As July 1 has descended upon us, college coaches all across the nation are on their phones, communicating with the high school class of 2015 in hopes they can persuade them to be a part of their programs in the near future.
At collegeswimming.com, we have ranked the top 25 best recruiting classes from this past year by using the borda-count method. Who says you don't use math in everyday life? The way we did it is simple. We took the top 250 recruits on our database and matched them with their school. If you are in the top 50, you are considered a five star recruit. If you are ranked 51-100, you are a four star recruit, etc. We then determined who had the better class by taking the number of guys in each column and multiplying the sum by their star. (for example, if a school had two x five star recruits, then it would be simply two times five.) This was done in hopes of creating an accurate ranking system.
Now, these rankings really don't mean anything, because anything can happen to these athletes over the next four years. It doesn't matter how good you were in high school, you have to prove yourself in college. Athletes can get homesick, get injured, party too much, or may have already maxed out their potential in high school. Ultimately, these rankings don't mean anything. The athletes need to prove it themselves. But for now, enjoy this list, and look out for these guys and gals in the future.
21. Vanderbilt 9
***Brenda Cha- Lake Oswego, Oregon
**Breanna Sapienza- Medford, Oregon
**Kara Lucenti- Kenilworth, Illinois
**Summer Brown- Kokomo, Indiana
The Commodores have been looking up at the rest of the field for a long time in the ever-powerful Southeastern Conference but Jeremy Organ has built up a team that could be breaking into the middle of the SEC in the next few years. With 15 new school records at the 2014 SECs, Vanderbilt is on the rise. The 'Dores are only losing eight relay points from their SEC campaign and with four recruits in our top 250, expect Vandy to make some waves in Auburn at the SECs. Cha is an all-around swimmer, qualifying for junior nationals in the 200 IM, 100 breast, and 100 free. Sapienza qualified for Olympic Trials in the 100 fly, while Lucenti is a breaststroker and Brown is a middle-distance freestyler.
22. Arkansas 8
****Chelsea Tatlow- Columbia, Missouri
***Megan Strickland- San Antonio, Texas
*Chloe Hannam- Lincolnshire, England
The Razorbacks lost big points in their distance program but regain sprinters Strickland and Tatlow who are both 23 and 50 swimmers. Tatlow is also an accomplished butterflyer going 54 and 1:59. International swimmer Chloe Hannam adds to an impressive class as she swam at the British Olympic Trials in the 200 back and 400 IM going 2:14 and 4:53 long course respectively.
23. Penn State 6
****Nicole Price- Manchester, Pennsylvania
*Tommie Dillione- Newtown, Pennsylvania
*Sarah Baxter- Canandaigua, New York
The Nittany Lions are losing two stars from their team in Mackenzie Powers and Gabrielle Shishkoff, both of whom scored at NCAAs. Nicole Price is the headliner here as she is a versatile sprinter scoring a 54 in the 100 fly, 55 100 back, as well as 51 in the 100 free and a 1:48 200 free. Dillione will add depth in the 200 and 500 free, and Baxter will add depth in the 50 and 100 free.
24. Georgia Tech 6
**Alexandra Rieger- Davis, California
**Kira de Bruyn- Marietta, Georgia
*Morgan Lyons- Alpharetta, Georgia
*Megan Young- Woodstock, Georgia
The Ramblin' Wreck only lost 20 individual points and 20 relay points from their ACC run. de Bruyn and Rieger are capable of making immediate impacts in the ACC with individual and relay points.
25. Notre Dame 5
**Nicole Emery- Charlotte, North Carolina
**Molly Treble- Massapequa, New York
*Sherri McIntee- Carlsbad, California
Losing four scorers from its ACC run, the Fighting Irish managed to sign three recruits in the top 250. Emery adds to the backstroke depth, while Treble is a talented distance freestyler from Long Island. McIntee will also be a training partner to NCAA champion Emma Reaney in the breaststroke events.
