Katelyn Sauder, a senior at Normal Community High School in Normal, Illinois, verbally committed to swim for the University of Minnesota for the 2015-2016 season, this morning. “I’m a baby gopher!!”, she tweeted.
Sauder is a breaststroker and sprint-freestyler, out of Waves Bloomington/Normal Y Swim Team. She competed at the 2014 Summer Junior Nationals, held in Irvine, placing 68th in the 100 Breast and 85th in the 200 Breast. Her junior season of high school swimming was highlighted with a win in the 100 Breast and a sixth-place finish in the 200 I.M. at the 2013-2014 Normal West Illinois High School Sectional Championships.
Sauder’s Best Times
(SCY/LCM)
50 Free: 25.48/28.54
100 Free: 55.13/1:02.41
100 Breast: 1:03.61/1:12.21
200 Breast: 2:24.32/2:36.36
She Is Only Getting Faster
All of Sauder’s best times were achieved as a junior, with the exception of her long course 50/100 Free, which indicates she is in top form heading into her senior season. She is two seconds faster in the 100 Breast and three seconds faster in the 200 Breast than she was in her freshman season. Sauder is coming off of a stellar 2014 long course campaign. She has dropped five seconds in the 100 Breast and twelve seconds in the 200 Breast from the summer of 2013, which is a tremendous progression in just one year.
Under coach Kelly Kremer, the Minnesota Golden Gophers won their third straight Big Ten Championship in 2014 and placed tenth at the 2014 NCAA Div. 1 Championships. Sauder’s best time in the 100 Breast would have barely missed the C Final at the 2014 Big Ten Championships. Golden Gopher and breaststroke stud, Kierra Smith, will be a senior once Sauder arrives in Minnesota, but Sauder will have the opportunity to learn from and train with her for a year. If Sauder drops as much time in the summer of 2015 as she did this summer, she may be a valuable scorer in her first season with Minnesota.