Men's Recruiting: #7 - California

Coaches Dave Durden and Greg Meehan didn’t go far to secure their first recruiting class at Cal.  They didn’t have to.  Half of the class comes from within an hour of campus and all six incomers hail from in state with five of the six ranking in our top-100.  

"Recruiting within the state is a top priority for us.  Nationally, we have some of the best clubs and club coaches here in our home state, and we want  California swimmers to stay in California," explains Durden.  "It creates a very unique environment where, in some cases, we have guys that have competed against each other since they were age groupers and now they find themselves teammates at Cal."

Those athletes go into an environment, "surrounded by world record holders, Olympians, and national champions on a daily basis," explains Durden who
confesses to being, "inspired by the accomplishments of our athletes and the wisdom of the coaches around me."

Chris Packer shares the same vision.  That he’s a part of such an all-star class excites the incoming freshman, "I am very excited (and a little nervous) about training with some of the fastest swimmers on the planet every day. I can’t wait to be training with world class swimmers and I think that this will  help me to become a stronger and faster swimmer."

The recruits making the biggest trip are the biggest pickups for the Golden Bears.  Tom Shields comes to Berkeley with a National High School record on his resume and a penchant for big time relay swims.  He will have a chance to impact the Cal relays right away.  His 42.88 split at his CIF Championship meet is in line with those on Cal’s 400 Free Relay this year and his 200 freestyle would have placed 7th at this year’s NCAA Championships.

Trevor Hoyt is the other recruit making the long trip up I-5 to Berkeley.  Hoyt had a shorter commute, having signed a letter of intent to enroll at Southern Cal.  The current economic environment forced him to look at other options – which he found upstate.  Hoyt is one of the nation’s top breaststrokers and IM’ers who can also swim a little butterfly and mid-distance freestyle.  

Cal’s third member of the Top-20 is Ben Hinshaw.  Indiana signed big brother Ryan a year ago, undoubtedly with the thought that it might help land the little brother, but Ben opted to stay close to home.  Durden is happy he did.  The National Junior Teamer is the fifth-fastest incoming 200 IMer this season and among Americans, the fourth fastest incoming 500 freestyle.   

Nick Trowbridge, is the latest in a long list of Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics’ swimmers to gravitate towards Berkeley.  Trowbridge and Hinshaw were a part of PASA’s Junior National Champion 800m free relay last summer and his father was an NCAA Champion at Cal and member of the 1980 Olympic team selection. Nick is ranked among the top ten in the 200 freestyle and top twenty-five in the 500 freestyle and both backstrokes.  

"We got a little bit of everything in this class," Durden told CollegeSwimming.com and he wasn’t lying. With back (Trowbridge), breast (Hoyt), and free (Shields) covered, Durden rounded out the best incoming freshman relay with an exceptional flyer/IM’er in Austin Brown.  Brown is ranked highest in the 200 butterfly, but like most of the class, he offers a little bit of everything.  

"I like that these guys are versatile," Durden adds.  "They all have three or more events that they excel at which will add both to our training environment and our championship meet dynamic."  

Packer rounds out his class.  Packer is a sprinter with loads of promise, owing mostly to the fact that the kid has never touched a weight.  He, like Shields was left impressed by the Cal strength and power program.  "I think that the facilities and staff they have in the strength department are incredible, especially for sprinting," he explains.  "

Strength and power are one thing, but making local connections will provide longer-term success for Durden and crew.  "Locally, our athletes do a great job of keeping us connected with the talent within the state," explains Durden.  "There is always someone that ends up at Cal upon the recommendation of one of our guys."  One of those guys might be Adam Hinshaw, the  youngest (and potentially best) of the three Hinshaw brothers.  Ben admitted as much, telling the Orange County Register, "He should easily be able to beat my records before he is done."

Nothing would please his new coaches more than having those be California University records.

7	79.61	Shields, Tom	Edison, CA	Irvine Novaquatics
15	72.92	Hoyt, Trevor	Yucaipa, CA	Yucaipa Swim Team
17	72.06	Hinshaw, Ben	Saratoga, CA	Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics
70	64.81	Brown, Austin	Redlands, CA	Redlands Swim Team
77	64.12	Trowbridge, Nick	Mountain View, CA	Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics
111	60.84	Packer, Chris	Tiburon, CA	North Bay Aquatics