Olympic Trials qualifier Leticia Lelli is transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, the school announced last week, where she will have two years of eligibility left. Her older sister Tamara is a former Pitt Panther.
Lelli, an Olympic Trials qualifier, is expected to join the Panthers in the fall of 2015, and should have an immediate impact for Chuck Knoles’ program at the ACC Championships.
Lelli is primarily a freestyler, backstroker, and butterflier, meaning she could fill a lot of holes on the Pitt roster even in her first year of eligibility. In yards, best times are:
- 50 free – 23.48
- 100 free – 50.18
- 200 free – 1:47.45
- 100 back – 54.75
- 200 back – 1:57.03
- 100 fly – 54.18
- 200 fly – 2:03.66
Her lifetime bests are better than the Pitt School Records in the 200 back and 100 fly, and she’s very close in other events as well (a tenth in the 200 free, two tenths in the 100 free).
She’ll immediately replace the hole left by the outgoing Dani Des Tombes on the Pitt free relays, and on the medleys could start off as the butterflier.
If Lelli comes close to her best times, she should be a multiple-event A-finalist in the ACC. Last year, en route to an 8th place (out of 12 teams) finish at the ACC Championships, Pitt had only two swims from their women’s team place in the top 8 of an individual event.
Read about the full Pitt women’s class below.
PITTSBURGH – Head swimming and diving coach Chuck Knoles announced on Monday, Dec. 1 the addition of six women and five men student-athletes that will join the Pitt swimming and diving teams beginning with the 2015-16 season.
The women’s class features six swimmers, including Arizona transfer and Olympic Trial qualifier Leticia Lelli. Joining Lelli on the women’s squad are Meghan Joram, Maddy Thomas, Rachel Brown, Hannah Wittman and Whittaker-Anne Johnston.
For the men, four swimmers and one diver will join the team next year. The swimmers include Brian Lovasik, Mike Pichette, Aaron Sett and Nick Stachel, while local product Dominic Giordano is transferring home after a year at Florida State.
“This is by far our most talented and deepest early signing class in my tenure here,” said Knoles. “Our increased efforts in recruiting top talent, coupled with our entry into the ACC, has helped us produce a class of incoming talent for both men and women that will impact the program immediately.”
Over the next two days we will take an in-depth look at the makings of each team’s incoming student-athletes. First up is the women. The men will be showcased on Tuesday, Dec. 2.
Lelli is the most decorated and most experienced of the incoming recruits, having competed at the University of Arizona for the past two years. She will have two seasons of eligibility remaining. A native of Scottsdale, Ariz. Lelli entered Arizona as an All-American out of high school and left Chaparral High School as the school record holder in the 100 and 200 free and 100 fly. As a freshman at Arizona, Lelli helped the 800 free relay team place fourth at the Pac-12 Championships. Last year, Lelli ranked in the top six on the Wildcats squad in the 100 and 200 fly, and 100 backstroke and 100 fly. Lelli follows in the footsteps of her older sister Tamara’s, who swam at Pitt from 2008-2013.
Adding to the depth of the middle and distance freestyle races is Meghan Joram, of West Forsyth High School in North Carolina. Joram competes at the 200 free and up, but has to relay on swimming for her club team, the Northwest YMCA Riptyde, to participate in the longer 1,000 free and 1,650 free. Her top time in the 500 free is 5:00.84, which will allow her to push current swimmers Amanda Richey and Kaleigh Ritter immediately. Joram didn’t race in her best event, the 500, at the North Carolina 4A State Championship meet, but did place 12th in the 200 free. Typically a free swimmer, Joram displayed her strength in the butterfly at the 2013 YMCA National Championship, posting the second fastest time among all swimmers in the 200-yard distance with a time of 2:07.06. Joram is rated 17th by CollegeSwimming in North Carolina.
Another native of North Carolina and teammate of Joram on the Northwest YMCA Riptyde, Rachel Brown will come to Pittsburgh from High Point. Brown joins the freestyle crew, ranging anywhere between the 50-yard and 500-yard distances. This past summer, Brown had a strong showing at the YMCA National Long Course Championship, where she placed fifth in the 100 free and sixth in both the 50 free and 200 free. Her times of 26.48 seconds in the 50 and 2:04.87 in the 200 are her top times on the long course. Brown is ranked seventh in North Carolina by CollegeSwimming.
A versatile swimmer, Maddy Thomas of York, Pa., competes in the individual medley along with the middle distance free and backstroke. Thomas is another Pitt signee who benefited from a solid performance at the YMCA National Long Course Championships over summer. Her times in the 200 back, 200 breast and 200 IM are all her best times in long course events. This included a 2:18.79 effort in the 200 back, which Thomas finished seventh. She also was third in the 400 IM. Thomas is also a standout in the classroom as she was recognized on the USA Swimming Scholastic All America Team. Thomas is rated 17th in the state of Pennsylvania by College Swimming.
Also making the trek across the state to Pitt is Hannah Wittman, who attends Central Bucks East High School and swims for North Penn Aquatic Club. Wittman can swim nearly every discipline, but specializes in the individual medley and breaststroke. She is a swimmer that will be able to add to the Panthers’ depth in any number of events. At the 2014 Pennsylvania AAA State Championships, she recorded her best times in the 100 breast (1:05.01) and 200 IM (2:04.06). Just like Thomas, Wittman was also named to the USA Swimming Scholastic All America Team and currently holds four individual and one relay record for 15&U with her club team. CollegeSwimming rates her 20th in the state of Pennsylvania.
Whittaker-Anne Johnston will arrive at Pitt next year from Boca Raton High School and Saint Andrew’s Swimming in Florida. Johnston already has some Pitt ties as she swims for coach Marian Clark-Cassidy’s brother at Saint Andrew’s. Johnston, a backstroke and sprint free swimmer, missed time due to injury, but has come back stronger than ever. Just recently last month, Johnston posted her best times in the 50 back (28.55 seconds) and 100 back (58.50) at the 4A Florida State Championships. She also had her best 100 free (53.56) time a week earlier at Regionals.
Of the class, Knoles said “our goal each year in recruiting is to recruit at an even higher level of incoming talent. We achieved that goal with these fall commitments.”
Check back at PittsburghPanthers.com tomorrow to see how the men’s recruits stack up.