Way Too Early Recruit Rankings: Girls’ High School Class of 2027

We continue our traditional recruiting coverage with our “Way Too Early” ranks of the upcoming season’s high school junior class. Since top recruits have started giving their verbal commitments earlier and earlier, we’ve moved up our rankings to help give better context to big recruiting announcements.

Before we run over our traditional ranking methodology, we should head off a few counterarguments at the pass:

• Isn’t this too early to have a good read on talent? Aren’t 16-year-old kids still improving? Maybe. On the other hand, coaches are clearly finding roster spots for kids who verbally commit this early. And if we and our readership want to have the most accurate picture of how the recruiting season is playing out, it’ll be useful to have some sort of ranking – even one still very much in flux – to refer to as big-name swimmers commit.
• But recruiting ranks don’t matter. It’s the fast-dropping swimmers and diamonds in the rough that really have the biggest NCAA impact. Not true. There are always fast-rising swimmers who quickly develop into NCAA stars. But there are far less of them than there are elite high school prospects who become high-impact NCAA swimmers. We all love the Cinderella stories, the unranked recruits who flourish into dominators. But even those rags-to-riches stories aren’t as fleshed out if they don’t have a clearly defined setup. These ranks help show us who is most likely to become NCAA standouts… but also contextualize where the eventual breakout stars originally rated compared to peers. If you, your favorite swimmer or your son/daughter isn’t ranked, don’t get mad – see it as the starting point for your/their rise to stardom.
• How accurate can these be with two-plus years of development to go before any of these swimmers compete in the NCAA? Who knows? Predicting the future never has a 100% hit rate. For these ranks, we’re a little less concerned with actual NCAA scoring times than we are in our junior/senior ranks, and probably marginally more interested in “ceilings” – wide event ranges, versatility, etc. But as with any ranking, these are ultimately nothing more than a snapshot in time: what the top of this recruiting class looks like in the moment, with full admission that a lot of these ranks can and will change by the time they finish their senior years.

THE METHODOLOGY

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 come to the United States, when they’ll come to the States and with what graduating class they should be ranked. Projecting international recruits often becomes more of 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:

• Relay Value – Relay points count double in college swimming, and any program needs a strong stable of quality sprinters to fill out all 5 relays with stars. 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 carry the most weight by a long shot. But we also keep an eye on a swimmer’s trajectory, especially in deciding between two swimmers with relatively even times.
• Short Course over Long Course – while every club and every swimmer will have a different balance of focus between short course and long course swimming, the NCAA competes in short course yards, and that’s going to be the main factor considered in these rankings. Long course times are another data point for consideration, but we mainly view them through the lens of what a big long course swim could mean for an athlete’s future in short course.
• 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 or discipline makes a big difference in what times are considered more valuable in that event. Events rise at different rates in the NCAA, but when one event gets extremely deep and fast at the college level, it makes high school prospects in those events a little less valuable, relatively, with lots of other veteran options. In the same way, a recruiting class stacked with swimmers in butterfly, for example, would make each butterflier a little less sought-after in the market, with lots of other recruiting options able to provide similar production.

Of course, there’s no way to predict the future, and the most concrete data we have to go on are cold, hard times. These rankings in no way mean that all of these 20 swimmers will be NCAA standouts, and they certainly don’t mean that no swimmer left off this list will make big contributions at the NCAA level.

THIS CLASS

• Full of versatile all-around swimmers who are strong in IM and elsewhere, especially back and fly.
• As a result, medley is deep.
• Lacking pure butterfly specialists
• Only a select few high-end breaststroke prospects, but good depth.
• Lots of rangy freestylers in the 100-500 area
• Solid sprint class with 17 swimmers sub-23 in the 50, 20 sub-50 in the 100
• Developing backstroke class, only a select few are competitive right now

TOP TIMES IN THE CLASS OF 2027

**The 1000 free isn’t an event at the Division I NCAA Championships, but is swum instead of the 1650 in many Division I dual meets and is part of the NCAA program in Division II.

With that out of the way, let’s get to our rankings.

Disclaimer: there are a lot of high school sophomores in the country, and no really good, complete, 100% accurate listing of them all. If you don’t see your favorite swimmer on the list, feel free to politely point them out in the comments. There’s a chance that we disagree with your assessment of their spot in the top 20, and so long as it’s done civilly, there’s no problem with differences of opinions. There’s also a chance that we’ve simply missed a no-brainer (we’ve taken every precaution to avoid that), and if that happens, we want to make sure we correct it.

BEST OF THE REST

Some additional names that came up in our research. For the purposes of space, we won’t include every top event for these athletes, but just a few of their standouts. Verbal commitments are listed where they’ve been reported. Each of these athletes is still an extremely high-level recruit:

