Smith Picks Minnesota
Newsflash: top Canadian breaststroker signs with the University of Minnesota. No, this isn’t the fall of 2006, and I’m not talking about Jillian Tyler. Kierra Smith has chosen to follow in her countrymate’s footsteps to the Land of a Thousand Lakes and swim for the University of Minnesota in the fall.
Minnesota has become one of the best breaststroking programs in the country. They took both National Titles last year (Tyler took one, Haley Spencer took the other), and with Smith on board they will continue to build that reputation.
She is a member of the 2011 Canadian Pan American Games team, and is the 5th-fastest 200 breaststroker in Canadian history. In long course, her bests are 1:09.40 and 2:27.93. Her best short course meters times convert to roughly 1:00.03/2:12.2, which will make her one of the best breaststrokes in the incoming class. Under the tutelage of Minnesota coach Kelly Kremer, she could be a very good swimmer for the Gophers.
Smith chose the Gophers over Ohio State, UCLA, San Diego State, and Missouri. She keeps a great blog, if you’re interested in learning more about her.
Brittany MacLean Picks Georgia
Jack Bauerle is absolutely on fire early in this recruiting season. Between the Bulldog men and women, he has cleaned up with a ton of elite, elite recruits, but I’d say that his latest get is the biggest of them all. He has signed Brittany MacLean, who is not only one of the best young swimmers in Canada, but is one of the best young swimmers in the world. She lit up the FINA Junior World Championships with wins in the 200 and 400 free, including a new Meet Record of 1:58.63 in that 200.
Those bests convert to 1:43.9 in the 200 free and 4:38.3 in the 500 free. She’s also an incredible backstroker (53.0/1:52.6). Those times spell probably three A-finals as a freshman in the 200/500 frees and 200 backstroke, and she could be even more impressive when she gets to campus, as she’ll likely have an Olympic berth under her belt by then.
With Allison Schmitt expected to be back in the Georgia fold by then, and a freshman class that can make as big and as quick of an impact as this one, the Bulldogs might be the only class who can hope to slow down Teri McKeever’s Cal juggernaut.
MacLean trains at the Etobicoke Swim Club in Ontario that is one of the best in Canada. The program’s swimmers hold 58 of the 220 National Age Group Records in Canada and is an international training destination. One of MacLean’s training partners is Susana Escobar, a Mexican National who is a former All-American at Texas.
With Bauerle’s well-documented history of developing freestylers, one can only imagine how high MacLean can fly.
Jack Bauerle is gearing up to make a constant run at Cal for the title. The SEC with the addition of Texas A&M will continue to be the dominant conference in Womens Swimming.
Very impressive by both schools can’t wait to see what comes of these teams in the next few years, especially getting both after the Olympic cycle, great timing. I have to admit, sleepy eyed, read this article title and saw 2 HUGE Canadians…oops, sorry girls.
Jack is having an unbelievable amount of success this year with the recruits. I would love to see this men’s team be a big contender at NCAA’s in a few years. Along with the female side of it going head to head with CAL. As for we shouldn’t see many more top recruits coming out of CAL due to a lack of money.
i agree…definitely CAL vs UGA for a few years to come.