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.
1. California 41
*****Kyle Gornay- Yucaipa, California
*****Nick Silverthorn- Livermore, California
*****Matt Whittle- Woodland, California
*****Connor Green- Milton, Massachusetts
*****Ryan Kao- Los Angeles, California
*****Kyle Coan- Rancho Cucamonga, California
*****Justin Lynch- Vallejo, California
****Connor Hoppe- Merced, California
**Zachary Stevens- Arroyo Grande, California
To the victors go the spoils. After capturing his third NCAA championship in four years, Dave Durden has signed one of the most impressive recruiting classes ever. Seven guys ranked in our top 50 will be heading to Berkeley in the fall and they all (except one) hail from the Golden State. Kyle Gornay is a sprinter from Yucaipa who was on the 2013 U.S. World Junior team. Nick Silverthorn is a breaststroker from the Pleasanton Seahawks. Matt Whittle is an IMer from the Davis Aquadarts. Connor Green is a backstroker from the Bluefish Swim Club who was second at 2013 Junior Nationals in the 200 back. Ryan Kao is a middle-distance freestyler from Southern California. Kyle Coan is a freestyler/butterflyer from the Redlands Swim Team. Justin Lynch is a butterflyer from the Terrapins Swim Team who won the 100 fly at the 2013 Junior Nationals. Connor Hoppe is a sprint breaststroker from the Clovis Swim Team. Zachary Stevens rounds out this impressive class as a breaststroker from Puma Aquatics. Durden is a spectacular coach and an even better recruiter. The Golden Bears are losing All-Americans Jeremy Bagshaw, Tony Cox, Seth Stubblefield, and Marcin Tarczynski. Those four guys were all huge factors in their 2014 championship run, but this new wave of freshman in Berkeley could make Cal fans forget about them in no time.
2. Stanford 33
*****Curtis Ogren- Menlo Park, California
*****Andrew Liang- Palo Alto, California
*****Samuel Perry- Hamilton, New Zealand
*****Liam Egan- Boston, Massachusetts
*****Patrick Conaton- Bronxville, New York
****Brock Turner- Dayton, Ohio
****Wesley Olmsted- Gainesville, Florida
After a, relatively speaking, disappointing ninth place NCAA finish, Stanford is looking to get back into the top five at the NCAA Championships. Third year head coach Ted Knapp managed to get a stacked class to come into Palo Alto this fall to help in that mission. Curtis Ogren comes from nearby Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics and is a versatile swimmer in backstroke, breaststroke, and IM. He will be a good training partner for 2013 NCAA champion David Nolan. Ogren's teammate Andrew Liang is a sprint freestyler and also swims butterfly and backstroke. Samuel Perry is an international freestyler from New Zealand who has impressive times from the 50 to the 400. Liam Egan is a talented distance freestyler from Boston. Patrick Conaton is a backstroker from the Badger Swim Club who will add backstroke depth for the Cardinal. Brock Turner swims middle-distance freestyle, the 400 IM, and the 200 back. He hails from the Dayton Raiders and he will add much needed depth for Stanford in those events. Wesley Olmsted hails from Florida and is a sprinter that will add relay depth for Knapp. Stanford had a little bit of an off-year this past season, but with only four total scorers from their Pac-12 team leaving, they could be in for a much higher finish at the 2015 NCAA meet.
