Swimming World Female High School Co-Swimmer of the Year Rachel Bootsma Makes College Commitment

PHOENIX, Arizona, August 16. SWIMMING World Female High School Co-Swimmer of the Year Rachel Bootsma officially confirmed with Swimming World that the rumor is true – she's heading to the University of California to add to the Golden Bears' growing backstroke group.

Bootsma, whose profile in the Swimming World College Recruit Rankings has her ranked as an elite six-star prospect, would have finaled in the 2011 NCAA Division I Championships in the 100-yard back with a scorching top time of 50.76. In fact, she would have won the event last year, in front of future teammates Cindy Tran (51.30) and Deborah Roth (51.51), who went 1-2 in March.

With fellow six-star recruit Elizabeth Pelton committing to California, the Golden Bears have a stocked, young group of backstrokers. Pelton has three top times that would have put her in A finals at the 2011 NCAA Division I Championships (100y back 0:51.70; 200y back 1:49.16; 200y IM 1:54.47), as well as two other times that qualify her in the B final (100y free 0:48.52; 200y free 1:44.89).

"I am very excited to become a Golden Bear!" Bootsma told Swimming World to officially confirm her commitment. "First off, all of the schools I was looking at were great academic schools, so I knew anywhere that I would end up would be a great school. Choosing a school for swimming, I have always dreamed of going to Cal. I met Teri [McKeever] at Pan Pacific Championships last summer when she was the women's head coach, and I really liked her coaching style and also as a person. I enjoyed getting to know her over those couple weeks and I realized that I would love to swim for her. I love that she obviously cares about your swimming, but also she wants you to become a better person, which is very similar to the coaching style at my home club, Aquajets Swim Team.

"I honestly loved everything about Cal's program from Teri and Kristen [Cunnane] and the team to the training style and the campus," Bootsma continued. "I wanted to make a decision early so I could focus on the year to come and be at ease going into my senior year."

Bootsma, who prepped at Eden Prairie and swims for the Aquajets, also had the potential to swim in three other B finals at the 2011 NCAA Division I Championships (100y fly 0:52.64; 200y fly 1:55.95; 200y IM 1:58.16). She is also a force in long course meters with a plethora of senior national cuts (50m free 0:26.28; 100m free 0:57.10; 100m back 0:59.65; 200m back 2:18.08; 100m fly 1:01.01; 200m fly 2:15.30; 200m IM 2:18.76.)

Recruits: To make sure we have the most updated information on your recruiting, and to earn the highest star ranking you deserve, please either create a new profile, or request to take over your admin-created account in the Swimming World College Recruit Rankings. Then make sure to update your profile with your top times. Click here for information on how to do so.

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