Perennial Junior College powerhouse Indian River State college has a pair of rising South Africans among their incoming recruiting class. Tayla Lovemore was a South African national 50 fly champ in short course meters last summer, while Craig Emslie was one of the highest-ranked 17-year-old breaststrokers in the nation for 2012-2013.
Lovemore went 28.41 in that 50 fly to win the short course national title in August of 2013. She looks like a solid backstroke/butterfly combo swimmer, with these top long course times over the past year (according to the Swimming South Africa rankings):
- 100 fly: 1:02.64
- 50 fly: 28.04
- 100 back: 1:06.21
- 50 back: 30.84
- 200 IM: 2:25.32
Emslie, meanwhile, is a breaststroker and sprint freestyler. As a 17-year-old, he was ranked #1 among his age group in South Africa in the 50 breast (29.41), plus third in the 100 breast (1:05.67).
Some other additions to Indian River’s team include Malaysian national record-holder Christina Loh Yen Ling (she holds that mark in the 50 breast with a 32.31) and Erle Craven of North Carolina, a 55.28/2:00.87 breaststroker in the 100 and 200.
The full signees are below:
Men
Erle Craven, breaststroke, North Carolina
Rawley Davis, breaststroke, sprint free, Indiana
Craig Emslie, breaststroke, sprint free, South Africa
Daniel Hartley, butterfly, sprint free, Florida
Matthew Nielsen, distance free, Florida
Women
Olivia Jacobi, breaststroke, IM, Georgia
Lindsay Lee, sprint free, backstroke, Florida
Christina (Loh Yen) Ling, breaststroke, Malaysia
Tayla Lovemore, butterfly, backstroke, South Africa
Grace Lynch, fly, mid-distance free, Florida
Hannah Lynch, distance free, Florida
Leah Sims, sprint free, fly, Florida