3. Michigan 32
*****Tristan Sanders- Oldsmar, Florida
*****Evan White, Oakville, Ontario
*****Patrick Ransford- Pittsford, New York
*****Paul Powers- Gainesville, Georgia
****Alexander Katz- Sarasota, Florida
****Aaron Whitaker- Chesterton, Indiana
****Ian Rainey- Westport, Connecticut
Two seasons ago, Mike Bottom captured Michigan's first NCAA title since 1995. He will be losing eight scorers from his 2014 Big Ten Championship team including Olympian Connor Jaeger and All-Americans Michael Wynalda, Kyle Whitaker, Sean Ryan, and Hassaan Abdel-Khalik. The Wolverines however are gaining a freshman class that could perhaps be just as good as the one departing. Tristan Sanders hails from Florida and is a backstroker. Michigan has been missing a true backstroker and Sanders could finally fill that hole. Evan White hails from Canada and was fifth at the 2013 World Juniors in the 200 IM. He is a very versatile swimmer capable of swimming any event. Patrick Ransford is a distance swimmer from New York who finished second in the 1500 at the 2013 US Open. Michigan has forever been known as a great distance school and Ransford could be the next great one. Paul Powers is a sprinter from Georgia and has the Georgia high school record in the 50 and 100 free. Alexander Katz is a backstroker from Florida. He won 2013 Junior Nationals in the 200 back and could also add backstroke depth to the Wolverines that they have been lacking recently. Aaron Whitaker is a very versatile swimmer from Indiana. He has Indiana high school records in the 100 fly and 100 back. He will join the legacy left by his older brother Kyle who was an All-American at Michigan. Ian Rainey is a distance swimmer from Connecticut. He also has potential of being added to the long list of great distance swimmers at Michigan. A solid new crop of young talent looks to move in to Ann Arbor to try and take the place of the champions that have come before them
4. Indiana 25
*****Blake Pieroni- Valparaiso, Indiana
*****Cody Taylor- Columbus, Indiana
****Ali Khalafalla- Fork Union, Virginia
***Ryan Gordon- Clifton Park, New York
***Teddy Kalp- Concord, Canada
**Brandon Colonis- West Lafayette, Indiana
*Jonathan Panchak- Los Gatos, California
*Timothy Martin- Jeffersonville, Indiana
*Nicholas Wonder- Bloomington, Indiana
Ray Looze is at it again. He has been known as a master recruiter and seemed to get every swimmer from the state of Indiana to come to Bloomington. Led by Indiana state record holders Blake Pieroni (100 free) and Cody Taylor (100 breast), the Hoosiers have a deep incoming freshman class. Pieroni finaled in the 100 and 200 free at the 2013 Junior Nationals and was on the U.S. World Junior Team. Taylor is a nationally ranked breaststroker who hails from nearby Columbus, Indiana. Ali Khalafalla, a sprint freestyler from Virginia, is Ray Looze's "best kept secret". Khalafalla has the potential to become a great sprinter under the leadership of new coach Dennis Dale (who one might argue was Looze's biggest recruit this past off-season). Ryan Gordon is a backstroke and IMer from New York. Teddy Kalp is a distance swimmer from Canada who could score in the Big Ten early on. Brandon Colonis is a very versatile IMer, breaststroker, and butterflyer who is capable of swimming anything (except backstroke) and doing well. Jonathan Panchak is a versatile IMer as well from Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics. Timothy Martin is another in-state product who has impressive range from the 50 free up to the 1650. Nick Wonder hails from Bloomington and he will provide sprint depth in butterfly and backstroke for the Hoosiers. Indiana is losing a ton of talent in All-Americans Cody Miller, Eric Ress, James Wells, and diver Darian Schmidt from their second place Big Ten Team. With this stacked class, Ray Looze will hope to reload in an attempt to sneak up on Michigan at 2015 Big Ten's.
5. Arizona 25
*****Rasmus Skjaerpe- Tampa, Florida
****Austin Van Overdam- Houston, Texas
****Christopher Wieser- Vacaville, California
****Keegan Shuping- Sacramento, California
***Justin Wright- Fresno, California
***Justin Beach- Colorado Springs, Colorado
**JJ Osborn- Phoenix, Arizona
Arizona had a pretty rough year with the resignation of head coach Eric Hansen and the two relay DQs at NCAA's. They will also be graduating All-Americans Giles Smith, Kevin Steel, Matt Barber, and Mitchell Friedemann. Despite the turmoil, the 'Cats have reeled in a top five class. Rasmus Skjaerpe highlights the incoming freshman group from Tampa. He is a sprinter who can swim solid in all four strokes. Austin Van Overdam hails from the Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club and he is another versatile swimmer who specializes in the IMs. Christopher Wieser hails from the Davis Aquadarts Swim Team in California and he is a pretty good distance swimmer. He will fill the hole left by All-American Matt Barber. Keegan Shuping is another sprinter who also can swim the 200 free. He will be training alongside NCAA champion in the 50 free, Brad Tandy. Justin Wright of Fresno has a fast 200 free and 100 fly. Justin Beach is a sprinter from Colorado Springs that will add relay depth to the Wildcats team. JJ Osborn is an in-state product from Phoenix Swim Club and he is another sprinter that could do well with Arizona's growing sprint program. With Rick DeMont now at the helm in Tucson, the Wildcats will be looking to improve on their relatively disappointing performance at the NCAA's and get back into the top four nationally.
