We’re about a year into the recruiting cycle for the high school class of 2023, and so far, the University of Florida men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams lead the nation with 17 verbal commitments for the fall of 2023. Eight of the student-athletes are ranked among the top-20 recruits in the class of 2023 on our respective lists of girls and boys. Moreover, head coach Anthony Nesty has earned verbal nods from both #1 swimmers, Bella Sims and Scotty Buff. The women’s team will also include Julia Podkoscielny (#10), Michaela Mattes (#12), JoJo Ramey (#15), Catie Choate, Carly Meeting, Lainy Kruger, Grace Rainey, Alex Mitchell, and Melissa Cowen; the men will welcome Jonny Marshall (#10), Caleb Maldari (#16), Andrew Taylor (#20), Josh Parent, Aleksas Savickas, and Evan Keogh.
Running a close second to the Gators is Auburn with 15 verbals (Andrew Billitto, Liam Heary, Avery Henke, Britton Spann, Harrison Ranier, Josh Noll, Lawson Ficken, Aislyn Barnett, Carissa Rinard, Katie Russell, Maggie McGuire, Michelle Kaner, Morgan Carteaux, Olivia Dinehart, Wyllo Hanson). The Tigers were first out of the gate with a number of commitments last fall.
NC State has earned 14 verbal commitments, including from #9 Hudson Williams and #13 Chase Mueller. Other pledges have come from Jerry Fox, Mitchell Ledford, Will Heck, Henry Lee, J.R. Taylor, Sam Flack, Teagan Steinmetz, Abby Woolford, Hayley Clark, Keelan Cotter, Sienna Golembiewski, and Tyler Driscoll.
Kentucky, riding a women’s conference championship title at SECs last year, has pulled down 12 verbals (AJ Abram, Lance Johnson, Alex Ochsenbein, Joshua Fisher, Elizabeth Tilt, Cassie Howell, Libby Grether, Lillie Boggs, Lily DeLong, Madi McGlothen, Megan Hutchins, and Paige Housman).
As with the class of 2022, the Southeastern Conference leads the way, garnering 80 commitments so far. The Big Ten Conference (54) and Atlantic Coast Conference (51) are alone at the next level, while the Pacific-12 Conference (21), the Big 12 Conference (14), and the Ivy League (13) are the only others with double-digit commitments.
We have written over 250 articles about prospective student-athletes from the class of 2022 who have made verbal commitments to swim or to dive for a college program. (Note: We have another 150 or so on our waiting list, and we’re getting to them as fast as we can.) Below you will find all the articles we have published to date about verbal commitments from the high school class of 2023. As always, you can sort by club team, college, conference, home state, school, LSC, etc. (We’re adding articles every day, so keep refreshing this page to get the latest articles!)
(NOTE: If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected]. Do not leave it in the comments below.)
what about international commits? or are they not included in SS rankings?
not included generally unless they’re someone who has lived and trained in the US for an extended period of time, like Taylor Ruck, who has never held American citizenship but moved to Arizona when she was one
That’s correct. It’s not that we don’t want to rank international recruits, there is just too much uncertainty about if they’re coming to swim in the states or when. We’d wind up with a top 20 half full of swimmers who never wound up in the NCAA.
OK. thanks
Even if the international swimmer has already verbally committed?
These list can change quite a bit when you can’t factor in international athletes
I have a personal bias here, but I scratch my head at swimmers who choose top programs where they are unlikely to ever see a conference roster. I believe 8 of the 9 committed to Florida’s women’s team walk in the door with SEC scoring times, but there are only 19 spots for swimmers at SECs. Those conference meet experiences can be so special, and it would be tough to miss out on them after all the work that goes into a college season.
I also wonder how much attention each athlete can get when you have 70-80 athletes on a combined team and pros.
SEC does not limit to 19 swimmers. It is 22 total athletes, so a school could take 22 swimmers and no divers. Alternatively, they could do what the Kentucky men have done and bring 6-8 divers and fewer swimmers
That’s my mistake. I knew they had a 22 athlete limit, but I saw a comment that the number of swimmers was also capped at 19. I saw Vanderbilt don’t have diving and entered 22 swimmers though, so clearly not the case.
I have personal bias on the other side, but as a top recruit you A) want to train and compete with the best and B) think you can beat the best.
If they are willing to offer you a spot they think there is at least a path to making the conference or nationals rosters. I think you need to pick the program, coach and environment you think is most likely to get the best out of you and the rest is out of your control after you did your best.
Also worth noting is how states like Florida, Texas and California have a lot of swimming talent and being in-state alone makes the degree very cheap if not… Read more »
With so much talent being splashed around to schools, it will certainly make those who can come in ‘guns blazing’ with some immediate impact at NCAA’s, to be of particular value. The days of giving a freshman 3 years to prove his / her value at college level seems to be increasingly dated.
Fla is one Rex Maurer away from a few men’s national titles
Tex is not going to FL
Very surprised that Stanford doesn’t have any…
That makes a lot more sense. It is strange though how there are so many top swimmers already committed. 1, 2, 3, 4
Partially correct for sure. However, being absolutely sure an athlete “will attend” cannot be a requirement for a pre-read. That’s would be coercive and I’m sure against NCAA rules.
You’re telling me Claire Curzan didn’t know she was admitted until she committed?!
The comment I was responding to is no longer here. Of course, the student athletes that commit to Stanford have a reasonable assurance that they will be admitted.