• Sprint free: 
  • Vivienne Zangaro (51.5/1:47.5/4:50/10:01 FR, 1:59.2 BK, 1:59.5 FLY) **Georgia**
  • Bree Smith (22.7/49.4/1:49.8 FR, 56.0 FLY) **Stanford**
  • Delaney Barbee (22.6/50.1/1:51.3, 56.2 FLY) **Arizona State**
  • Lily Andruss (23.6/49.6/1:47.3/4:48.2, 54.4/1:58.2 BK, 2:01.8 FLY) **Ohio State**
  • Molly Lo (22.6/50.5, 55.3 BK) **Duke**
  • Alison Su (22.8/49.6/1:50.7, 54.9 BK, 54.3 FLY) **UCLA**
  • Blakely Hammel (22.9/49.7/1:48.4, 54.9 FLY, 2:03.9 IM) **Florida**
  • Sofia Oliveira (23.3/50.1/1:47.4/4:56.6, 56.3 BK, 55.4 FLY) **Duke**
  • Aria Grossenbach (22.9/49.7/1:50.9) **Louisville**
  • Addy Gebhart (22.8/49.8/1:50.1, 55.5 FLY) **Indiana**
• Distance free: 
  • Sasha Karafin (1:50.5/4:52.2/10:00/16:32) **Yale**
  • Maddy Brennan (1:49.0/4:52.7/10:00/16:33) **Louisville**
  • McKenzie Vasquez (1:49.1/4:49.7/9:55/16:37, 2:02.2/4:17 IM) **Texas A&M**
  • Jenna Frost (23.7/50.8/1:47.8/4:50.6/10:08/16:59, 55.2/2:03 FLY) **Ohio State**
  • Makenna Sherman (4:53.9/9:56/16:45) **Utah**
  • Summer Mudadu (1:50.5/4:49.1/9:54, 2:03.6 FLY) **Texas A&M**
  • Lilliana Krstolic (1:50.0/4:53.3/9:54/16:40, 55.4/2:01.4 FLY) **Georgia** (reclassified to 2026)
• Backstroke:
  • Ella Busquets (53.3/1:59.2, 23.3/50.7 FR, 54.3 FLY) **Tennessee**
  • Sutton Forbis (53.6/1:56.5, 23.2/49.8/1:49.7 FR, 54.3 FLY) **NC State**
  • Ava Eddy (53.8/1:57.9, 23.7/51.6 FR, 56.2 FLY) **Arizona State**
  • Lucy Velte (53.9/2:01.7, 22.8/50.1 FR, 54.0 FLY, 2:01.6 IM) **Northwestern**
  • Nora McCarthy (54.0/1:57.3 BK, 23.4/50.9 FR, 55.0 FLY, 2:02.6 IM) **Princeton**
• Breaststroke: 
  • Kate Canales (1:00.7/2:18.0, 23.6/50.4/1:50.7 FR, 54.5 FLY, 2:04.4 IM) **Florida**
  • Grace Pereira (1:02.6/2:13.2, 2:03.4 IM) **Auburn**
  • Logan Havermann (1:02.4/2:14.3, 56.1 BK, 2:00.0/4:22 IM) **Louisville**
  • Erin Griffis (1:02.5/2:16.5, 55.7 BK, 2:02.3/4:17 IM) **Northwestern**
  • Enna O’Young (1:02.1/2:14.1, 2:04.1 IM) **Yale**
• Butterfly: 
  • Zara Kocak (53.4/1:58.0, 23.6/51.8/1:50.7, 4:51 FR, 56.3/2:00 BK) **Indiana**
  • Faith Gorey (53.8/1:59.4, 23.2/49.7/1:47.5 FR, 2:01.5/4:20 IM) **Alabama**
  • Jordyn Glassley (53.1/2:02.4, 23.7/50.6/1:49.0 FR, 56.0/2:00.3 BK, 2:00.4/4:20 IM) **Georgia**
  • Emma Liebler (53.8/1:58.3, 23.6/51.2/1:51.8 FR, 55.6 BK) **Texas A&M**
  • Alba Arnall (54.6/1:58.7, 23.7/51.4 FR, 54.5/1:57.4 BK, 2:04.2 IM) **Cal**
  • Angelina Lista (54.0/2:01.4, 23.2/51.0 FR) **LSU**
• IM: 
  • Maren Byrne (1:59.5/4:16.8, 23.2/50.7/1:49.7 FR, 1:03.6/2:16 BR, 55.7 FLY) **North Carolina**
  • Margot Levesque (2:03.6/4:14.5, 16:50 FR, 1:59.5 BK, 2:03.7 FLY) **Virginia Tech**
  • Rowyn Wilber (2:01.1/4:15.6, 1:49.8/4:49.1/10:00 FR, 55.4/1:57.2 BK, 2:03.3 FLY) **USC**
  • Annabeth Town (2:02.2/4:16.6, 4:52.6/16:54 FR) **Northwestern**
  • Sofie Vanyo (2:00.9/4:20, 23.2/50.1/1:49.3 FR, 1:03.4/2:15.2 BR, 55.5 FLY) **North Carolina**

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Paring the list down to 20 always feels like pulling teeth. This isn’t an exhaustive list of others we considered, but the top few left off the list who made the decisions on 18-20 very difficult.

Savannah Bowers – West Hartford Aquatic Team – Miss Porter’s School – South Windsor, CT **Verbally committed to Ohio State**

Best Times:

• 200 IM: 1:59.96
• 100 free: 49.46
• 50 free: 23.13
• 200 free: 1:48.44
• 100 breast: 1:02.54

Bowers has an intriguing skill set with abilities in sprint free, breaststroke, and IM. The reigning two-time NEPSAC D2 champion in the 100 free and 200 IM, those two events are currently her best on paper, as both are within 3% of the 2025 NCAA cutline. Her victories at the NEPSAC state meet put her improvement on display: she won the 100 free in 51.71 and the 200 IM in 2:04.64 as a freshman, and then last season, she repeated with new respective best times of 49.46 and 1:59.96. With 23.1/1:48.4 best times in the 50 and 200 free, she’ll be a future relay asset in college swimming, and her 1:02.54 100 breast puts her in the upper echelon of this class, with only seven girls currently sub-1:02.

