Tennessee women’s coach Matt Kredich landed his 2nd big recruit in as many days. After the announcement yesterday that the class’ top sprinter, Faith Johnson, would become a Volunteer, we today got the announcement from Amanda Carner that she too plans to spend the next 4 years in Knoxville.
“I am very excited to share that last night I verbally committed to swim at the University of Tennessee as part of the class of 2016 with Matt Kredich and Jen Woodruff,” Carner told The Swimmers Circle. “It just felt right and I couldn’t be happier with my decision to be a Lady Vol.”
Short and simple, it just felt right. Odds are that Kredich and his coaching staff just feel right about Carner’s potential. She projects as a great IM’er. In the 400 IM, she was the 2011 NCSA runner-up in a 4:13.82. That time will fill an important hole for the Volunteers after the graduation of their top IM’er from last year, Aleksa Akerfelds.
Her potential is high because she’s clearly got the distance versatility that a 400 IM’er needs. She goes a 1:59 in the 200 fly, a 1:56 in the 200 back, and a 4:52 in the 500 free. Though Tennessee didn’t score any IM points at NCAA’s last year, that doesn’t mean they didn’t train plenty of versatility. Jenny Connolly pulled off A-finals in the 100 fly and 100 back on the same day, and in a different kind of versatility, Lindsay Gendron swam every freestyle distance from the 50 to the mile. Neither is a perfect parallel to the IM’s, but it will be interesting to watch how a top IM prospect like Carner develops in that system.
She also has big-time potential in the 100 back and 100 fly that she hasn’t tapped yet. Anybody who’s going a 1:59 in the 200 fly can go a heck of a lot faster than a 57 in the 100 fly. The same holds true for her 56 100 backstroke.
Carner was another member of the NCSA Junior Nationals team that recently took a trip to Osaka, Japan.