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Even though things are heating up with recruiting for the class of 2013, there are still a few international swimmers who are trickling onto campus this fall, and maybe none of those are bigger than South Africa’s Michael Meyer.
On the surface, it may have appeared as though head coach Eric Hansen’s IM group was going to be very thin this season. With the graduation of NCAA 400 IM champion Austen Thompson, plus the graduation of their best 200 IM’er Cory Chitwood, these events looked exceedingly thin.
Meyer wiped that idea out of the minds of Wildcat fans. He comes in with immediate NCAA scoring potential, especially in the 400 IM where his long course best is a 4:16.42. That is a FINA automatic qualifying time, and placed him 3rd nationally in his native South Africa. The equivalent time in yards is right around a 3:42. If he ends up being that good in short course (he’s expected to swim on South Africa’s Short Course World Championship team), then he’s got top-5 potential written all over him.
For reference, only three NCAA swimmers were better than that long course time this summer: Chase Kalisz of Georgia, Michael Weiss of Wisconsin, and Andrew Gemmell also of Georgia; and not by much either.
That is his best race, though he’s got some good results in other events as well. He’s been a 1:52 in the 200 free in long course, and a 2:01.3 in the 200 back in long course. He’s also an above-average breaststroker as well.
The Wildcats will have lots of options with Meyer next season,