Kate Guenther – Aquatic Team Of Mecklenburg – Myers Park High School – Charlotte, NC **Verbally committed to Duke**

Best Times:

• 200 free: 1:47.82
• 100 free: 49.87
• 50 free: 23.34
• 400 IM: 4:15.63
• 200 IM: 2:01.22
• 500 free: 4:49.11
• 1650 free: 16:40.98
• 200 back: 1:58.56
• 100 back: 55.56
• 100 fly: 55.17
• 200 fly: 2:01.97

One of the more versatile swimmers in the class, Guenther is competitive across the board, from the 50 and 100 free all the way up to the mile, and she’s solid in the 100/200 back and fly to go along with having a strong medley pedigree. She’s currently strongest in the 200 free (1:47.82) and 400 IM (4:15.63), which are both Day 3 events at NCAAs, so while she may not end up racing both individually in a championship setting down, they’re arguably the two best events to be good in for a developing swimmer—the 200 free shows off freestyle range, while the 400 IM shows you’re well-versed in all four strokes and also have endurance. Guenther’s versatility will be an asset for whichever college program she chooses. She could end up being more focused on distance freestyle, more of a medley specialist, or pair the two with something like a 500 free/400 IM/1650 free lineup. At Winter Juniors – East last December, she was a finalist in the 500 free and 400 IM, and at the NCHSAA 4A state champs in February, she contested the 500 free (3rd) and 200 free (4th) individually.

Bryce Winzenread – Excel Aquatics – Mount Juliet High School – Lebanon, TN **Verbally committed to Indiana**

Best Times:

• 200 breast: 2:13.24
• 100 breast: 1:01.30
• 400 IM: 4:21.84
• 200 IM: 2:03.97

Winzenread is an up-and-coming breaststroke prospect who is coming off an impressive showing at U.S. Nationals in the long course pool, earning second swims and setting new best times in the 50 breast (32.47) and 100 breast (1:10.73). In yards, she’s made big strides in 2025, as, after setting best times of 1:02.76 in the 100 breast and 2:16.92 in the 200 breast at Winter Juniors in December, she got down to 1:01.30 and 2:13.24, respectively, three months later at the NCSA Spring Championships. Winzenread also saw big time drops in the medley events, getting down to 2:03.9/4:21.8. She projects as a pure breaststroker who adds the 200 IM as a secondary event.

Chloe Teger – Orange County Gold – Villa Park High School – Villa Park, CA **Verbally committed to NC State**

Best Times: 

• 1650 free: 16:24.70
• 1000 free: 9:50.14
• 500 free: 4:50.03

Teger is coming off delivering a breakout swim at U.S. Nationals, dropping 10 seconds in the 1500 free to place 13th overall in a time of 16:35.45. She also set a notable PB of 8:45.81 in the 800 free, and less than two weeks later, she added new bests in the 100 and 200 free (1:01.6/2:08.9) in the long-course pool. A pure distance freestyler, Teger lowered her best time in the 1650 free down to 16:24.70 in November, ranking her 4th in this class and putting her within 2% of the NCAA cutline. In the 500 free, she set a PB of 4:51.70 at that same meet, and then got down to 4:51.23 the following month, and then topped the field at the CIF-SS D1 Championships with another best time of 4:50.03.

Shannon Conway – North Baltimore Aquatic Club – Notre Dame Prep High School – Towson, MD **Verbally committed to Ohio State**

Best Times:

• 1650 free: 16:32.04
• 1000 free: 9:48.31
• 500 free: 4:48.74
• 200 free: 1:47.65
• 100 free: 49.91
• 50 free: 22.99
• 200 IM: 2:00.06
• 400 IM: 4:17.80
• 100 fly: 54.12
• 200 fly: 2:00.41
• 100 back: 54.45
• 200 back: 1:59.94

Similar to Guenther, Conway is incredibly versatile, though she’s a little more freestyle-focused. She’s got best times in the 200 and 1650 free within 3% of the cutline, and it’s impressive to have a 16:32 miler also being sub-23 in the 50 and sub-50 in the 100 as a high school sophomore. That would suggest the 500 free should be her sweet spot, but her 200 IM best time of 2:00-flat is arguably better than her 4:48.7 in the 500—by % of the cultine, the 200 IM is within 3%, while her 500 free is one second shy of 3%. It’s hard to really gauge where Conway’s focuses lie, as, at recent taper meets, she’s raced everything under the sun, taking on the freestyle events to go along with the 100 back, 100 fly and 200 IM. She is strong in back and fly, and given her free endurance, and the fact that she recently set a long course best of 4:52.9, her short course 400 IM should continue to progress. However, it’s worth noting that the only event she qualified for U.S. Nationals (LCM) in this past June was the mile.

Sofia Szymanowski – Irvine Novaquatics – Corona Del Mar High School – Newport Coast, CA **Verbally committed to Michigan**

Best Times:

• 100 breast: 1:00.66
• 200 breast: 2:12.97
• 200 IM: 2:02.83
• 200 free: 1:50.70
• 100 free: 51.79
• 50 free: 23.66

Szymanowski is one of the top breaststrokers in the class, owning the second-fastest time in the 100 (1:00.66) and being one of only five girls sub-2:13 in the 200 (2:12.97). She set new best times in the 50 free (23.66), 100 breast and 200 breast (2:13.48) at Winter Juniors –West in December, and then in April at the Far Western Championships, she brought her 200 time down to 2:12.97 while going 1:00 again in the 100 breast in May at the CIF-SS D1 Championships. Szymanowski is a developing freestyler with solid times in the 50/100/200 as a breaststroker, and her 200 IM seems poised for a breakthrough after going between 2:02.8 and 2:04.0 eight times over the last 18 months.

