In his second big recruiting grab as the head coach of Arizona, new head coach Eric Hansen has earned a verbal commitment from Emma Schoettmer of Center Grove Aquatics, who is the defending Junior National Champion in the 200 breaststroke.
In July, Schoettmer went from a relatively unknown swimmer to a Junior Nationals Record holder with her 2:27.99 winning time in Palo Alto (long course meters). Her short course times haven’t been as good as her long course, which is as much a product of her continued, incredible improvement over the summer as anything else (where she had, for example, a 5-second drop in the 200 breaststroke). Her best yards times in the 100 breaststroke are 1:02.28/2:14.47, but I think that realistically, by the time she gets to Tucson, that will be a lot closer to a 1:00/2:10.
This tacks on to a class that also includes the nation’s top recruit, Bonnie Brandon. Arizona is a very young team, and will continue to be so next year, and the immediate impacts they’re getting in this freshman class will give Hansen a huge boost in building a reputation of his own in the desert.
Interestingly, while the coach at Wisconsin, he had most of his recent success with the women’s program, and that’s where his big-time recruiting has come from thus far. When he really starts to kick in with a few major men’s recruits, we’ll know he’s really got some traction going.