While many of the country’s top programs have turned their recruiting focus to the class of 2022 (no contact with athletes is allowed yet, but calls to club and high school coaches are rampant), there are still a number of instant-impact swimmers available in the high school class of 2021.
Included among them are three of the top 10 swimmers in SwimSwam’s class of 2021 rankings: Matthew Fallon, Tyler Lu, Hayden Zheng, Matthew Fenlon, and Aidan Reagan. Among that group, we suspect that at least 2 have made commitments but haven’t announced yet.
The reason for these swimmers not being committed yet could be any one of a number of things, including:
- They haven’t made a decision yet
- They’ve committed privately but haven’t made it public yet
- They’ve chosen a school with special entrance requirements. These schools, like the Ivies and U.S. Military Academies, have long eschewed these early commitments, believing the higher entrance standards for their schools make admissions more in doubt, but that’s beginning to shift: Navy and Harvard, for example, both already have public commitments in the class of 2021
- We’ve missed their commitment announcement (we looked really hard though).
- They’ve decided to skip college and go pro.
- They’ve decided to go to college and not swim.
But if you’re looking for a short list of which remaining impact swimmers your favorite program might still be adding in the class of 2021, below are the top remaining targets in that group.
This list is roughly ranked, but not precisely ranked. Our updated class of 2021 rankings will be released in full later this week.
RANKED SWIMMERS REMAINING
*HM = Honorable Mention, BOTR = Best of the Rest
#3 Matthew Fallon, The Pingry School/Somerset Valley YMCA, New Jersey
Best Times: 100 breast – 54.00, 200 breast – 1:54.18, 200 IM – 1:47.72, 400 IM – 3:44.08, 500 free – 4:21.89
A YMCA superstar, Fallon is a rare male swimmer who comes out of his junior year of high school with NCAA invite caliber times already. His 400 IM would have been invited to the 2020 NCAA Championships, while his 200 breast would have missed, but only barely. His coach says that he hasn’t made a decision yet. He lives in the Northeast and also has big academic credentials, so don’t be surprised if he lands at an Ivy League school.
#6 Tyler Lu, Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic Club, Washington
Best Times: 50 free – 20.41, 100 free – 44.60, 200 free – 1:37.43, 100 back – 47.34, 200 back – 1:42.97, 100 breast – 56.59, 200 breast – 1:59.05, 200 IM – 1:44.87, 400 IM – 3:48.14
Lu is a National Age Group Record breaker who has continued his success into the senior ranks. When we ranked last year, he was the best 200 IMer and 200 backstroker in the class, and will bring a ton of versatility to wherever he winds up. Lu doesn’t swim high school, so a lot of his focus and improvements in his junior season came in long course, but he’s still very close to NCAA invite times already.
#11 Hayden Zheng, St. Louis Park High School/Aquajets Swim Team, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Best Times: 100 breast – 53.09, 200 breast – 1:54.98, 200 IM – 1:47.05, 400 IM – 3:55.28, 100 back – 49.08, 100 free – 45.65, 200 free – 1:40.43
The two-time defending Minnesota AA state champion in the 100 breast and 200 IM, Zheng is already three-event ready for the college level. He’s got a lot of versatility for a breaststroke, which is an important separator because unlike the girls’ class of 2021, there are a lot of very good breaststrokers in the boys’ class. Grumblings are that he’s made a decision, but hasn’t announced it yet.
#15 Matthew Fenlon, Horace Greeley High School/Badger Swim Club, Sleepy Hollow, New York
Best Times: 100 fly – 47.26, 200 fly – 1:42.53, 200 free – 1:37.38, 200 IM – 1:47.74, 400 IM – 3:56.35
His 200 fly would have been invited to the NCAA Championships in 2020 thanks to a two-and-a-half-second time drop at Winter Juniors – East in December. That probably pushes him up the new rankings when they’re released. We’ve heard that he made a decision, but hasn’t announced it publicly yet.
#20 Aidan Reagan, Salpointe Catholic High School/Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics, Tucson, Arizona
Best Times: 200 free – 1:40.27, 500 free – 4:26.65, 1000 free – 9:19.04, 1650 free – 15:22.92
Reagan typically hits a spring taper for NCSA Junior Nationals, which were cancelled this year, so he missed out on a chance to improve his best times in the distance free events, though he did go a 200 free best at the Arizona state meet in November. This is not a great distance class, so for a team looking to stock up points in the 500 free and mile, Reagan is the top remaining target.
HM: Kamal Muhammad, Lakeside High School/Spartan Aquatic Club, Atlanta, Georgia
Best Times: 50 free – 20.72, 100 free – 44.58, 200 free – 1:40.70, 100 breast – 57.64, 100 fly – 48.72, 200 IM – 1:55.32
The son of former NCAA Record-breaker and 25-time All-American Sabir Muhammad (Stanford), Kamal is following in his father’s footsteps as a sprint butterflier and freestyle. He was the Georgia High School runner-up this year in the 100 free, though he missed the times he swam at his sophomore meet in both races.