TOP 20 SWIMMERS FROM THE CLASS OF 2027

20. Mia Su – Santa Clara Swim Club – Archbishop Mitty High School – Sunnyvale, CA **Verbally committed to Cal**

Best Times:

• 100 breast: 1:00.86
• 200 breast: 2:12.25
• 400 IM: 4:14.71
• 200 IM: 2:01.07

Su is not only the class’s fourth-fastest 100 and 200 breaststroker, but she’s also seventh in the 400 IM, with all three times just shy of being within 2% of the NCAA cutline. She set her current best times of 1:00.86 in the 100 breast and 2:12.65 in the 200 breast at Winter Juniors – West in December, while in the 400 IM, after hitting a PB of 4:16.17 at Winter Juniors, she got down to 4:14.71 in February. The CIF state runner-up in the 100 breast, Su is also a strong 200 IMer with a PB of 2:01.07 set in November, and as a breaststroker, that will likely end up being her third event in college, given the proximity of the 400 IM and the 200 breast. She’s coming off a 16th-place finish at U.S. Nationals in the 200 breast (2:31.57 in prelims) after setting her lifetime best of 2:28.86 at the 2024 Speedo Summer Championships, where she was the runner-up.

19. Ines Arnall – Westchester Aquatic Club – Convent Of The Sacred Heart (NY) – New York City, NY

Best Times:

• 200 back: 1:55.44
• 100 back: 53.30
• 200 fly: 1:58.92
• 100 fly: 54.06
• 50 free: 23.01
• 100 free: 50.21
• 200 free: 1:48.12
• 200 IM: 2:03.58

One of the top five backstrokers in the class, Arnall is an all-around talent who had an impressive build throughout the 2024-25 season. She set four lifetime bests at Winter Juniors – East in December, including the 100 back (54.18) and 200 back (1:56.44), and then at the Senior Met Winter Champs in February, she fired off a slew of new bests in the 50 free (23.19), 100 free (50.21), 200 free (1:49.83), 100 back (53.93), 100 fly (54.06) and 200 fly (1:59.78). At the Shamrock Showdown at the end of March, she continued her run of lifetime best swims, clocking 23.01 in the 50 free, 1:48.12 in the 200 free, 53.30 in the 100 back, 1:55.44 in the 200 back and 1:58.92 in the 200 fly. Arnall projects to be a 100/200 backstroker in college with the ability to also race free and fly at a high level. A future championship schedule could include the 100 back/100 fly double.

18. Ava Jochims – Racer X Aquatics – Shady Side Academy – Gibsonia, PA

Best Times:

• 400 IM: 4:16.42
• 200 IM: 2:00.09
• 200 breast: 2:13.12
• 200 fly: 2:00.54
• 1650 free: 16:29.24
• 1000 free: 9:58.60
• 500 free: 4:50.44
• 200 free: 1:49.94
• 100 free: 51.06
• 100 breast: 1:03.00
• 100 fly: 55.75

A rare talent, Jochims is strong in both the 1650 free and the 200 breast, racing both events at U.S. Nationals last month and setting long course best times, clocking 2:33.07 in the 200 breast and 17:22.86 in the 1500 free. In yards, she had a standout showing at the U.S. Open in early December, recording times of 9:58.60 in the 1000 free, 16:29.24 in the 1650 free, and 4:16.42 in the 400 IM, and then in early 2025, added notable bests in the 200 IM (2:00.09) and 200 breast (2:13.12). Between the mile, 200 breast and both IMs, Jochims has four events where she’s within 3% of the NCAA cutline, and she’s also solid in the 100 (51.06), 200 (1:49.94) and 500 free (4:50.44). The 200 breast and 1650 free is a rare combo, and the two events tend to clash in championship schedules, so it’s hard to know where her focus will lie in a few years, but she’s so versatile she doesn’t need to make a decision any time soon. The 400 IM seems like a lock to stay on her program, however.

17. Sloane Whelehan – TAC Titans – Green Hope High School – Cary, NC **Verbally committed to Tennessee**

Best Times:

• 200 free: 1:46.98
• 100 free: 49.49
• 50 free: 22.81
• 400 IM: 4:16.31
• 200 IM: 2:00.71
• 200 back: 1:55.86
• 100 back: 54.19
• 100 fly: 54.76
• 500 free: 4:54.39

Whelehan is another all-arounder who could be regarded as a freestyler, backstroker or IMer, depending on who you’re asking. At Winter Juniors – East in December, she was an ‘A’ finalist in the 400 IM with a PB of 4:16.31 in the prelims, and she also set a new best in the 200 back (1:55.86) and recorded 22.5/49.3 relay splits racing for the TAC Titans. She carried that momentum into 2025, winning NCHSAA 4A state titles in the 50 free (22.93) and 200 free (1:46.98) while adding 22.4/48.5 relay splits for Green Hope High School in February, and then in March, she continued to drop with bests in the 50 free (22.81), 100 free (49.49), 100 back (54.19) and 100 fly (54.76) at the Speedo Sectionals in Cary. The 200 free figures to be her best event as it stands right now, and she could end up being a 50/100/200 free swimmer in college, though the IMs and 200 back could also be in the mix.

16. Isabel Wu – Santa Clara Swim Club – Archbishop Mitty High School – Sunnyvale, CA **Verbally committed to Princeton**

Best Times:

• 400 IM: 4:12.14
• 200 IM: 1:59.59
• 200 fly: 1:59.61
• 100 fly: 54.39
• 100 free: 51.02

One of the few swimmers who clearly specializes in the 200 and 400 IM in this class, Wu had a massive breakthrough in the 400 a few months ago at the Far Western Championships in April, lowering her best time by more than six seconds in 4:12.14 to make her the third-fastest swimmer in the class and just a tenth shy of being within 1% of the NCAA cutline. She was the runner-up in the 200 IM (1:59.59) and placed 3rd in the 100 fly (54.39 in prelims) at the CIF State Championships in May, and to go along with the IMs, the 200 fly could be her third event after clocking 1:59.61 at Winter Juniors – East.

