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Greater Omaha Aquatics’ Drew Kaelin has verbally committed to Minnesota for fall 2021. Kaelin is a senior at Creighton Prep in Omaha, Neb.
“I chose Minnesota because of the amazing facilities, coaching staff, and academics.”
TOP TIMES (SCY)
- 100 breast – 56.04
- 200 breast – 2:03.79
- 200 IM – 1:54.41
Kaelin is primarily a breaststroker, and in the 100 breast, he was an A-finalist at the 2020 Nebraska HS State Champs in February.
Kaelin brings intrigue because of his sharp improvement curve, one he’s been on since the pandemic began in the United States. His lifetime best in the 100 breast was 58.87 in late 2019 going into 2020, and he got down to 58.38 at the aforementioned HS State meet. He knocked out a lifetime best post-quarantine at a time trial in August, breaking 58 for the first time with a 57.73, before he went another best in October (57.23).
Finally, at the Lee’s Summit site of the virtual 2020 Winter Junior Championships, he broke past 57 with a 56.31 in prelims and a 56.04 in finals. Now, he’s almost three seconds better than where he was coming into 2020.
Kaelin’s 200 breast progression has also been very steep; he was 2:12.34 in November of 2019, before dropping to 2:07.13 in October. Then, he was 2:03.79 in the prelims of the 200 breast at Winter Juniors earlier this month.
Junior Max McHugh has led the Minnesota Gophers in breaststroke and overall NCAA scoring the last couple of seasons; he holds school records in the 100 breast (50.30) and 200 breast (1:49.41). At 54.5/2:03, freshman Antonio Octaviano is the #2 breaststroker on the roster this season.
Minnesota’s class of 2025 includes Kaelin, Josh Johnston, Thomas McCarthy, Chris Morris, Andrew Garner, Bar Soloveychik, Jackson Brown and Nathan Griffin. Kaelin is the third breaststroke specialist in the class, joining Garner (55.0/1:59.7) and Johnston (56.9/2:03.5).
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Congratulations Drew, great job! Minnesota is getting a good one, very high potential.
Congratulations!
Gophers have been a consistent program.
You will do well ☀️
Mmm… they dipped post Carlson and Richards, and even those teams were pretty far off the Silkatis and top Bulgarian/Croatian/Canadian imports days.
True!
Bruno, Mario, Ray, Silkatis… man those teams were so effing good. Silkatis was so silky, one of the cleanest strokes. Moved really well for a small guy, especially in the freestyles.
I’ve heard a rumor about a potential big recruit who might go to the Gophers, we’ll see what happens.
That would be great! along with some depth.
I’d be happy if he did go to the Gophers, they’re my team, but to say they’re consistent is a stretch… they were perennial top 3 from 01-09, and even won Big 10’s, twice. Carlson and Richards squads were lucky to place third, and generally got 4, which continued until 2012/13… now they’re usually 5/6, and not even close to challenging for relay titles and individual titles (outside of McHugh).
MN women—-they’ve still held a very high standard.
The staff at MN is great, for the women’s team, but they’ve struggled to get the men to where Dennis had them.
I couldn’t agree more! We both know they may not be at the top consistently, but the program will always provide you with world class opportunities beyond the pool.
The perplexing thing is—why can’t the staff motivate the men in the same way it appears the women are? The men used to consistently be ranked in the top 10, and had something like 10 years with a top ten NCAA finish.
Look at how/who they recruit. Then it’s not so perplexing.
True, true. They have no border control, and don’t get the top guns from border states.
They don’t get the top guns for men in state that’s the bigger issue…Whyte…Dahlgren…Crosby(22) that’s just recent years
The Larson boys… ya, Greenburg, Griffen Bach, Schilling… the list is extensive.
By a quick look, have any of the Greenburg’s, Schilling, Back, Larson’s scored Top 8 at NCAA’s? I think MN as a state needs to get over this idea that it’s a swimming powerhouse…. Wisconsin isn’t even that strong and I can still count more All-Americans that hail from WI in the past 10 years…. Beata, McHugh’s for example..
Doesn’t seem to be a major loss in losing these “power” recruits if they can’t even score at NCAAs…. just a thought
For U-18, MN is definitely a powerhouse, especially with the women… You’re right, the kids have trouble translating into individual collegiate All-American’s, but Schilling/Back/Larson have all qualified for NCAA’s. Schilling has scored, and Back has on relays… Larson’s swim for the best team in the country… We’re also home to a World Record holder, and multiple gold medalists. Your thought that MN isn’t a powerhouse is shortsighted, and full of recency bias.
I counter your McHugh/Beata play with— Bootsma, Smith, Schilling (All-American
2020: 200 Free, 400 Free Relay, 800 Free Relay 2019: 800 Free Relay), Collin Miller (Rochester club swimmer, D3 national champion), Stadden…
Also, to think that the kids wouldn’t make an impact just because they’re not top thirty… Read more »
Terrific list!
Tom Malchow comes to mind as well.
Well, of course! He’s just 20 years past the timeline we’re using 😉
True, lots of talent from the great state of Minnesota!
Go Gophers 😁
Great job having those facts on hand right away- ready to defeat someone whenever they try to bring up a different perspective! No idea who you are and frankly unimportant as you missed the main point I was trying to make. Also disappointing as I’m also a fan of the Gophers and MN swimming as a whole (I just don’t need to say I’m former B1G 😉 )… but unlike you, I’m willing to admit that the state has not had the best success at the NCAA level by and large recently. That’s okay to admit, doesn’t hurt everyone’s feelings. My apologies if it did for you.
I love that you take the one thing I say and suggest I… Read more »
Lol… you said that the top recruits from MN don’t pan out, and aren’t valuable since they’re not top 8.
Sorry, not sorry, for presenting facts that debunk your statement. Also, YOU are the one tearing down MN swimming.
The initial point of my statement is—-why can’t the U of M recruit the best in-state talent. YOU turned it into comparisons, and belittling the achievements of some great swimmers from MN.
Happy holidays, boomer.
Derek Toomey was from WI too
Congratulations Drew! GOAL and Prep are very proud!