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.
11. UCLA 21
*****Katie Grover- Milton, Georgia
****Sarah Kaunitz- Cupertino, California
****Maddy Burnham- Bettendorf, Iowa
****Carly Reid- Cupertino, California
**Anna Quinn- Thousand Oaks, California
*Natalie Amberg- Concord, California
*Marie-Pierre Delisle- San Jose, California
The Bruins are graduating a huge class including NCAA All-Americans Lauren Baker and Ting Quah. Despite this, Cyndi Gallagher has managed to sign seven recruits ranked in the top 250. Katie Grover is the headliner from Swim Atlanta. She has been a 52.9 in the 100 fly and 54.2 in the 100 back. Sarah Kaunitz and Carly Reid are teammates from Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics. Kaunitz has been a 1:02.1 in the 100 breast but also has swum a 23.2 in the 50 free and a 50.3 in the 100. Reid is also a sprinter who has been 23.1 and 50.4. Maddy Burnham will come to Los Angeles all the way from Iowa. She is also a sprinter who has been 23.0 in the 50, 50.8 in the 100, and 54.7 in the 100 fly. Anna Quinn is a local from LA that specializes in the 100 fly (54.3) and 500 (4:52). Amberg is a girl that can help UCLA in the relays and backstroke events while Delisle will help in the butterfly events. The Bruins have been knocking on the door for years in the Pac-12 conference and with this upcoming class could possibly break into the group consisting of the likes of Arizona and USC. Cyndi Gallagher has also been known for developing butterflyers such as All-Americans Kim Vandenberg, Yasi Jahanshahi, Bianca Casciari, Noelle Tarazona and Ting Quah. Look for this class of Bruins over the next few years as they may surprise some people.
12. Duke 20
*****Leah Goldman- Burlingame, California
****Hanna House- Carmel, Indiana
****Isabella Paez- Medley, Florida
***Abby Artmann- Cedar Park, Texas
*Verity Abel- Westport, Connecticut
*Lizzie Devitt- Rancho Santa Margarita, California
*Maria Sheridan- Charlotte, North Carolina
*Catie Miller- Las Vegas, Nevada
The Blue Devils are losing 3 scorers from the ACCs and are gaining eight possible scorers for this next season. The headliner is top-50 recruit Leah Goldman from California. She is a sprinter going 53 in the 100 fly and can also swim the 100 back, 100 free, and 100 breast. She will be a valuable relay swimmer for the Blue Devils at next year's ACCs. House is another headliner as a national-level ranked backstroker from the powerhouse of Carmel Swim Club. Paez is sprinter from the suburbs of Miami who boasts a 54 in the 100 fly and a 1:59 in the 200. Someone will be needing to fill the shoes of NCAA All-American Christine Wixted in the breaststroke events and it looks like Abby Artmann might be the gal to do so. She has swum a 1:02 100 breast and 2:14 200. Catie Miller is another breaststroker from out west. She is a better 200 breaststroker than she is in the 100, going 2:15. She also has the capability of scoring in the IMs at ACCs going 2:03 and 4:18. Verity Abel is a distance swimmer going 4:51, 9:55, and 16:30 in the 500, 1000, and 1650. Devitt is another mid-distance freestyler from Mission Viejo capable of being a factor on the 800 free relay. Maria Sheridan is an in-state product from SwimMAC Carolina that swims backstroke and butterfly. Every single one of Duke's swim recruits was ranked in the top 250 by our recruiting index. This is a big improvement for head coach Dan Colella as his program looks to improve on their seventh place ACC finish.
13. Missouri 17
*****Hannah Stevens- Lexington, Ohio
*****Rachel Hayden- Indianapolis, Indiana
****Sharlene Brady- Burlington, Kentucky
***Erin Metzger-Seymour- Westminster, Colorado
The Tigers are only losing one scoring senior from their SEC team. Greg Rhodenbaugh is turning this team into legit contenders among the crowded Southeastern Conference and he is doing so with his recruiting. Two recruits ranked in our top 50 have signed National Letters of Intent with the Tigers: Hannah Stevens and Rachel Hayden. Stevens is a backstroker who has times of 49 in the 100 free, 53.7 in the 100 back, and 1:56 in the 200 back. Rachel Hayden is another sprinter from powerhouse Carmel Swim Club who goes 22.8 in the 50 and 50.1 in the 100. Sharlene Brady comes to Mizzou from the Northern Kentucky Clippers. She has best times of 2:00 in the 200 IM and 4:17 in the 400 IM. She also has swum a 4:47 500 free. Metzger-Seymour is a butterflyer that has times of 54 in the 100 and 1:59 in the 200. She also swims a 1:48 200 free. With this class and its plethora of returning talent, the Tigers are looking to improve on their ninth place SEC finish.
14. Texas 17
*****Mary Schneider- Western Springs, Illinois
****Bethany Leap- Sarasota, Florida
****Rebecca Millard- Landera Ranch, California
****Sammie Hashbarger- McKinney, Texas
Carol Capitani is losing four big-time seniors but is gaining four more. The biggest name is Mary Schneider from the Academy Bullets. She swims a 22.6 50 free and a 49.7 100. She has also swam a 53 100 fly from her sophomore year and a 1:49 200 free from her junior year. She will be looking to fill the holes left by Ellen Lobb and Samantha Tucker. Bethany Leap is a breaststroker that goes 1:01 and 2:11. She is capable of scoring her freshman year at NCAAs and could possibly chase after Laura Sogar's school records. Rebecca Millard is a sprinter coming from Irvine Novaquatics. She boasts a 23.0 50 free and a 50.1 100. Sammie Hashbarger is a mid-distance swimmer from in-state Metroplex Aquatics. She has swum a 1:48 200 free and 4:48 500 free. Texas has not had a swimmer break 4:40 in the 500 since 1992, and Hashbarger might be the next one to do so. Capitani has built and impressive class that will help mold a team to challenge the top 5 nationally for years to come.
15. Minnesota 16
*****Brooke Zeiger- Cumberland, Rhode Island
*****Danielle Nack- Mankato, Minnesota
****Brooke Lorentzen- Mission Viejo, California
**Isabel Wyer- Deep Haven, Minnesota
With only three scorers leaving the Golden Gophers from their Big Ten championship team, Kelly Kremer has added a deep and talented class that are capable of scoring right away. Brooke Zeiger is a talented distance swimmer from the Bluefish Swim Club. Zeiger has a best time of 4:47 in the 500, 16:49 in the 1650, and 4:12 in the 400 IM that can make an immediate impact. Nack is the top 100 butterflyer in this class going 52 her junior year. She also boasts a 22.8 50 free and 1:59 200 fly from her junior year. Lorentzen swam for Bill Rose and the Mission Viejo Nadadores. She has a 1:47.8 200 free, a 4:45 500 free and a 16:28 1650. Along with Zeiger, she will help NCAA finalist Kiera Janzen in Minneapolis this fall. Wyer is a versatile swimmer going 1:59 in the 200 back, 1:49 in the 200 free, 2:04 in the 200 IM, and 56 in the 100 back.
