Last year nothing could go wrong for California. They signed an outstanding class and followed it with an impressive showing at NCAA’s down at A&M. This year, in contrast, was a heartbreaker. In the water the Golden Bears came agonizingly close to bringing the NCAA title back to Berkeley. In recruiting, even the most dulcet of ringtones must have been excruciating to Head Coach Dave Durden and Assistant Greg Meehan.
| That’s because several of the recruits we spoke with had Cal on their list right up to the signing deadline. Somehow though, Durden and Meehan persevered their way to a top-ten class. To hear head coach Dave Durden say it, “We stayed very patient through this recruiting process.”
That patience paid off with the signings of sprinter Shayne Fleming and Canadian Jeremy Bagshaw. Fleming set California prep swimming history when he did what neither Mark Spitz nor Pablo Morales could do - win eight individual CCS titles. He did so, in fact, while battling flu-like symptoms, always a good intangible in a fellow airplane passenger say gives you a virus en route to NCAA’s.
Bagshaw is from Singapore and arrives at Cal via Canada. At 5’11” he’s not the biggest guy around but his strong kick and powerful walls have made the backstroker a fixture on Canadan Junior National teams.
Greg Harper could be, like Josh Daniels was this season, Cal’s next big breakout swimmer. "He is a tremendous talent who for the first time has focused on swimming in the fall,” Durden explains. That’s salivating considering his gene pool. Big sister Shelley is a Trials qualifier for Cal’s women while dad is a former pro triathlete. National Junior team member Sam Metz brings versatility while Ryan Studebaker should blossom under the tutelage of Nort Thornton’s breaststroke group.
This group, combined with few losses from Cal’s 2010 NCAA team make this a Golden Bear that shouldn’t be taken lightly in 2011.
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Michigan #2 Auburn #3 Southern Cal #4 Stanford #5 Virginia #6 Arizona #7 Tennessee #8 North Carolina #9 California #10 Purdue #11 Georgia #12 Texas #13 Texas A&M #14 Florida #15 SMU #16 Ohio State #17 Iowa #18 Indiana #19 Northwestern #20 Harvard #21 Louisville #22 Maryland #23 Minnesota #24 Navy #25 Alabama25 |