Christopher Guiliano – Pottstown YMCA/TOPS Swimming/Daniel Boone High School, Douglassville, Pennsylvania
Best Times: 50 free – 20.27, 100 free – 44.29, 200 free – 1:35.81, 200 IM – 1:50.24
Avery Voss – Upper Arlington High School/Upper Arlington Swim Club, Upper Arlington, Ohio
Best Times: 50 free – 20.02, 100 free – 44.12
Connor Hunt – Ridgefield High School/Ridgefield Aquatic Club, Ridgefield, Connecticut
Best Times: 200 free – 1:40.02, 500 free – 4:25.79, 1000 free – 9:07.32, 1650 free – 15:09.20
Tyler Hong – Saint Ignatius High School/Firestone Akron Swim Team, Westlake, Ohio
Best Times: 100 back – 47.89, 200 back – 1:46.41, 200 IM – 1:47.26, 400 IM – 3:54.47
Calvin Windle – Saint Charles East High School/Saint Charles Swim Team, Saint Charles, Illinois
Best Times: 100 free – 45.86, 200 free – 1:36.95, 500 free – 4:28.16, 100 back – 48.99, 100 fly – 49.86
Alex Deng – Eden Prairie High School/Aquajets Swim Team, Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Best Times: 100 breast – 54.80, 200 breast – 1:58.91, 200 IM – 1:51.33, 100 fly – 49.40
Matthew Chung – The Harker School/Santa Clara Swim Club, Cupertino, California
Best Times: 200 free – 1:37.47, 500 free – 4:23.30, 200 IM – 1:48.63, 400 IM – 3:54.46
Vincent Cheng – Diamond Bar High School/Brea Aquatics, San Dimas, California
Best Times: 100 fly – 48.60, 200 fly – 1:45.79, 200 IM – 1:48.54, 400 IM – 4:01.48, 200 fly – 1:46.54
Alex Brehm – Louisville Collegiate High School/Lakeside Swim Team, Louisville, Kentucky
Best Times: 100 breast – 55.01, 200 breast – 1:59.55, 200 IM – 1:51.46, 200 fly – 1:50.42
Brett Feyerick – Georgetown Preparatory School/NCAP, Potomac, Maryland
Best Times: 100 back – 48.16, 200 back – 1:45.99, 50 free – 20.71, 100 free – 45.15, 200 IM – 1:50.38
Note: National Age Group Record breaker
Hayden Kwan – Lawton Chiles High School/United Swim Club, Tallahassee, Florida
Best Times: 200 IM – 1:48.41, 100 back – 48.46, 200 back – 1:45.98, 100 fly – 48.31
Corby Furrer – Georgetown High School/Nitro Swimming, Georgetown, Texas
Best Times: 50 free – 20.81, 100 free – 45.01, 200 free – 1:37.85, 500 free – 4:26.42, 100 back – 50.36
Jason Kwok – The Harker School/Peak Swimming, Cupertino, California
Best Times: 100 breast – 54.31, 200 breast – 2:01.35
Gabe Machado – Bishop Kelly High School/Boise YMCA, Boise, Idaho
Best Times: 100 back – 49.67, 200 back – 1:45.28, 500 free – 4:30.59, 1000 free – 9:19.42, 1650 free – 15:32.54, 400 IM – 3:57.22
Matthew Driscoll – Los Gatos High School/De Anza Cupertino Aquatics, Los Gatos, California
Best Times: – 200 free – 1:38.28, 500 free – 4:25.67, 200 IM – 1:49.89, 100 back – 49.08, 200 back – 1:47.43
Adam Fusti-Molnar – Austin Swim Club, Austin, Texas
Best Times: 100 breast – 55.25, 200 breast – 1:59.59, 200 IM – 1:51.32
Tommy Bried – Hillgrove High School/Ace Aquatic Club, Powder Springs, Georgia
Best Times: 100 fly – 50.57, 200 fly – 1:46.45, 200 IM – 1:54.29, 400 IM – 3:56.20
Beck Parnham – Kingwood High School/Blue Tide Aquatics, Kingwood, Texas
Best Times: 500 free – 4:28.26, 1000 free – 9:18.10, 1650 free – 15:26.39, 200 IM – 1:52.67, 400 IM – 3:57.56
Evan Petty – Ensworth High School/Nashville Aquatic Club, Nashville, Tennessee
Best Times: 50 free – 20.81, 100 free – 46.06, 100 back – 48.02, 200 back – 1:46.97, 200 IM – 1:51.13
Idk why but this gives me “that last kid(s) at school waiting to be picked up” vibes
Iz it me or his this class pedestrian top to bottom???
Wait till you see our full ranks in the next few days. I was a lot more impressed with this class than I expected to be. Lots of sprint talent.
AOK Thanks
Where is there a list of top 10 or 25 by event, not by age, but by high school year? And cross that with commitments made would be even better.
Ryan Kirton from Bellarmine and De Anza Cupertino Aquatics? 45.6, 1:38.4, 4:26 as a sophomore in 100, 200, 500 free.
It’s for juniors not sophomores
He was not far off! If we’d had a list to 30, he probably would’ve been on it.
Keegan Streett is also this class’s 10th fastest 200 freestyler and is improving at a pretty unreal rate in the freestyle races.
How could Aidan Reagan be the top remaining distance recruit if Connor Hunt is a second faster in the 500 and 13 seconds faster in the mile??
The rankings are from last year so everything will change soon.
Some of them are just waiting for the life changing news that they got into Stanford.
Or didn’t…
What are the odds that the top 4 people left all choose Stanford? Seems like that happened last year with the top recruits still left in April.
You r forgetting the IVYs. I bet all the Asian boys r eyeing HYPSM.
You are over generalizing. I know many fast asian boys (girls for that matter) who have no interest in ivies.
Not very many. An asian mom once said to me, “We are asian. We only know Ivies.”
A tiger mom, I bet!
Okay, Karen.
and here I am uncommitted as a freshman in college