The University of South Carolina is well on its way to building another stellar recruiting class, much like the 15-member class of 2018 they recruited last year. After getting a verbal from Davis Arden Racing Team’s Paige Maynard last week, the Gamecocks picked up her DART teammate Emma Barksdale on Sunday.
“I’m excited to be a gamecock and see what the future has in store! I know it’ll be awesome.”
Barksdale is a senior at Davis Senior High School, where she is reigning CIF-San Joaquin Section champion in the 200 IM (2:01.99) and 100 free (51.18). Her 200 IM time is already within a half-second of scoring at SECs and her 400 IM would have made the C final. In LCM this summer, Barksdale made the C final in the 200 IM and the B final in the 400, where she picked up her first 2016 Olympic Trials cut with 4:52.08.
The good news for the Gamecocks is that Barksdale is a true IMer: she’s strong in pretty much every stroke and should be able to fill in wherever she’s needed. Her best times are:
400y IM: 4:18.54
200y IM: 2:01.76
100y breast: 1:03.56
100y fly: 56.85
100y free: 51.17
200y free: 1:50.94
Barksdale shared with SwimSwam: “I loved everything about South Carolina – the coaching staff and the campus – I just felt at home.”