USC Lands 2018 Junior National Champion: #5 Kaitlyn Dobler

Breaststroker and sprint freestyler Kaitlyn Dobler of The Dolphins Portland Swimming has sent a verbal commitment to the USC Trojans’ class of 2024. Dobler came in at #5 on SwimSwam’s early rankings for the high school class of 2020. She is the second-fastest 100 breaststroker in the entire class behind only Alex Walsh.

I’m very excited to announce my verbal commitment to University of Southern California. I love the team atmosphere and the amazing coaches, and it is the best place for me to get an engineering degree and continue my athletic career. I’m really looking forward to spending four years at USC.  FIGHT ON!!

TOP TIMES

SCY

• 50y free – 22.35
• 100y free – 49.50
• 100y breast – 59.17
• 200y breast – 2:11.49
• 100y fly – 55.11
• 200y IM – 2:01.74

LCM

• 50m free – 25.56
• 100m free – 56.48
• 100m breast – 1:08.90
• 200m breast – 2:31.32
• 100m fly – 1:00.83
• 200m IM – 2:18.90

This summer, she went 1:08.90 in the 100m breaststroke to win the Junior National title, shooting her to 10th-best in the U.S. 15-16 all-time rankings. Meanwhile, her 59.17 in the 100y breast not only won the 2018 Oregon HS state title representing Aloha High School, but it pushed her to #5 in the 15-16 rankings.

Dobler, who just started her junior year of high school, already has an NCAA A final-worthy time in the 100 breast. The 200 breast and 50 free will likely be her other two main championship events. This unique sprint free/breaststroke combo is reminiscent of Trojan great Kasey Carlson, who was the 2013 NCAA 100 breast runner-up and 2014 NCAA 50 free runner-up in her junior and senior seasons with USC, respectively. Carlson still holds the USC record in the 50 free (21.63) and is one of the best sprint breaststrokers in school history.

Notably, Dobler’s sprint free prowess is a big get for the Trojans, as top sprinters Louise Hansson and Courtney Caldwell will have finished at USC and Marta Ciesla will only have one season left as Dobler enters freshman year. Of course, she’s also an incredibly important pickup for the Trojans on the breaststroke side, with All-American breaststrokers Riley Scott and Kirsten Vose losing eligibility before she starts at USC. She will get a year of overlap with Maggie Aroesty, who won the 200 breast B final at 2018 NCAAs.

Dobler is the first class of 2024 verbal commit for USC, while they have a class of 2023 verbal from Greek national champion Nicole Pavlopoulou.

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].