ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Head coach Mike Bottom of the University of Michigan women’s swimming and diving team announced on Tuesday (Nov. 24) the signings of seven recruits to National Letters of Intent for the 2016-17 academic year. The signees include swimmers Monica Babits (Mississauga, Ontario), Emily Eastin (Irvine, Calif.), Vanessa Krause (Chesterton, Ind.), Millie Macdonald (Auckland, New Zealand), Annalisa Perez (San Jose, Calif.) and Jacqui Schafer (Sydney, Australia) and diver Kristen Hayden (Cary, N.C.).
“We’ve got a great group at this point in time,” Bottom said. “There’s still some work to be done, but each of these individuals are bright students and hard-working athletes that will help us continue to move in the right direction as a team.”
“Kristen is an amazing diver,” added diving coach Mike Hilde. “She’s working on a dive list that a lot of women her age can’t do. To be able to do those high-difficulty dives is very impressive. We expect a lot of good things out of her.”
Babits hails from Mississauga, Ontario, and trains with Mississauga Aquatic Club. She primarily swims the butterfly. Babits won the 100-meter butterfly at the Canadian Junior National Championships and took third in the same event at the 2015 Canadian Summer National Championships. She also took fourth place in the 100-meter butterfly at the 2015 Speedo Champions Series in Plantation, Florida.
Babits Top Times: 1:01.18 LCM in 100 Butterfly, 2:23.15 LCM in 200 Butterfly, 2:27.29 LCM in 200 IM
Eastin is from Irvine, California, attends Crean Lutheran High School and trains with SOCAL Aquatics Association. She predominantly swims backstroke. Eastin won four events (50-yard backstroke, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly) at the 2014-15 California Southern D-II Section Championships. The next week, at the CIF California Swimming and Diving State Championship Finals, she won the 50-yard backstroke and finished second in the 100-yard backstroke. Eastin was also an event finalist in the 100-yard backstroke at the 2013 and 2014 Speedo Junior National Championships and at the 2013 USA Swimming Junior National Championships.
Eastin Best Times: 59.34 LCM/50.92 SCY in 100 Freestyle, 1:02.18 LCM/53.54 LCM in 100 Backstroke, 2:14.63 LCM/1:57.89 SCY in 200 Backstroke, 1:02.23 LCM/54.24 SCY in 100 Butterfly
Krause comes from Chesterton, Indiana, and Duneland Swim Club, the same club as current men’s swimmer Aaron Whitaker and his older brother, Kyle Whitaker (2011-14). She primarily swims the butterfly but could also contribute in the sprint freestyle events. Krause recorded three top-five finishes at the 2014-15 Indiana Girls State Championships, including a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly, a fourth-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle and a fifth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle. She swam three events at the 2015 Speedo Junior National Championships, finishing as high as 10th in the 100-meter butterfly.
Krause Best Times: 25.88 LCM/23.05 SCY in 50 Freestyle, 57.25 LCM/50.39 SCY in 100 Freestyle, 59.80 LCM/53.49 SCY in 100 Butterfly, 2:14.21 LCM/1:58.07 SCY in 200 Butterfly
Macdonald is a breaststroke/individual-medley specialist from Auckland, New Zealand, and trains with Parnell Swimming Club. She won gold medals (Women’s 17-18) in the 50-meter breaststroke, 100-meter breaststroke, 200-meter breaststroke and 200-meter IM at the 2015 New Zealand Age Group Championships. She also finished 11th in the 200-meter IM at the 2015 New Zealand Open.
Macdonald Best Times: 33.20 LCM in 50 Breaststroke, 1:12.21 LCM in 100 Breaststroke, 2:35.81 LCM in 200 Breaststroke, 2:22.03 LCM in 200 IM
Perez comes to Michigan from San Jose, California, attends Pioneer Valley High School and trains with Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics. She is a breaststroker. Perez was seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke and 10th in the 100-yard freestyle at the 2014-15 California Central Coast Section Championships. She finished 15th in the 100-yard breaststroke at the 2015 CIF California Swimming and Diving State Championship Finals. At the 2015 Speedo Champions Series – Far West, Perez was second in the 100-meter breaststroke, fourth in the 200-meter breaststroke and 10th in the 200-meter IM.
Perez Best Times: 1:14.25 LCM/1:03.77 SCY in 100 Breaststroke, 2:44.29 LCM/2:21.24 SCY in 200 Breaststroke
Schafer is a backstroker from Sydney, Australia, who trains with Willoughby Swim Club. Schafer swam in six events at the 2015 NSW State Open SC Championships this past September, finishing second in the 50-meter backstroke, third in the 100-meter backstroke and third in the 200-meter backstroke. In 2014, Schafer won gold medals in the 100-meter backstroke and 200-meter backstroke at the State Age Short Course Championships and claimed bronze in the 200-meter backstroke (Girls 16s) at the National Age Championships. She also won three medals at the 2014 School Sport Australia Championships in all three backstroke events.
Schafer Best Times: 1:03.72 LCM/1:01.30 SCY in 100 Backstroke, 2:16.83 LCM/2:11.64 SCY in 200 Backstroke
Hayden is from Cary, North Carolina, and attends Panther Creek High School. In the Girls 16-18 age group, Hayden finished ninth on one-meter and reached the semifinals of both three-meter and platform at the 2015 USA Diving National Championships while additionally qualifying for platform in the Senior Women’s division. Hayden is also an accomplished synchronized diver, having competed at the 2014 USA Diving National Championships and at the 2015 USA Diving Synchronized National Championships.
Swimming news courtesy of Michigan Swimming & Diving.