
- 200 free: 1:34.92
- 500 free: 4:16.99
- 1000 free: 8:56.30
- 1650 free:14:59.33
30. Matt Fallon (NJ), Class of 2021 (#8)
- 400 IM: 3:44.08
- 200 breast: 1:54.18
31. Daniel Krueger (WI), Class of 2018 (#10) – Texas Longhorns
- 50 free: 19.84
- 100 free: 43.38
- 200 free: 1:35.58
32. Caeleb Dressel (FL), Class of 2014 (#2) – Florida Gators
- 50 free: 19.82
- 100 free: 43.29
- 200 free: 1:35.51
People will probably be shocked to see Dressel this low, but he didn’t really have his major breakout until his senior year of high school (18.98/42.8/1:34.6 and 45.8 in fly).
33. Max McHugh (WI), Class of 2018 (#5) – Minnesota Golden Gophers
- 100 breast: 52.46
- 200 breast: 1:55.38
34. Matthew Hirschberger (MD), Class of 2017 (#3) – Stanford Cardinal
- 1650 free: 14:51.81
- 1000 free: 8:45.11
- 500 free: 4:16.43
Hirschberger was an age-group standout who held multiple NAG records in high school.
35. Forrest Frazier (IA), Class of 2020 (#7) – Cal Golden Bears
- 100 breast: 52.51
- 200 breast: 1:55.33
36. Carsten Vissering (MD), Class of 2015 (#4) – USC Trojans
- 100 breast: 52.83
- 200 breast: 1:55.44
37. Jake Mitchell (IN), Class of 2020 (#8) – Michigan Wolverines
- 200 free: 1:34.24
- 500 free: 4:16.72
- 1650 free: 15:09.39
38. David Curtiss (PA), Class of 2021 (#11) – NC State Wolfpack
- 50 free: 19.42
- 100 free: 43.77
Elite speed, but not as much range. 21.9 in the long course 50 is incredible.
39. Ethan Heasley (OR), Class of 2020 (#10) – Texas Longhorns
- 400 IM: 3:44.25
- 1650 free: 15:03.24
- 1000 free: 8:50.51
40. Maxime Rooney (CA), Class of 2016 (#1) – Florida Gators/Texas Longhorns
- 200 free: 1:34.57
- 100 free: 43.58
Rooney was a lot more versatile than these times suggest, with long course 53.8/1:59.2 butterflys and a 1:49.5 long course freestyle as of our cutoff date.
41. Michael Taylor (GA), Class of 2017 (#5) – Florida Gators
- 200 back: 1:41.94
- 100 back: 47.17
The summer after our cutoff, Taylor went 1:56 and 53.7 in long course backstroke, which probably would have vaulted him up the board significantly.
42. Austin Katz (FL), Class of 2017 (#6) – Texas Longhorns
- 200 back: 1:41.48
- 100 back: 47.23
Just like Taylor, he had a big breakout at Olympic Trials right after our cutoff, going 1:57.2 long course back.
43. Kyle Gornay (CA), Class of 2014 (#3) – Cal Golden Bears
- 200 free: 1:34.99
- 100 fly: 46.83
- 100 back: 47.04
Here’s a name you probably haven’t heard in awhile. Gornay looked like a relay monster coming out of high school.
44. Ethan Hu (CA), Class of 2020 (#11) – Stanford Cardinal
- 100 fly: 46.25
- 200 fly: 1:45.11
53.6 in the long course 100 fly is also outstanding.
45. Curtis Ogren (CA), Class of 2014 (#5) – Stanford Cardinal
- 400 IM: 3:44.87
- 200 IM: 1:45.01
Ogren had already set a national independent high school record as a junior in high school, and was 2:03.7 in the long course 200 IM.
46. Jack LeVant (TX), Class of 2018 (#11) – Stanford Cardinal
- 200 free: 1:35.42
- 500 free: 4:18.20
- 200 fly: 1:45.20
LeVant was just starting his rise with a 1:59.5 long course butterfly a few months before the end of his junior year.
47. Mark Jurek (AZ), Class of 2016 (#6) – USC Trojans
- 200 fly: 1:43.72
- 400 IM: 3:48.32
Too easy to forget how good Jurek was out of high school, including a 1:59.4 long course butterfly.
48. Daniel Roy (WA), Class of 2018 (#14) – Stanford Cardinal
- 200 breast: 1:54.47
- 100 breast: 54.10
Roy had a lot of recruiting buzz for a huge 2:12.1 long course breaststroke.
49. Jack Alexy (NJ), Class of 2021 (#6) – Cal Golden Bears
- 100 free: 42.87
- 200 free: 1:35.52
50. Gunnar Bentz (GA), Class of 2014 (#6) – Georgia Bulldogs
- 400 IM: 3:45.80
- 200 IM: 1:45.17
- 200 fly: 1:45.66
Bentz was always a bigger long course producer than he was in short course. He was 2:02.7/4:17.4 in long course IM at this point.
