SALT LAKE CITY- Utah head swimming coach Joe Dykstra has announced that 12 recruits have signed National Letters-of-Intent during the early fall signing period. The Utes’ swim program added seven women and five men to the 2017-18 roster.
WOMEN
Emma Broome
Hometown: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Club Team: Scottsdale Aquatics Club National Team
High School: Chaparral High School
USA Scholar Athlete award winner … 2016 D2 State Champion in the 100 back, 100 fly, 200 medley relay and 400 free relay … 2015 D1 State Champion in the 100 back, 100 fly, 200 medley relay and 400 free relay … 2016 Chaparral Swim and Dive team captain … Record holder in 100 back (54.88) … Record holder in 2014/15 in 100 fly (55.07).
Dykstra on Broome: “Emma comes from Scottsdale Aquatic Club and recently won the 100 back at the Arizona High School State Championships. She is a terrific underwater kicker and can really bring some speed to the sprint back, fly, and free events. She will compete for relay spots for us right away.”
Gabby Fagan
Hometown: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Club Team: Scottsdale Aquatics Club
High School: Chaparral High School
Two-time USA Swimming Scholastic All-American … 2016 State Champion in 50 free … Arizona record holder in the 400 free relay (3:25.78) and the 200 free relay (1:35.04) … First Team All-State in 2014, 2015 and 2016 … Won three-consecutive State Championships (2014, 2015, 2016) … Top-eight finisher in the 200 free relay at the Junior Nationals in 2015 … Took sixth in the 50 free at the Spring Western Zone Sectionals in 2016 … Top-eight finisher at the 2016 Speedo Sectionals … Awarded the National Age Group Award in 2016 (200 free relay and the 800 free relay).
Dykstra on Fagan: “Gabby is one of three student-athletes that have signed with us from the Scottsdale Aquatic Club, which is one of the very best development programs in the nation right now. She was a great fit with our team and will add depth to our sprint group which is always needed.”
Mandy Gebhart
Hometown: Boulder City, Nev.
Club Team: Desert Storm Swimming
High School: Boulder City High School
Member of the State Championship team 2014, ‘15, ‘16 … Team captain … Individual winner in the 500 free, sophomore and junior year … Contributed to the 200 medley and 400 free relay state winner 2015 and ‘16
Dykstra on Gebhart: “We needed to bring in some distance swimmers on the women’s side in this class and Mandy is a good one. We got a late start in the recruitment of Mandy out of Las Vegas but it immediately seemed like a great fit to have her join our team and distance group.”
Clare Greenlow
Hometown: Menlo Park, Calif.
Club Team: Stanford Diving Club
High School: Saint Francis High School
Current record holder for St. Francis High School … 2015 WCAL Winner … Took seventh at the Central Costa Section 2015 … Performed at Zones in Utah over the summer, scored a 418.05 on one-meter and 418.30 on the three-meter … Placed 25th at the 2016 Nationals … 2016/17 team captain
Marschner on Greenlow: “Clare is a rising star as she was very impressive in the competitions I was able to watch her at this past summer. She is a very strong competitor on all three events and will have an immediate impact with the team. Most importantly, I know that she is a great personality fit with the hard working and positive team atmosphere that we have developed here at Utah. I’m looking forward to helping her succeed both in and out of the pool as she pursues her academic and athletic goals with us.”
Grace Horvath
Hometown: Phoenix, Ariz.
Club Team: Mesa Aquatics Club
High School: Mountain Pointe High School
Member of the Junior Nationals Swim Team … Medaled at the state championships during her sophomore year of high school … Awarded All-City and All-State Awards all three years … Medaled at Sectionals … Competed at Junior Nationals.
Dykstra on Horvath: “Grace is another Scottsdale swimmer with a big upside. She is a breaststroke and IM specialist and will help us to overcome the graduations of Stina Colleou and Brianna Francis after this season.”
Sara McClendon
Hometown: Mansfield, Tex.
Club Team: Mansfield Aquatic Team
High School: Mansfield High School
Academic All-State 2015-16 … All-American in 500 free … Summer and Winter Junior National Qualifier … First Team All-District, All-Region and All-State for three years … High School record holder in the 500 free and 100 fly … Mansfield Swimmer of the Year for two years.
Dykstra on McClendon: “Sara is a terrific mid-distance/distance freestyler. She will walk in the door capable of scoring points in the Pac-12 in multiple events and will challenge for a spot on our 800 freestyle relay. I have coached swimmers from her club team in Mansfield previously and they are well prepared to make continued improvements in college.”
