Quality and depth are what McMaster swimming head coach Grey Fairley believes he has added this summer, with a 2017 recruiting class of 13 women and 11 men bound for the Marauders in the fall.
Rookies arrive from across the country, with two representatives from British Columbia and another two hailing from Alberta among the women’s class.
Concentrated largely around the sprint distances, the women’s class encapsulates all strokes but the breaststroke, and Fairley argues that it is the deepest recruiting group that the McMaster women’s team has ever enjoyed.
“We have had years, with (Olympian) Joanne Malar and (McMaster Hall of Famer) Janet Cook for example, where we had a few stars,” said Fairley.
“But we have never had a recruiting class with the depth of this one.”
Well versed in McMaster’s swimming past, as a program alumnus himself, Fairley served as the team’s recruiting lead under head coach Gaye Stratton in the 1990s.
In addition to the individual, stroke-specific sprint events, Fairley believes that the 2017 class will have an immediate, positive influence on the team’s relays, and that all 13 of the additions to the women’s program could score at the OUA Championships in their first season.
On the men’s side, Fairley pinpointed the distance races as an area of strength among his 11-member recruiting class.
2017 McMaster Swimming Recruiting Class
Women
Name: Veronica Nichol
City: Hamilton, Ontario
Club: Golden Horseshoe Aquatic Club
High School: Sherwood Secondary School
Program: Social Science
Stroke: Backstroke and Freestyle
Name: Isabelle Lei
City: Surrey, BC
Club: Pacific Sea Wolves
High School: Southridge School
Program: Health Science
Stroke: Freestyle
Name: Cailyn Eley
City: Barrie, Ontario
Club: Barrie Trojans Swim Club
High School: Innisdale Secondary School
Program: Life Science
Stroke: Butterfly
Name: Sarah Little
City: Lethbridge, Alberta
Club: Lethbridge Amateur Swim Club
High School: Catholic Central High School
Program: Engineering
Stroke: Freestyle
Name: Megan Romkes
City: Qualicum Beach, British Colombia
Club: Ravensong Aquatic Club
High School: Kwalikum Secondary School
Program: Social Science
Stroke: Butterfly
Name: Layne Guidinger
City: Okotoks, Alberta
Club: Foothills Stingray Aquatic Club
High School: Holy Trinity Academy
Program: Fine Arts
Stroke: Backstroke
Name: Emma Timewell
City: Pickering, Ontario
Club: Markham Aquatic Club
High School: Bill Crothers Secondary School
Program: Math and Stats
Stroke: Breaststroke
Name: Alexia Estrada
City: Pickering, Ontario
Club: Pickering Swim Club
High School: Pickering High School
Program: Social Science
Stroke: Freestyle
Name: Mackenzie Wright
City: Cornwall, Ontario
Club: Cornwall Sea Lions
High School: Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School
Program: Social Science
Stroke: Freestyle
Name: Marian Cooper
City: Collingwood, Ontario
Club: Collingwood Clippers Swim Club
High School: Jean Vanier Catholic High School
Program: Life Science
Stroke: Freestyle
Name: Rebecca Li
City: Richmond Hill
Club: Richmond Hill Aquatic Club
High School: University of Toronto Schools
Program: Health Science
Stroke: Butterfly
Name: Lucie Lundenberg
City: Toronto, ON
Club: North York Aquatic Club
High School: Northern
Program: Health Science
Stroke: Butterfly
Name: Kaitlyn Lee
City: Toronto, Ontario
Club: Toronto Swim Club
Program: Health Science
Stroke: Butterfly
Men
Name: Sean Newell
City: Toronto, ON
Club: North York Aquatic Club
Stroke: Breast
Name: Mohammed Jrab
City: Etobicoke, ON
Club: Etobicoke Swimming
Stroke: Distance Freestyle
Name: Mattheu Bonner
City: Etobicoke, ON
Club: Etobicoke Swimming
Stroke: Fly
Name: Cesar Sosa Miranda
City: Etobicoke, ON
Club: Etobicoke Swimming
Stroke: Fly
Name: Eun Soo Ha
City: Richmond Hill, ON
Club: Richmond Hill Aquatic Club
Stroke: Back
Name: James Potma
City: Windsor, ON
Club: Windsor Aquatic Club
Stroke: Sprint Freestyle
Name: Cyrus Drabik
City: Milton, ON
Club: Milton Marlins
Stroke: Sprint Freestyle
Name: Adam Blomme
City: Markham, ON
Club: Markham Aquatic Club
Stroke: Distance Freestyle
Name: Kevin Kennedy
City: Sudbury, ON
Club: Laurentian Swim Club
Stroke: Sprint Freestyle
Name: Dimitri Papadedes
City: Guelph, ON
Club: Guelph Marlins
Stroke: Freestyle
Name: Peter Soliman
City: Brampton, ON
Club: Cobra Swim Club
Stroke: Freestyle
Press Release courtesy of Fraser Caldwell, McMaster Athletics.