Ranking The 2022 Men’s NCAA Recruiting Classes: #13-16

See also:

• Men’s Honorable Mentions
• Individual recruit rankings – Girls final rankings
• Individual recruit rankings – Boys final rankings

We continue our 2022 recruiting series with a team-by-team look at the best recruiting classes entering the NCAA next season. The classes below are projected freshmen for the 2022-2023 season.

A few important notes on our rankings:

• The rankings listed are based on our Class of 2022 Re-Rank. “HM” refers to our honorable mentions and “BOTR” refers to our best of the rest section for top-tier recruits.
• Like most of our rankings, these placements are subjective. We base our team ranks on a number of factors: prospects’ incoming times are by far the main factor, but we also consider potential upside in the class, class size, relay impact and team needs filled. Greater weight is placed on known success in short course yards, so foreign swimmers are slightly devalued based on the difficulty in converting long course times to short course production.
• Transfers are included.
• For the full list of all verbally committed athletes, click here. A big thank you to SwimSwam’s own Anne Lepesant for compiling that index – without it, rankings like these would be far less comprehensive.
• Some teams had not released a finalized 2022-23 team roster at the time these articles were published, meaning it’s possible we missed some names. Let us know in the comments below.

Best NCAA Swimming & Diving Recruiting Classes: Men’s Class of 2022

#16 (tie): Princeton Tigers

• Top-tier additions: #19 Conor McKenna (TX – fly), James Pan (MN – breast), Kael Mlinek (NE – breast), Lucas Strobek (Denmark – IM), Lucas Tudoras (Brazil – free), Mitchell Schott (CA – free)
• The rest: none

It’s a huge class for Princeton to vault the Ivy League program ahead of our honorable mentions and into the top 16. The Tigers managed to snag one of our top 20 recruits: 46.8/1:43.6 butterflyer Conor McKenna out of Texas. He’s a fast riser, cutting more than a full second in both butterfly events over his senior year. He’s also a 1:37 200 freestyler who should swim lots of relays for Princeton.

There are a pair of strong breaststrokers coming in. Minnesota high schooler James Pan is more of a traditional two-distance breaststroker with times of 54.1 and 1:59.8. He’s also versatile enough to go 1:47.9 in the 200 IM. Kael Mlinek out of Nebraska is more of a sprint type, with a faster 100 breast (53.3), but a slower 200 (2:02.4). He’s also a 20.5/44.7 sprint freestyler who will probably contribute on free relays, too.

Speaking of the relays, Brazilian sprinter Lucas Todoras should also contribute there – he’s 50.2 in the long course 100 free, converting roughly to 43.9. And California high schooler Mitchell Schott is a 1:35.4 200 freestyler who should boost the 800 free relay.

Danish IMer Lucas Strobek has short course meters times that roughly convert to 1:47.3 and 3:48 in the short course yards IMs.

#16 (tie): Cal Golden Bears

• Top-tier additions: #6 Matthew Chai (CA – distance), Zachary Tan (CA – IM), Colby Hatton (CA – free), Patrick Callan (Michigan transfer – free), Luke Rodarte (Cal Lutheran transfer – breast)
• The rest: Hank Rivers (CA – free/breast), Tommy Roder (CA – back), Bora Unalmis (Michigan transfer – back/IM), Joshua Thai (CA – diving), Conrad Eck (CO – diving),

Cal’s class is highlighted by the best 500 freestyler in a really good distance free class across the nation. Matthew Chai stays home in the state of California, bringing in a 4:15.9 time in the 500 that would have been within a second of an NCAA invite last year. He’s also 14:45 in the mile (which would have scored last year) and has range down to 1:37.0 in the 200 free.

Zachary Tan is an intriguing prospect to keep an eye on. He was our #1 recruit in the nation as a sophomore, but has plateaued late in his high school career. Tan was 1:47.2/3:48.8 in the IMs as a sophomore, and now carries in best times of 1:46.7/3:48.8 in those events.

Tan entered Singapore’s National Service back in January, so his status for the season is currently unclear.

When Tan is back at Cal, he’s a versatile athlete with a massive ceiling – he’s also 54/1:58 in the breaststrokes and 2:03/4:25 in the long course IMs.

