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Steffi Beisel, a senior at Archbishop Mitty High School and the famed Santa Clara Swim Club in northern California, has verbally committed to the University of Arizona.
Beisel is primarily a middle-distance freestyler, 200 backstroker, and 400 IMer. In spite of a distinct event similarity to Olympic medalist Elizabeth Beisel, there’s no known close relation between the two.
At the 2019 Central Coast Section Championships as a sophomore, she won the B-final in the 500 free with a 4:57.35. While that time was 6 seconds faster than she swam as a freshman, as a freshman she placed 5th. This was the result of both a deeper field in 2019 than 2018, as well as a tough morning swim that saw her miss the A-final.
If she were in the A-final in 2019 and gone the same time, she would have placed 6th.
Best Times in Yards:
- 200 free – 1:53.94
- 500 free – 4:57.35
- 1000 free – 10:26.03
- 1650 free – 17:21.02
- 100 back – 58.04
- 200 back – 2:02.01
- 200 IM – 2:08.93
- 400 IM – 4:28.44
In long course, she has swum 2:19.36 in the 200 back, which is a Winter Juniors qualifying standard.
With the cancellation of her high school championship season, where she usually swims her best, Beisel’s times are mostly from her sophomore season.
She joins a late-breaking class of 2021 for the Wildcats that includes Alyssa Schwengel, Stella Copeland, and Lexi Duchsherer. Of that group, Schwengel (23.5/50.6) and Duchsherer (22.9/50.1) are sprinters, while Copeland (1:51/4:54) and Beisel are more middle-distance swimmers. It is a very freestyle-heavy class so far, with Beisel’s 400 IM and 200 back being the best deviation from that so far.
The Arizona women finished 6th out of 8 teams at the 2020 Pac-12 Championship meet. That was the team’s lowest finish since placing 7th at the 1994 Pac-12 Championships in what was then a 9-team field.
Among the strengths of the Arizona team last year was the mid-to-distance freestyles, where Beisel excels. That included a 9th-place finish in the 500 and 4th-place finish in the mile from the now-graduated Kirsten Jacobsen.
The Wildcats have also signed a few instant-impact swimmers in their 2020 freshman class as well, including Florida State Champion Maddy Burt (53.6/1:58.8 butterflier) and Danish freestyler Amalie Mortensen.
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Can anyone please explain how commitments are happening during NCAA dead period?
All communications are allowed currently. Just no campus visits.
No official campus visits through the Athletic department. Most colleges have been hosting zoom info sessions with current students and admissions personnel throughout the shutdowns, and a great number of colleges are open for tours through the Admissions office (socially distanced, masked, etc.) We were able to tour her top schools, reach out to the coaches ahead of time, and they even FaceTimed us to walk through the athletic facilities we could not see on the tour. For my daughter, she needed to step on campus for the final decision. We were able to talk with academic department personnel, financial aid, housing, etc.