In the third-such major instance we’ve seen of a changed verbal commitment this season, Wisconsin distance-freestyler Jessica Wolf has changed her mind on a previous verbal commitment to Iowa. The Wisconsin swimmer, out of the Waukesha Express squad, will be staying in Big Ten country and headed east instead of west to join the Michigan Wolverines.
Wolf is a fantastic distance freestyler who has a best in the mile of 16:15.04. That time sits 2nd in the class (behind only Arizona commit Bonnie Brandon) as the second-best miler in the class. She’s got some work to do to add a second and third event (4:51.8 in the 500), but in the 1650, she could be good for immediate points.
She scored 6th-place finish in the LCM 1500 free at Junior Nationals over the summer (16:54), and in 2010 she was invited to attend the National Select Camp.
This switch goes a bit against the grain. Michigan is the bigger name program historically, but Iowa seems to have great momentum going in their distance freestyle group based on Friday’s 1000 swim (9:39.44) by freshman Becky Stoughton that stands as #1 in the country this year. At the end of the day, though, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever learn why the swap was made.
Jessica was not at the National Select Camp. She is too old and is not listed on the roster.
You’re right, she went in 2010. Got my years mixed up.
I heard iowa made a sort of take it or leave it deal, much like Hali flickinger, and she hadn’t even finished al her recruiting trips. Lots of pressure for teenagers to make!!
I won’t pretend to know entirely, because I don’t know her personally, but I think the switch was made because she has at least a few teammates from her club currently on the Iowa team.
Hmm wouldn’t that be a bit counterintuitive?