15. Kaidy Stout – GSA – West Forsyth High School – Lewisville, NC **Verbally committed to Tennessee**

Best Times:

• 200 breast: 2:09.82 (best in class)
• 100 breast: 1:01.51
• 200 IM: 2:03.39
• 400 IM: 4:19.72

Not only is Stout the fastest 200 breaststroker in the class and the only one under 2:10, she’s the only one sub-2:12. The Greensboro Swimming Association product took a giant leap forward in the event this past season, having come into her sophomore season with a PB of 2:15.80 and then dropping down to 2:10.37 at the U.S. Open in December before cracking the 2:10 barrier at the North Carolina Senior Championships in late February in 2:09.82. At U.S. Nationals in June, she busted through another significant barrier in the 200 breast, breaking 2:30 in the long course pool (2:29.22) to win the ‘B’ final. Stout also took off two seconds in the SCY 100 breast last season, clocking 1:01.51, which is only slightly quicker than the opening half of her 200 (1:02.77), so she’s certainly got more time to drop there. She’ll be primarily focusing on breaststroke in college, but her 200 IM is coming along as her third event, having only broken 2:10 for the first time in November, and then getting all the way down to 2:03.39 in March.

14. Izzy Riva – Saint Petersburg Aquatics – Shorecrest Prep Academy – Saint Petersburg, FL **Verbally committed to Stanford**

Best Times:

• 1650 free: 16:23.26
• 1000 free: 9:49.52
• 500 free: 4:46.22
• 200 free: 1:48.85
• 200 back: 2:01.66
• 100 back: 56.30
• 100 fly: 56.61

Riva projects to be a 200/500/1650 freestyler in college, with the mile being her specialty. She ranks 3rd in this class with her lifetime best of 16:23.26 from Winter Juniors – East, which was just her second time racing the event. She also set a PB of 4:48.25 in the 500 free at that meet, but knocked off two seconds at Florida Senior Championships in March, clocking 4:46.22 while adding a shiny new best of 9:49.52 in the 1000. In the 200, while she might not have the top-end speed as a distance swimmer, she has been incredibly consistent with four swims between 1:48.8 and 1:48.9 from November 2024 to March 2025.

13. Abby Chan – Huntsville Swim Association – Bob Jones High School – Madison, AL **Verbally committed to Florida**

Best Times:

• 100 back: 52.66
• 50 free: 22.66
• 100 fly: 53.22
• 200 back: 2:01.88
• 100 free: 50.42

Backstroke times have been getting increasingly faster in the NCAA over the past five seasons, so although Chan is the second-fastest 100 backstroker in the class, her time is still only just under 2% shy of last year’s cutline. In three straight years, she’s lowered her 100 back PB at the NCSA Spring Championships, clocking 54.97 in 2023, 53.85 in 2024 and then 52.66 this past season. That linear progression is a positive sign moving forward, and she followed that up by hitting a new LCM best time of 1:03.42 at the AP Race London International in May. Chan has also been 24.85 in the 50 back in yards, which makes her a key player for a future 200 medley relay. She’s also strong in the 50 free (22.66) and 100 fly (53.22), giving her a pretty clear-cut three-event schedule if she’s willing to do the 100 back/100 fly double.

12. Carolin He – TAC Titans – Cary Academy – Cary, NC **Verbally committed to Stanford**

Best Times:

• 200 IM: 1:58.99
• 400 IM: 4:15.51
• 200 free: 1:47.77
• 200 breast: 2:12.59
• 100 breast: 1:01.66
• 500 free: 4:48.98
• 100 free: 50.68
• 50 free: 23.59
• 100 fly: 55.85
• 100 back: 56.19

Another all-arounder, He set the vast majority of her lifetime bests listed above at the Speedo Sectionals in Cary in early March, winning the 100 breast (1:01.66), 200 breast (2:12.59) and 200 IM (1:58.99) while placing 2nd in the 400 IM (4:15.51) and adding bests in the 100 free (50.68) and 200 free (1:47.77) on relay lead-offs (and going 56.19 in the 100 back to place 10th). That came one month after she was the runner-up in the 100 breast (1:02.39) and 200 IM (1:59.61) at the NCISAA D1 State Championships, which were both personal bests at the time, showing an impressive improvement curve throughout the winter. He’s got a well-rounded talent base, ranking top-five in the class in both the 200 breast and 200 IM, and her 100 breast and 400 IM are both options moving forward, while her 50.6/1:47.7 free times make her a future relay asset.

11. Bianca Nwaizu – Irvine Novaquatics – Calvary Chapel High School – Irvine, CA **Verbally committed to Texas**

Best Times:

• 100 breast: 59.73 (best in class)
• 200 breast: 2:12.15
• 200 IM: 2:03.70
• 100 fly: 55.91
• 50 free: 23.65
• 100 free: 51.24
• 200 free: 1:51.50

The best 100 breaststroker in the class, Nwaizu incredibly won the CIF state title in the event as a freshman last year, clocking 1:00.23 at the age of 14 to rank 5th all-time in the girls’ 13-14 age group. After chipping .01 off her best time at the Kevin Perry Senior Invitational in November (1:00.22), Nwaizu broke through the 1:00 barrier at Winter Juniors – West, clocking 59.73 to place 3rd overall behind rising Texas sophomore Piper Enge and one of the top breaststrokers in the high school class of 2025, Bella Brito. In the 200 breast, Nwaizu took a big step forward in February, taking off more than three seconds in 2:12.15 to make her the second-fastest swimmer in the class. Though she’s one of the more pure breaststrokers in the class, Nwaizu could develop into a solid sprint freestyler as well, owning a 22.81 relay split, which jumps out a bit more than her 23.65 flat start time. In the 200 IM, she’s been 2:03-high each of the last two years, so we’ll have to wait and see if that’s an event she aims at improving in the next two years.

