Lindsay Shabet out of Katy Aquatic Team For Youth in Katy, TX has verbally committed to Texas Christian University. Shabet is a breaststroker with best times of 1:04.3/2:22.8 in the 100 and 200 in short course, although her 200 breaststroke best time comes from when she was just 14 years old. In long course, her bests are 1:12.5 and 2:41.1 in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes respectively.
The Horned Frogs finished third at last year’s Big 12 Championships with 574 points overall, and were only two points behind second-placed West Virginia. In the breaststroke events, Shabet will be a valuable addition, as the team was lead last year by current senior Gabrijela Korac, who was a 1:02.87 in the 100 breast (5th at conference) and a 2:14.77 in the 200 breast (also good for 5th at conference). As Korac will graduate before Shabet enters her freshman year, Lindsay will almost certainly get an opportunity to shine for the Horned Frogs both individually and on relays in due time.
Aside from Korac, TCU also returns current senior Michelle Fleming (1:04.0 100 breast, 11th at conference and 2:17.1 200 breast, 8th at conference). Also returning in the breaststroke group is then-junior Emily Creighton who was a 2:18.7 in the 200 breaststroke in prelims of cofnerence last year, but like Korac and Fleming, Creighton will graduate before Shabet arrives at TCU. Head Coach Richard Sybesma was able to curb some of TCU’s breaststroke losses via his securing of freshman Sophia Humphreys (1:05.3 100 breast, 2:22.1 200 breast) and sophomore Michelle Garland (1:03.5 100 breast, 2:18.5 200 breast) who transferred after her freshman year at Michigan State University. Notably, Garland has also recorded a 1:01.9 split on the breaststroke leg of the 400 medley relay before.
Shabet also has a best time of 2:09.8 in the 200 IM, which could be useful for the Horned Frogs if Coach Sybesma chooses to use her there. The team has some cushion in the shorter individual medley though because junior Ali Bleasdell (2:01.0 200 IM, 4th place conference) and junior Victoria Thicke-Rattray (2:03.9 200 IM) will both be dependable choices for TCU for atleast two more years.
Overall, Shabet is a very welcome addition to the Horned Frog family and if she is able to continue to improve her speed both in the 100 and 200, we may see her competing with Garland for a relay spot in the very near future. Additionally, her 1:12.5 in the 100 lcm breast from the summer of 2012 converts roughly to a 1:03.5 in short course yards, so she definitely has the potential within herself to become an immediate conference presence.
T-C-U Frogs! Let’s go Frogs!