Tony Carroll also contributed to this report.
The first verbal commitments of Arizona State’s Bowman era are beginning to roll in. Illinois HS state finalist Carly Kramer has given her verbal commitment to the Sun Devils starting in 2016. Kramer swims for Plainfield Central High School and represents Delta Aquatics for club.
Kramer is primarily a sprint butterflier, but is very strong in sprint backstroke and freestyle, as well. A look at her best times:
| SCY | LCM | |
| 50 fly | 24.88 | 27.90 |
| 100 fly | 55.19 | 1:03.56 |
| 50 back | 27.67 | 31.50 |
| 100 back | 57.41 | 1:06.68 |
| 50 free | 24.01 | 28.27 |
Last year at the IHSA Girls Swimming & Diving Championships, Kramer finished 5th overall in the 100 fly with her time of 56.06 in finals. Had she repeated her prelims time of 55.19, which sits as her personal best, she would’ve actually been 2nd overall. Looking forward to November, when the next IHSA Championships take place, Kramer is the fastest returning 100 butterflier in the state and will look to take the crown in her senior season.
In my senior year, my main focus is to win high school state in the 100 fly. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a freshman, and now it finally looks attainable.
She’s well on her way, having posted a 57.41 already in dual meet season which is the fastest time thus far in Illinois. You can click here to see the full 2015-16 rankings for Illinois girls high school swimming.
Kramer has had success at the club level, too, notably finishing 8th overall at the 2015 NCSA Spring National Championships in the 50m fly and getting a chance to race names like Cassidy Bayer, Lauren Case, and Caroline McTaggart (all three recently made the 2015-16 USA Jr National team). She went on to finish 4th overall at the NCSA Summer National Championships with a time of 27.90 in the 50m fly, which was actually faster than the 28.27 she swam in her 50 freestyle.
At Arizona State, Kramer is on the verge of being a conference-level minor scorer with her current bests. She’s well within a second of what it took to qualify for Pac 12 Champs C finals in the 100 fly and 100 back (though those are both on the same day of competition), and with another year of high school to improve, she could jump on board at ASU immediately ready to contribute individually at Pac 12s. Their top four 100 butterfliers from the 2014-2015 season were all upperclassman that will no longer be with the team when Kramer arrives in Tempe next year; only one of them, 2015-16 senior Marina Spadoni, was able to score in this event last year.
Read more about what helped her make her decision below:
I chose Arizona State because it felt like the right fit for me from the start. The team was so welcoming and they reminded me so much of my team at home. The coaching staff is amazing. I know that swimming under Bob Bowman is an amazing opportunity, and all the coaches on the staff are so outstanding that I know I will get faster at every practice. I know ASU will be a place that I can better myself academically as well as in the pool. I’m so excited to be a sun devil!
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