Top Swimmers By Event
| Top Junior/Sophomore Times Since Class of 2013 | ||
| 50 Free | Ryan Hoffer | 19.06 |
| 100 Free | Ryan Hoffer | 41.23 |
| 200 Free | Carson Foster | 1:32.99 |
| 500 Free | Jake Magahey | 4:14.61 |
| 1000 Free** | Matthew Hirschberger | 8:45.11 |
| 1650 Free | Bobby Finke | 14:37.71 |
| 100 Back | Ryan Hoffer | 45.58 |
| 200 Back | Carson Foster | 1:40.07 |
| 100 Breast | Reece Whitley | 51.84 |
| 200 Breast | Josh Matheny | 1:52.12 |
| 100 Fly | Ryan Hoffer | 45.46 |
| 200 Fly | Luca Urlando | 1:40.91 |
| 200 IM | Carson Foster | 1:42.54 |
| 400 IM | Carson Foster | 3:40.86 |
We’ve done our best to pull out the top times as juniors from the past decade. It’s possible we’ve missed swimmers in here – if you see one, please let us know in the comments and we’ll update if we can verify:
50 Free
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Ryan Hoffer | 2017 | 19.06 |
| 2 | Matt Brownstead | 2020 | 19.55 |
| 3 | David Curtiss | 2021 | 19.42 |
| 4 | Aiden Hayes | 2021 | 19.58 |
| 5 | Jack Dolan | 2019 | 19.62 |
100 Free
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Ryan Hoffer | 2017 | 41.23 |
| 2 | Jack Alexy | 2021 | 42.87 |
| 3 | Drew Kibler | 2018 | 42.99 |
| 4 | Adam Chaney | 2020 | 43.00 |
| 5 | Sam Hoover | 2021 | 43.10 |
200 Free
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Carson Foster | 2020 | 1:32.99 |
| 2 | Drew Kibler | 2018 | 1:33.30 |
| 3 | Jack Walker | 2019 | 1:33.73 |
| 4 | Alexei Sancov | 2018 | 1:33.93 |
| 5 | Patrick Callan | 2018 | 1:34.06 |
500 Free
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Jake Magahey | 2020 | 4:14.61 |
| 2 | Patrick Callan | 2018 | 4:14.66 |
| 3 | Drew Kibler | 2018 | 4:15.36 |
| 4 | Sean Grieshop | 2017 | 4:15.53 |
| 5 | Grant Shoults | 2016 | 4:15.56 |
1000 Free
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Matthew Hirschberger | 2017 | 8:45.11 |
| 2 | Bobby Finke | 2018 | 8:49.71 |
| 3 | Ethan Heasley | 2020 | 8:50.51 |
| 4 | Sean Grieshop | 2017 | 8:51.27 |
| 5 | Aidan Burns | 2015 | 8:51.80 |
1650 Free
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Bobby Finke | 2018 | 14:37.71 |
| 2 | Sean Grieshop | 2017 | 14:45.40 |
| 3 | True Sweetser | 2016 | 14:49.43 |
| 4 | Ross Dant | 2019 | 14:50.97 |
| 5 | Jake Magahey | 2020 | 14:51.54 |
100 Back
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Ryan Hoffer | 2017 | 45.58 |
| 2 | Anthony Grimm | 2021 | 45.60 |
| 3 | Luca Urlando | 2020 | 45.66 |
| 4 | Destin Lasco | 2020 | 45.93 |
| 5 | Brendan Burns | 2019 | 46.25 |
200 Back
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Carson Foster | 2020 | 1:40.07 |
| 2 | Jack Conger | 2013 | 1:40.41 |
| 3 | Ryan Murphy | 2013 | 1:40.90 |
| 4 | Austin Katz | 2017 | 1:41.48 |
| 5 | Jack Aikins | 2021 | 1:41.73 |
100 Breast
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Reece Whitley | 2018 | 51.84 |
| 2 | Max McHugh | 2018 | 52.46 |
| 3 | Forrest Frazier | 2020 | 52.51 |
| 3 | Anthony Grimm | 2021 | 52.51 |
| 5 | Josh Matheny | 2021 | 52.52 |
200 Breast
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Josh Matheny | 2021 | 1:52.12 |
| 2 | Andrew Seliskar | 2015 | 1:52.21 |
| 3 | Reece Whitley | 2018 | 1:52.37 |
| 4 | Matt Fallon | 2021 | 1:54.18 |
| 5 | Daniel Roy | 2018 | 1:54.47 |
100 Fly
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Ryan Hoffer | 2017 | 45.46 |
| 2 | Luca Urlando | 2020 | 45.62 |
| 3 | Aiden Hayes | 2021 | 46.01 |
| 4 | Camden Murphy | 2017 | 46.25 |
| 4 | Ethan Hu | 2020 | 46.25 |
200 Fly
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Luca Urlando | 2020 | 1:40.91 |
| 2 | Aiden Hayes | 2021 | 1:41.34 |
| 3 | Matthew Fenlon | 2021 | 1:42.53 |
| 4 | Andrew Seliskar | 2015 | 1:42.55 |
| 5 | Brendan Burns | 2019 | 1:42.94 |
200 IM
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Carson Foster | 2020 | 1:42.54 |
| 2 | Luca Urlando | 2020 | 1:42.99 |
| 3 | Andrew Seliskar | 2015 | 1:43.22 |
| 4 | Reece Whitley | 2018 | 1:43.93 |
| 5 | Tim Connery | 2021 | 1:44.05 |
400 IM
| Rank | Name | Class | Time |