10. Adalynn Biegler – Edina Swim Club – Monticello High School – Big Lake, MN **Verbally committed to Tennessee**

Best Times:

• 50 free: 22.27
• 100 free: 48.87
• 200 free: 1:47.01
• 100 fly: 54.31
• 200 IM: 2:00.40
• 100 back: 54.47

Biegler owns the distinction of being the third-fastest swimmer in the class in two of the most important events in college swimming, the 50 and 100 free, with elite respective best times of 22.27 and 48.87. Her progression has been steady over the past few years, going from 23.14 in the 50 free as a 13-year-old, to 22.80 at 14, and now 22.27 at 15. In the 100 free, she was 51.28 at 13, 50.21 at 14, and then took a big leap forward to hit 48.87 at 15. Biegler had a strong finish to the 2024 calendar year, winning MSHSL Class A state titles in the 50 free (22.38) and 100 free (49.20) in November before resetting her best times down to 22.27/48.87 at the U.S. Open in December, adding in new PBs in the 100 back (54.86), 100 fly (54.56) and 200 IM (2:02.17). She has since improved all three of the latter three marks, doing so at the Minnesota Senior SC Championships in March, where she also hit a new best of 1:47.01 in the 200 free. As an elite sprint freestyler, Biegler will be a highly sought-after recruit due to her relay value. As a third event, she could do any of the 200 free, 100 back or 100 fly. At the recent U.S. Nationals, she set long course best times in the 50 free (25.70), 100 free (55.58) and 50 fly (27.58).

9. Carly Afanasewicz – Phoenix Aquatic Club (NY) – Pearl River High School – Pearl River, NY **Verbally committed to NC State**

Best Times: 

• 400 IM: 4:12.01
• 200 IM: 1:59.66
• 200 back: 1:54.50
• 100 back: 53.79
• 100 fly: 53.71
• 100 free: 50.45
• 200 free: 1:49.45
• 500 free: 4:51.16
• 1650 free: 16:54.01

Afanasewicz had a breakthrough performance at the Speedo Sectionals in Ithaca in late March, setting best times en route to winning the 400 IM (4:12.01), finishing as the runner-up in the 200 back (1:54.50) and 200 IM (1:59.66) and adding a third-place finish in the 100 back (53.79). That performance came one month after she dropped new PBs in the 100 free (50.45), 200 free (1:49.45), 500 free (4:51.16) and 100 fly (53.71) at the Senior Met Winter Championships. Across those two meets, Afanasewicz really put her versatility on display. She ranks 3rd in the class in both the 200 back and 400 IM, and she’s in the top 10 in the 200 IM, with only five swimmers in the class under 1:59. Those three events project to be her hypothetical NCAA Championship lineup in the future, and her abilities in the freestyle events, the 100 back and the 100 fly, make her an option to race a wide array in dual meets.

8. Daisy Collins – North Carolina Aquatic Club – Woods Charter School – Chapel Hill, NC **Verbally committed to Texas**

Best Times: 

• 1650 free: 16:02.94 (best in class)
• 1000 free: 9:42.78
• 500 free: 4:45.36
• 200 free: 1:47.92
• 200 fly: 2:02.08
• 400 IM: 4:20.65

The class’s best 1650 freestyler by a wide margin, Collins’ mile time of 16:02.94 is more than six seconds under the NCAA cutline and just over five seconds shy of being in scoring position. That swim, which came at the GA Best of the South meet in March and marked a best time by more than seven seconds, ranks her 29th all-time in the girls’ 15-16 age group. She also set a PB of 9:43.45 in the 1000 free on the way to that time in the 1650, and then two weeks later, she managed to re-lower it to 9:42.78, ranking a close #2 in the class behind Audrey Derivaux. Collins has elevated her 200 and 500 free times to a competitive level this season as well, winning NCHSAA 1A/2A state titles in the 200 free (1:47.92) and 500 free (4:45.36) in personal best times in early February. That marked a near five-second best time from the previous season in the 500 free, and a near three-second improvement in the 200 free. Though distance swimmers have a harder time making an impact in the team standings due to their limited event opportunities in the NCAA, Collins has the potential to be a 500 free scorer, and a 200 free point producer at the conference level, to go along with her high-end ability in the mile.