Rebecca Zeiger
Hometown: Cumberland, RI
Club Team: Crimson Aquatics
High School: Home school
Junior National Qualifier … Coached by Carl Cederquist … Parents, Peter and Whitney Zeiger, both swam Division 1 … Mother won Division II NCAA Championship at University of Maine.
Dykstra on Zeiger: “Rebecca is a very versatile swimmer who will be a top performer for us in back, IM, and mid-distance free. Her older sisters are highly successful NCAA swimmers and we were thrilled that Rebecca chose to do her collegiate swimming with the Utes.”
MEN
Chris Eddy
Hometown: Loveland, Co.
Club Team: Loveland Swim Club
High School: Thompson Valley
Competed in the Junior Nationals … All-City Award … Awarded 2014 Most Outstanding Male Athlete … Awarded 2016 Coaches Special Recognition … Won the Golden Eagle Award for swimming in 2016 … All-American consideration in the 500 free junior year of high school (took second, 4:35.31) … Personal best in the 200 free with a time of 1:42.29 … Team captain
Dykstra on Eddy: “I am very excited to get another swimmer from the Loveland Swim Club. Chris had a very strong past year of improvements and he will immediately come add to our very young and deep group of distance swimmers.”
Cam Heidenreich
Hometown: Phoenix, Ariz.
Club Team: Phoenix Swim Club
High School: Horizon HS
State Champion in both the 100 breast and 200 individual medley … Sectional Champion in the 200 individual medley and a Junior Qualifier in the event with a top long course time of 2:08 and short course time of 1:50 … Also swam top times of 56 seconds in the 100 breast, 50.8 seconds in the 100 back and 46 seconds in the 100 free
Dykstra on Heidenreich: “Cam comes to us from the Phoenix Swim Club where he got to work with Coach Behm. He is talented in multiple areas and can contribute points for us in breaststroke, IM, and sprint freestyle.”
David Fridlander
Hometown: Netanya, Israel
Club Team:
High School:
Qualified for the 2013 LCM European Swimming Championships … Made it to semifinals in the 200 back … Competed in 2015 SCM European Championships … After high school graduation, was drafted into the Israeli Defense Force for mandatory service … Personal best times in long course for the 50 back (26.4), 100 back (55.61) and the 200 back (2:02.2).
Dykstra on Fridlander: “David is one of the top swimmers in Israel and is a backstroke specialist. He has represented Israel on a pair of occasions at the European Championships and his top times in long course are well under the US Olympic Trial standards. He is in the final year of his mandatory service in the IDF and we are thrilled that he will come to Utah.”
Jenner Pennock
Hometown: Temecula, Calif.
Club Team: Turn N Burn Diving
High School: Great Oak High School
Awarded Most Valuable Diver 2014, ’15 and ‘16 … Team captain for senior year … Took third on one-meter and three-meter at the 2016 Regionals … Tallied scores of 503.15 on the three-meter, 455.9 on the one-meter and 418.05 on the platform event.
Marschner on Pennock: “Jenner really impressed myself and the team on his recruiting trip and we knew that he was someone we had to have on the team. He will be able to come in and add some depth to our men’s squad next year while contributing at the Pac-12 level right away. It’s so important for us to not only get great athletes, but also that we get great people who will represent the University of Utah well. We have definitely struck gold with our two diving recruits in both regards.”
Grant Thompson
Hometown: Austin, Tex.
Club Team: Austin Swim Club
High School: Fusion Academy Austin, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School
USA Swimming Scholastic Academic All-American … Finished second place in 200 IM at Southern Preparatory Conference Championship … Took third in 500 free during freshman year … Finalist in 400 IM at 2016 Summer Junior Nationals … One of 48 men selected to attend USA Swimming Select Zone Camp in 2013/14 … Two-time 2016 Futures Championships medalist … Winter Nationals Qualifier … Won second place in the 200 free relay at the 2016 Summer Junior Nationals.
Dykstra on Thompson: “We are so excited to welcome Grant to Utah. I think he has a ton of potential and comes highly recommended by his club coach Brendan Hansen, an Olympic and World Champion breaststroker for the USA. Grant had a great summer season after dealing with an injury during last winter’s short course season. He will help us out a great deal in the medleys.”
News courtesy of Utah Athletics.