| 1 | Carson Foster | 2020 | 3:40.86 |
| 2 | Andrew Seliskar | 2015 | 3:41.19 |
| 3 | Matt Fallon | 2021 | 3:44.08 |
| 4 | Ethan Heasley | 2020 | 3:44.25 |
| 5 | Sean Grieshop | 2017 | 3:44.30 |
Bonus Lookback:
| Boys | ||||
| Recruiting Class | ||||
| High School Class of 2022 | Way Too Early Ranks As Sophomores | |||
| High School Class of 2021 | Way Too Early Ranks As Sophomores | Ranks as Juniors | ||
| High School Class of 2020 | Way Too Early Ranks As Sophomores | Ranks as Juniors | Re-Rank As Seniors | |
| High School Class of 2019 | Ranks as Juniors | Re-Rank As Seniors | ||
| High School Class of 2018 | Ranks as Juniors | Re-Rank As Seniors | ||
| High School Class of 2017 | Ranks as Juniors | |||
| High School Class of 2016 | Ranks as Juniors | |||
| High School Class of 2015 | Ranks as Juniors | Post-college retrospective | ||
| High School Class of 2014 | Ranks as Juniors | Post-college retrospective | ||
| High School Class of 2013 | Ranks as Juniors | Post-college retrospective | ||
Mike Jensen and mike Thomas? Both were top 3 in your recruiting classes for their respective graduations
Had them in the mix – but they mostly got crowded out because of how fast things have gotten since their grad years (2015 for Thomas, 2016 for Jensen). Thomas was 46.6 and 1:43.8 in backstroke as a junior, but wound up being more of a flyer/IMer in college. (He was 1:45.8 in fly and 3:52.3 in IM as a junior in high school). Jensen was 43.2/1:35.3 in free and 47.4 in fly as a junior. Maybe could have made the list by virtue of that 200, though we had several 1:34s left out (Carrozza, Wright, Shoults, Bybee).
Curious to see where David Nolan stacked up??
Also before this list, so I understand why he wasn’t included. But Kyle Whitaker would stack up very well from all the way back in class of 2009. Jr year times: 1:45.25 / 3:44.79 IM; 1:36.15 / 4:21 free, 1:44.46 2fly
Matt Brownstead should definitely be on that list
No love for Caspar Corbeau?
50 free: 20.1
100 free: 43.7
200 free: 1.38.1
100 breast: 53.4
200 breast: 1.55.9
Corbeau was in the mix, but he couldn’t be included over Hayden Zheng (53.0/1:54.9) or Matt Brownstead (19.5/43.7), who also didn’t make the list.
You should make the same list, but up to senior year times.
The one theme I saw but has not been brought up was how many guys on the list went to USC and sort of fell flat. Vissering managed ok but Sancov, Valente, Jurek etc never really had as much success as most predicted. Stanford as well. Of all the Cal swimmers, I was surprised to see Kyle Gornay who retired after his freshman year at Cal. Totally forgot about him. And I really wish we could see Michael Taylor recover and swim. I once thought he had the potential to be the next Ryan Murphy. Excellent article. 👏🏽
I would say Vissering was pretty good. He was mostly a one event type guy towards the end (100 breast), but he got 2nd at NCAAs and was putting up the fastest 50 breast relays splits on the medley. USC won the 200 medley his senior year
I happened to be seated next to Kyle Gornay on my flight back to SF after attending the 2019 Men’s NCAAs at Austin. Kyle has many friends from the Cal swimming program and his father is also close to the Cal swimming staff. Kyle graduated from Cal after leaving the team and is happy in the early stages of his career. A very friendly, well-spoken young man.
I didn’t ask Kyle about his reasons for leaving competitive swimming, but from other sources I believe he simply lost his love for the sport and the massive demands it requires from those who balance school and training.
Him and me both. 🍻
Totally off-topic, but since so many commenters here and just now looking at the cover of the new SwimSwam Magazine — what’s the deal with the drawstrings out? Could SwimSwam do a journalistic deep dive on that? Does he think he doesn’t have enough room in there? Seems like with his change in the stall routine he runs the risk of getting the drawstrings caught in the stall door.