7. Emily Wolf – Fishers Area Swimming Tigers – Fishers High School – Fishers, IN **Verbally committed to NC State**

Best Times: 

• 200 fly: 1:57.43
• 100 fly: 52.66
• 500 free: 4:43.89
• 200 free: 1:49.00
• 100 free: 51.24
• 100 back: 54.91
• 1650 free: 16:45.78

Wolf is one of the few swimmers in the top ranks of this class who primarily specialize in butterfly, owning the third-fastest times in the 100 fly (52.66) and 200 fly (1:57.43). Unlike most swimmers in this class, Wolf didn’t take off a big chunk of time in her best event last season. She had already been 1:57.57 in the 200 fly entering her sophomore year of high school, having done so at the 2023 Winter Junior Championships – East, and then this past December, she chipped 14 one-hundredths off that PB in 1:57.43, putting her within a half-second of being 1% off the NCAA cutline. She did, however, make a significant drop in the 100 fly, knocking off six-tenths in 52.66 at the IHSAA Girls Sectional in early February, where she also set a new PB in the 500 free of 4:43.89. One week later, she won the IHSAA state title in the 500 free and was the runner-up in the 100 fly behind the #1 ranked recruit in the class of 2025, Alex Shackell. With her 500 free getting up to a similar level to her fly events last season, Wolf has a clear three-event schedule for her future NCAA career, and she has both the speed and freestyle base to improve her 100 free (51.24) and 200 free (1:49.00) over the next two seasons to become a potential relay player.

6. Sarah Paisley Owen – Metro Atlanta Aquatic Club – Midtown High School – Atlanta, GA **Verbally committed to Notre Dame**

Best Times: 

• 50 free: 22.21
• 100 free: 48.47
• 200 free: 1:48.72
• 100 fly: 53.65

One of the premier sprint freestylers in the class, Owen is only outpaced by Rylee Erisman in the 50 and 100 free among girls in the high school class of 2027. Owen has already been 22.5 or faster seven times in the 50 free, and her personal best of 22.21 stems from December 2023 at Winter Juniors – East. Two months later, she won the Georgia high school state titles in the 50 free (22.25) and 100 free (48.94) as a freshman, setting new GHSA state records in the process (though the 100 free mark was re-broken by Katie Christopherson later in the meet). At the 2024 Winter Juniors – East this past December, she went 22.2 in the 50 free for a third time (22.26) while recording the two fastest 100 frees of her career (48.61/48.84), and then at the GHSA 4A State Championships, she defended her 50 free (22.34) and 100 free (48.47) titles, setting a new best time in the latter. Even more impressively, she recorded 21.36 and 47.37 relay splits for Midtown High School at the competition—splits on the level of a top-tier NCAA relay. For a third event, Owen saw a big drop in the 100 fly last season, going from 54.89 to 53.65 at NCSAs in March.

5. Nikki Nixon – TAC Titans – Cardinal Gibbons High School – Raleigh, NC **Verbally committed to Georgia**

Best Times: 

• 200 fly: 1:54.91
• 100 fly: 51.84
• 200 IM: 1:59.43
• 400 IM: 4:15.51
• 50 free: 23.19
• 100 free: 50.43
• 200 free: 1:51.01
• 100 back: 55.13
• 200 back: 1:59.38
• 200 breast: 2:15.57
• 100 breast: 1:03.16

The third TAC Titans swimmer ranked in the top 20, Nixon is good at everything but finds her specialty in butterfly, where she’s the only swimmer in the class besides Audrey Derivaux to be sub-52 in the 100 and sub-1:55 in the 200. After a bit of an early-season breakout with big best times of 52.10 in the 100 fly and 1:55.84 in the 200 fly at the TAC Big Southern Classic in early November, Nixon was the runner-up in the 200 fly (1:55.94) and took 7th in the 100 fly (52.54) at Winter Juniors – East in December. She took another leap forward in early 2025, winning the NCHSAA 4A state title in the 100 fly with a new lifetime best of 51.84 in February before dropping her 200 fly down to 1:54.91 at the Tarheel States meet in March. Her versatility beyond fly is impressive, owning medley times within 3% of the NCAA cutline (1:59.43/4:15.51) while also having solid freestyle (23.1/50.4), backstroke (55.1/1:59.3) and breaststroke (1:03.1/2:15.5) best times. She projects as a 100/200 butterfly swimmer who likely takes on the 200 IM as a third event, but she has no shortage of options.

4. Alyssa Ton – Irvine Novaquatics – Fountain Valley High School – Fountain Valley, CA **Verbally committed to Tennessee**

Best Times: 

• 200 free: 1:44.12
• 500 free: 4:43.39
• 100 free: 49.05
• 50 free: 22.91
• 200 IM: 1:58.65
• 400 IM: 4:12.35
• 100 fly: 53.81
• 200 fly: 1:59.18
• 200 back: 1:57.89
• 100 back: 53.68

Ton is a very strong freestyler who can go up to the 500 but really has her sweet spot come in the 200, an event in which she had an incredible run of form last season. After breaking 1:46 for the first time in May 2024 (1:45.96), Ton clocked 1:45.37 leading off the Irvine Novaquatics 800 free relay at Winter Juniors – East, then reeled off back-to-back best times during the CIF high school season at the Sunset League Championships in late April (1:44.50) and then the Southern Section Division 1 Championships in early May (1:44.12). That personal best time not only ranks her second in the class, but is under what it took to score at the 2025 NCAA Championships (1:44.18). Her 50 free (22.91), 100 free (49.05) and 500 free (4:43.39) times aren’t quite on the same level as her 200 yet, but there’s certainly potential there, with a 100/200/500 free championship schedule likely in her future. We also can’t overstate how valuable her 200 free will be for the 800 free relay—five of the top eight teams at the 2025 NCAAs in the 800 free had at least one split slower than 1:44.12. We also can’t overlook Ton’s versatility, as she got some of the better IM times in the class, coming in at 1:58.65 in the 200 and 4:12.35 in the 400. Her 100 back (53.68) and 100 fly (53.81) times show why she’s so good at IM.

