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The Virginia Tech Hokies continue to put together a strong group from the high school class of 2022 as Carl Bloebaum, who we ranked #10 this spring for our first round of rankings for this class, announced his verbal commitment today.
I’m proud to announce my decision to pursue my athletic and academic career at Virginia Tech! I want to thank my coaches, friends, and family to help me along the way! Can’t wait to join such a great, GOKIES!!
A native of Mason, Ohio, Bloebaum was part of the Mason Manta Rays squad that broke the 15-18 National Age Group record in the 200 medley relay (LCM) in the summer of 2019.
On the high school side, he swims for Mason High School, and took 2nd in the 100 fly (48.58) and 8th in the 100 back (50.51) at the 2020 Ohio High School State Championships.
TOP TIMES (SCY)
- 100 back – 49.63
- 200 back – 1:47.92
- 100 fly – 47.85
- 200 fly – 1:46.35
Bloebaum also has very solid freestyle times, ranging including 21.08/46.10 in the sprint frees, but it’s the butterfly events where he really excels and projects to make the most impact at the college level. When we ranked this class in April, he had the fastest time in the 100 fly, and that doesn’t seem to have changed as of this point.
In long course, Bloebaum has an Olympic Trials cut of 1:59.94 in the 200 fly, from the 2019 Summer Junior Nationals, where he took 4th.
Butterfly has developed into a strength for the Hokies over the last few seasons. Sophomores Blake Manoff and Antani Ivanov finished 4th and 7th in the 100 fly and 2nd and 3rd in the 200 fly at the 2020 ACC Championships. Under normal circumstances, both of those men would be gone before Bloebaum arrives in Blacksburg, but with the extra year of eligibility current athletes are receiving because of how uncertainty about this season will play out, it’s possible both will be competing for the Hokies for Bloebaum’s freshman year.
Similarly, it’s worth noting that Joseph Schooling, the defending Olympic gold medalist in the 100 fly, is also training in Blacksburg as part of VT Head Coach Sergio Lopez’s Pinnacle Racing group.
Bloebaum will join #8 Aiken Do, Landon Gentry, and Mitchell Stroud in Blacksburg in the fall of 2022. Thus far, only Virginia Tech and Texas have garnered verbal commitments from multiple swimmers in the top ten for this class.
If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].
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VaTech is stepping up in recruiting — the ACC is going to continue to improve as a Conf.
How did he get onto the field????
I thought visits could not be arranged by staff members during an dead time?
Just because a swimmer visits a school doesn’t mean the staff arranged it.
It’s pretty easy to get onto college football fields. Most you are able to just walk on to
You literally walk over the the stadium, walk down the steps, and walk onto the grass… If you step on the actual playing surface you will get an ass chewing from the grounds crew, but generally most college stadiums are open for runners in the stands.
I was visiting VT about a year ago, pre covid, and every gate to the stadium was locked. Yes I checked.
Two things I know that are true generally:
1) It is not that hard to get access to college football stadiums for anybody, so long as you stay the hell off the field. Any prospective student (athlete or not) who told the admissions folks that they wanted to take a photo in the football stadium would be able to do so, and campus tours not specific to athletics are still happening as well.
2) There are definitely programs around the country that are skirting the NCAA moratorium on in-person recruiting and still having athletes meet with coaches and/or team members when they make ‘independent visits’ to campus.
I have no way of knowing whether Carl met with any athletes… Read more »
But PSAs can meet with student-athletes as long as it isn’t at the request of the coaches. All of these top rated swimmers are all connected on social media from meets and camps so they only have to reach out and then can hang out with the team on campus. They just can’t get into facilities not open to the public.
Wow, an impressive class already. Exciting times for the ACC.
Desorbo punching the air rn