Georgia Tech has added a late international signing to their class of 2013 when earlier this week Israeli 21-year old Dan Cohen Solal signed his National Letter of Intent to swim for the Yellow Jackets.
Solal is primarily a sprinter, with long course bests of 23.87 and 52.17 in the 50 and 100 meter freestyles. Those times convert to 20.7 and 45.5 in the 50 and 100 yard versions of the races, though to this point of his career he’s been a better long course swimmer.
Solal turned 21-years old this year, but as an Israeli he served his compulsory military duty and is currently of the rank of Staff Sargent. He holds dual French and Israeli citizenship.
He could theoretically step in, if he develops well as a freshman, and take the place of Eric Chiu on the Georgia Tech sprint relays, which qualified for NCAA’s last year with three sophomores and only Chiu as a senior. Georgia Tech has had success in the past with developing internationals into contributors very early, though there’s been a lot of changes in the coaching staff this off-season.
20.70 from a 21-year old “freshman” ! Wow ! Are they serious ! What a waste of scholarship money.
Who says they used a ton of scholarship money to get him? Maybe they got him for a steal – who knows!
i/ Yeah, who says he doesn’t have a rich uncle who is able to shell out ~43K for four years in a row to cover his out-of-state tuition and stuff, or who says he hasn’t been working hard after high school to earn all this money to pay his way through college, or wait, who says he did not invest in one of those companies that drill oil in North Dakota. Right. Nobody. Who knows? Nobody knows. But a waste of even “small” scholarship money is still a waste.
ii/ You cannot be a ‘steal’ if you need 20.70/45.50 to swim 50/100y free at 21. It is too slow even for C final at ACC championship.
iii/ However, the… Read more »