The USC Trojans have picked up some strong international talent, with Canadian National champion Markus Thormeyer giving his verbal to the team. Having competed for Canada internationally at the 2015 Pan American Games and Junior World Championships, Thormeyer has established himself as one of the top junior swimmers worldwide.
Thormeyer is currently training at High Performance Centre- Vancouver, where the majority of the University of British Columbia team trains. It was highly anticipated that he would go to UBC, but he’s opted instead to join Dave Salo and the Trojans.
“USC has such a beautiful campus, as well as top academics, and a strong swim team that has a great training environment. I am looking forward to being a part of one of the most prestigious programs in the country, and taking my swimming and academics to the next level. I am really excited to be a Trojan!”
While we have yet to see what Thormeyer could throw down on a short course stage, his long course times from this past summer indicate that he’s already in position to be competitive at the NCAA level.
With Canadian teammate Santo Condorelli unlikely to return to USC, Thormeyer will play a major role on USC’s sprint relays. He currently boasts a 22.77 and 49.11 in the 50 and 100 meter freestyles respectively. He’s viable for relay spots on the medleys as well, with a personal best 100 meter back of 55.59.
| Event | LCM Best |
| 50 free | 22.77 |
| 100 free | 49.11 |
| 200 free | 1:50.79 |
| 400 free | 4:01.02 |
| 100 back | 55.03 |
| 200 back | 2:01.06 |
| 100 fly | 55.59 |
| 200 IM | 2:05.49 |
Thormeyer’s string of success in 2015 included a pair of 6th place finishes at the FINA Junior World Championships in the 100 free and 100 back. He was also a part of Canada’s mixed 4×100 free relay that won gold while obliterating the Junior World Record. He split a 48.77 on that relay.
Outside of junior competition, he garnered a 7th place finish in the 100 back at this summer’s Pan Ams. He also won the 100 free at 2015 Canadian Nationals. With his talent in the sprint events, he should find plenty of good company at USC to train with. That includes the likes of Ralf Tribunstov and Dylan Carter.
Jeez guy….. I thought he was staying at the centre 🙁
I’d expect a continuance lot more internationals at USC. As an expensive private school it is harder to get 50% payers at $30K+ a year. This is even more profound an attraction for a Canadian Olympian as an example…if you look at te Canadian dollar at 1.30 to US dollars, a full ride to USC is worth $100K a year. Olympic swimmers from weaker currency countries are mana from the heavens for NCAA coaches at expensive private colleges. That isn’t popular to many US swimming people, but it is a sore reality.
With only one other men’s recruit for this USA class of ’16 (Jurek) Trojan fans waiting for some good news with international swimmers, and FINA Junior World finalist Thormeyer is excellent. He has international-caliber LC marks that translate well into into SC like they did last season for Tribunstov. Thormeyer’s recruiting profile shows he’s 6-5 and 170 so he has a great upside with some weight training. Hope USC men will have more than just 2 recruits for this class, but with private schools it always has to be quality over quantity. Trojans have done well recruiting Canadian athletes in swimming and track & field, including 2015 NCAA track sprint champion Alex DeGrasse.
That’s Andre De Grasse
Thanks, Kevin B, I had a brain cramp about DeGrasse’s first name. There’s an interesting picture of the USC track team doing cross training with the Trojan post-graduate swim team and Andre DeGrasse and Vlad Morozov posing as USC’s all-time great sprinters on the track and in the pool. DeGrasse had great results on the international track circuit (Pan Ams, Worlds, etc.) and turned down potential huge $$ to return to USC for his senior year. Thormeyer looks to have a huge upside. His Pan Am profile shows he’s actually 6-5 3/4 and just 176 pounds, so a “long and lean” build ideal for sprints and backstroke. He may qualify for the Canadian Olympic team for 2016, so like other… Read more »
well well well…looks like Swim Canada is struggling to keep athletes in the country.