Hank Rivers is a strong breaststroke prospect with a lightning-fast 53.9 100 breast best from back in 2019. He wasn’t far off that this season, swimming sub-54.4 three times. He’s also a developmental sprinter with solid 44.6/1:38.4 speed through the 100/200 frees.

Colby Hatton brings an elite 19.9/43.9 freestyle pedigree into the fold, and they’ve also added a trio of fifth-year transfers, highlighted by U.S. Olympian Patrick Callan from Michigan.

Though he was off last season, Callan is a surefire scorer if he’s anywhere near his best in the 500 free (4:11.7), and will be in the mix to do so in the 200 as well (1:32.6).

Luke Rodarte is a big breaststroke add from Cal Lutheran, having won the Division III title last season in the 100 breast (52.71), and Bora Unalmis brings depth across the 500 free, 200 back and 400 IM from Michigan.

#15: Georgia Bulldogs

• Top-tier additions: #18 Sam Powe (TN – back), Kristian Pitshugin (Israel – breast)
• The rest: Aaron Seymour (GA – free), Charlie Stout (GA – breast), Clayton Whetstine (VA – back), Cooper Cook (GA – free), Kevin Li (Alabama transfer – diving), Sam Kohm (PA – fly), Steven Insixiengmay (NC – breast), Tyler Schroeder (GA – free)

Georgia has a massive class incoming, headed by one key domestic recruit and one great international.

Sam Powe is one of the better backstroke recruits in the nation within this class, going 46.9/1:41.9 out of high school. He’s also 1:36.7 in the 200 free and could contribute on a relay there at some point. Israeli breaststroker Kristian Pitshugin has been 1:00.3/2:16.3 in long course meters. That 100 time, in particular, is no joke. It roughly converts to 52.3 and makes him one of the better incoming freshman breaststrokers in the NCAA.

The rest of the class will need some development, but there are plenty of names to keep an eye on, including 20-point sprinters Aaron Seymour, Cooper Cook and Tyler Schroeder. Diver Kevin Li transfers in from Alabama, where he was an SEC finalist last year on 1-meter. He has one year of eligibility remaining.

#14: Kentucky Wildcats

• Top-tier additions: #14 Levi Sandidge (TX – distance), Keanan Dols (Penn transfer – IM/back/fly)
• The rest: Brady McInerny (OH – free), Drew Johnson (FL – free), John Broome (SC – breast), Kevin Glennon (OH – free), Logan Ingerick (FL – free), Logan Smith (PA – breast), Ryan Merani (MD – fly)

Nationally, this whole freshman class is really strong in distance freestyle, and Levi Sandidge is one of the best prospects in that great group. His 14:49 mile would have scored at NCAAs last year, and he’s also 4:24 in the 500 free – a ways from NCAA scoring level, but in an event where we tend to see a lot of time drops from the high school level to the college realm.

Penn transfer Keanan Dols is very versatile. His 1:46.6 200 IM is probably his best event, but Dols is also 47.8/1:43.7 in the backstrokes and 47.9/1:45.7 in the butterflys.

Like Georgia’s, this class is deep with developing talent. Four sprinters are in the 20-points: Brady McInerny (20.5), Drew Johnson (20.5), Kevin Glennon (20.6) and Logan Ingerick (20.7).

#13: Wisconsin Badgers

• Top-tier additions: Dominik Mark Torok (Hungary – IM), BOTR Cooper Scharff (MO – back)
• The rest: Charlie Jones (NC – free), Colin Senke (WI – back), Michael Long (WI – fly), Taiko Torepe-Ormsby (New Zealand – free), Zach Ward (OH – IM)

Wisconsin’s big addition is European Junior Championships silver medalist Dominik Mark Torok out of Hungary. He projects as an elite-level IMer around the level of the best domestic recruits in the class. (For reference, Torok’s best times of 1:59.0/4:17.4 in long course meters are very comparable to #1 domestic recruit Baylor Nelson’s 1:59.1/4:16.4). For rough conversions to short course yards, Torok sits at 1:42.9/3:43.4, both right around NCAA invite level. He’s also a 1:58.4 long course 200 flyer, roughly converting to 1:43.5.

Cooper Scharff is a 47.9/1:44.3 backstroker who should also be a key addition. He was in our “best of the rest” section of recruits just outside the top 20 nationwide.