3. Sadie Buckley – Nation’s Capital Swim Club – Fairfax High School – Fairfax, VA **Verbally committed to Texas**

Best Times: 

• 200 back: 1:51.99
• 200 IM: 1:56.45
• 400 IM: 4:07.87
• 500 free: 4:44.85
• 200 free: 1:46.72
• 100 free: 50.42
• 100 back: 54.03
• 200 fly: 1:59.33
• 100 back: 54.96

Buckley is a Ryan Lochte/Katinka Hosszu type swimmer with both IMs and the 200 back being her clear top-three events, though she’s strong elsewhere. Buckley’s best times of 1:51.99 in the 200 back, 1:56.45 in the 200 IM and 4:07.87 in the 400 IM are all under the 2025 NCAA cutline and rank 2nd in the class behind Audrey Derivaux. Buckley had a big performance at the U.S. Open in December, winning the 400 IM in her current PB while also setting best times in the 200 back (1:53.14), 200 IM (1:58.65), 100 free (50.80) and 200 free (1:48.20). She then caught fire again at the NCSA Spring Championships in March, setting new lifetime bests in the 200 free (1:46.72), 500 free (4:44.85), 200 back (1:51.99), 200 fly (1:59.33) and 200 IM (1:56.45). Buckley’s momentum has continued into the 2025 long course season, highlighted by new bests in the 200 back (2:10.16) and 200 IM (2:15.09). Looking at how close she is to NCAA scoring range, Buckley’s 200 back is within a quarter of a second (1:51.75), while her 400 IM is within six-tenths (4:07.29).

2. Rylee Erisman – Windermere Lakers – Windermere High School – Windermere, FL **Verbally committed to Cal, reclassified to 2026**

Best Times: 

• 100 free: 46.69 (best in class)
• 50 free: 21.61 (best in class)
• 200 free: 1:43.51 (best in class)
• 500 free: 4:43.35 (best in class)
• 100 back: 51.36 (best in class)
• 200 back: 1:54.28
• 200 IM: 1:57.54
• 400 IM: 4:15.98
• 200 fly: 1:59.12
• 100 fly: 54.34

Arguably the best sprint free prospect the U.S. has ever seen, Erisman is the fastest 16 & under American ever in the 100 free, owning the girls’ 15-16 NAG record of 46.69, which was set while she was just 15. For context, that time would’ve placed 4th at the 2025 NCAA Championships, only trailing Gretchen Walsh, Torri Huske, and coming just .01 back of Camille Spink. Erisman is also elite in the 50 free, as her lifetime best of 21.61 ranks 2nd all-time in the girls’ 15-16 age group and gives her two events fast enough to make the NCAA ‘A’ final last season. The Laker Swim product is also the fastest swimmer in the class in the 200 free (1:43.51), 500 free (4:43.35) and 100 back (51.36), and her times in the 200 back (1:54.28) and 200 IM (1:57.54) also rank right at the top. She’s also the fastest 15-year-old ever in the 100 free in long course meters, and currently ranks 2nd in the 50 free, 4th in the 100 free and 5th in the 200 free all-time in the 15-16 age group. By the time she enters college, Erisman will be a legitimate title threat in the 50 and 100 free, and probably the 200 free, making her a likely 50-plus point scorer individually right from the jump, not to mention the ability she’ll have to change her team’s relay fortunes.

1. Audrey Derivaux – Jersey Wahoos – Haddonfield Memorial High School – Haddonfield, NJ **Verbally committed to Texas**

Best Times: 

• 400 IM: 4:03.31 (best in class)
• 200 IM: 1:55.24 (best in class)
• 200 back: 1:50.91 (best in class)
• 200 fly: 1:52.78 (best in class)
• 100 fly: 51.73 (best in class)
• 1650 free: 16:06.70
• 1000 free: 9:40.62 (best in class)
• 500 free: 4:44.10
• 200 free: 1:45.20
• 100 free: 49.27
• 50 free: 22.73
• 100 back: 53.29
• 100 breast: 1:02.40
• 200 breast: 2:15.75

At 15, Derivaux is already one of the best medley swimmers in the country, and she towers over this class, owning the fastest time in six events, four of them by a wide margin. After making headlines with an appearance in the 400 IM final at the 2024 Olympic Trials at the age of 14, Derivaux was on fire at Winter Juniors – East in December, winning the 200 fly (1:55.18), 200 IM (1:55.24) and 400 IM (4:06.11) while placing 2nd in the 200 back (1:50.91), setting personal bests in all but the 200 fly. At the Speedo Southern Premier a few months later, she re-lowered her best times in the 200 fly (1:52.78) and 400 IM (4:03.31) while adding new bests in the 100 free (49.27), 200 free (1:45.20) and 100 fly (51.73). And despite her ultra-elite SCY best times, what she’s done in long course over the last few months suggests she can be even faster, clocked 2:06.68 in the 200 back in late March (#4 all-time in 15-16 age group behind three Olympic medalists in the event), 2:06.46 in the 200 fly in early May (#2 in 15-16 age group), and then bringing her best times down to 2:10.91 in the 200 IM and 4:41.39 in the 400 IM at U.S. Nationals in June, placing 5th overall in both. The Jersey Wahoos’ product is already fast enough to be an NCAA ‘A’ finalist in the 200 fly and 400 IM, and she’s also in scoring position in the 200 back and 200 IM. Her freestyle best times of 22.73, 49.27 and 1:45.20 in the 50, 100 and 200 indicate she’ll be a future relay contributor, no doubt. With the improvement curve she’s on, and her abilities across all strokes and all disciplines, the sky is the limit.

BONUS LOOKBACK:

Feeling nostalgic? Here’s a look back at our historic recruiting class rankings, plus our retrospectives of those classes after four NCAA seasons: