Georgia Announces Early Early Signees

ATHENS, Georgia, November 20. MATT Ellis, Mattias Koski, Brittany MacLean, Ty Stewart and Chantal VanLandeghem have signed national letters of intent with the Georgia swimming teams, according to an announcement Wednesday by Coach Jack Bauerle.

Ellis is from Austin, Texas, where he attends Westlake High School and trains with former Bulldog Tim O'Brien at Nitro Swimming. He was a member of the Youth National Team in 2010 and 2011. He competed in the Junior Pan Pacifics in 2010. Ellis was the national 18-and-under champion in the 100 freestyle in 2011. He won a gold medal on the 4×100 freestyle relay at the 2011 Junior FINA World Championships and has four Olympic Trials cuts. He also claimed Florida state titles in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly and as amember of the 200 freestyle relay.

"Matt is a talented young guy," Bauerle said. "We're fortunate to get him. He's multi-talented and multi-faceted. He's going to be great for us in anything short, freestyle or butterfly, and he probably has some capabilities elsewhere too."

MacLean is from Ontario, Canada, where she attends atSilverthorne Collegiate Institute. She swims for Etobicoke Swimming under Coach Kevin Thorburn. She competed in the 2011 World Championships for Canada. She also represented Canada in the 2011 World Youth Games in Peru where she won the gold medal in the 200 and 800 freestyle. For her age group, she is ranked second in the world in the 800 freestyle, third in the 200 and 400 freestyle, seventh in the 200 backstroke and 11th in the 100 freestyle.

"MacLean is a tough kid," Bauerle said. "She has great range, anywhere from the 200 to the 800 freestyle. She's a tough competitor. Being good in freestyle is important because it covers a lot of events."

Stewart, a homeschooled student, swims for Coach Steve Panzram and the YMCA Hub Fins in Hattiesburg, Miss. He competed for the NCSA All-Star Team in Japan in 2011, claiming first place in the 200 and 400 individual medley and was the top United States finisher in the 100 butterfly and 200 backstroke. The Mississippi Most Outstanding Swimmer holds 24 shortcourse and 35 long course state records. He is a National Merit semifinalist, an AP Scholar and a two-time USA Swimming Scholastic All-American. Stewart has qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 200 and 400 individual medley as well as the 200 backstroke. He is also hoping to obtain his black belt before coming to Georgia.

"Ty is an extremely talented young man in the pool and in the classroom," Bauerle said. "We are excited about having him. He's a very versatile swimmer, and he has a lot of great swimming ahead of him. We view him as a swimmer who will be scoring big at the NCAAs down the road. He's a swimmer with a big future ahead of him."

VanLandeghem attends Vincent Massey Collegiate in Winnipeg, Canada. She swims for Manta Swim Club under Coach Tom Hainey. VanLandeghem represented Canada in the 2011 World Championships and she competed in the 2011 World Youth Championships in Peru. For her age group, she is the No. 1-ranked 50 freestyle swimmer in the world. She is fifth in the 100 freestyle and seventh in the 100 butterfly.

"Chantal is really, really good," Bauerle said. "She's a great swimmer already, but I think she's just scratching the surface. She's one of the bright stars right now for Canadian swimming. She was very successful over at the World Championships. She's going to help us tremendously on all the relays. I believe she has the capabilities to be not only an Olympian for Canada, but also an NCAA champion here."

Matias Koski of Duluth, Ga., has signed a national letter of intent with the Georgia swimming team, according to an announcement Thursday by Bulldogs coach Jack Bauerle.

Koski attends Northview High School and swims for Coach Rich Murphy with Dynamo Swim Club. In the 16-17 age group world rankings, Koski is No. 10 in the 200-meter freestyle, No. 13 in the 800-meter freestyle, No. 17 in the 100- and 400-meter freestyle, and No. 18 in the 1,500-meter freestyle. Koski is the state of Georgia's No. 1-ranked recruit and is the nation's top prospect in the 200 and 500 freestyle. He also is ranked No. 3 in the nation in the 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyle.

Koski was chosen as the Georgia Male Swimmer of the Year in 2010 and 2011 after winning state titles in the 200 and 500 freestyle. He holds the state records in the 100 and 200 freestyle as well as 10 age-group state records. Earlier this year, Koski was a USA Swimming junior national champion in the 800 freestyle and he finished as the runner-up in the 200, 400 and 500 freestyle. He holds the Finnish national record in the 800 freestyle and was the 2011 Finnish national champion in the 100 and 400 freestyle. Koski was a finalist in the 2011 European Junior Championship in the 200 and 400 freestyle.

"Matias is one of the best swimmers to come out of the state of Georgia in the last 10 years," Bauerle said. "He is a terrific talent, a great young man and he comes from a great family. He's got impressive range. He can be successful from the 50 to the mile, and that's rare. We can't be more pleased to have him. We know he can help us out at the NCAA level individually and on a few relays."

Hali Flickinger of Pennsylvania, Zach Gunn of Texas, Chase Kalisz of Maryland and Annie Zhu of New York are the latest high school standouts to sign national letters of intent with the Georgia swimming program, according to an announcement Friday by Coach Jack Bauerle.

Flickinger attends Spring Grove (Pa.) High School and competes for Michael Brooks with York Y Swimming. She is the nation's No. 1-ranked 400 individual medley swimmer in the 16-17 age group. Flickinger also is No. 5 in the 200 butterfly, No. 8 in the 100 butterfly, ninth in the 200 individual medley and 11th in the 1,000 freestyle.

"Hali's got a lot of great swimming ahead of her," Bauerle said. "She already has some national team experience. She's a great freestyler and butterflier, and we'll need her next year in both. She's very versatile, because she will be a great 400 IMer too."

Gunn attends McNeil High School in Austin, Texas, and is coached by ex-Bulldog Tim O'Brien at Nitro Swimming. In the 16-17 age group world rankings, Gunn is ranked No. 13 in the 100 breaststroke and No. 18 in the 200 breaststroke. Gunn represented the United States in the World Youth Games last summer in Peru.

"Zach is one of the top breaststroke recruits in the country," Bauerle said. "I think with a couple of our young guys and adding a guy like Zach, we'll have one of the best breaststroke groups in the country."

Kalisz attends Fallston High School in Bel Air, Md., and swims for North Baltimore Aquatic Club under Coach Bob Bowman (who also trains Allison Schmitt and Michael Phelps). In the 16-17 age group world rankings, Kalisz is No. 7 in the 200 individual medley, No. 8 in the 400 individual medley, No. 9 in the 200 breaststroke and No. 18 in the 200 butterfly. Kalisz represented the United States in the World Youth Games last summer in Peru.

"Chase is not only a great swimmer, but he's a great young guy," Bauerle said. "He is what I call a game changer. He's a talented young guy, but he's also good because he works real hard. He comes from a great training background. We expect a lot of that his first year. He can swim anything, whether it's IM or breaststroke, fly, you name it. He can go to a meet and swim anything well."

Zhu attends Brooklyn (N.Y.) Technical High School, and she swims under Brian Brown and Rachel Stratton for Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics. In the 16-17 age group national rankings, she is No. 3 in the 100-yard breaststroke, No. 4 in the 200-meter breaststroke, No. 5 in the 200-yard breaststroke, No. 6 in the 200-yard individual medley, No. 8 in the 200-meter individual medley, No. 9 in the 100-meter breaststroke and No. 10 in the 400-meter individual medley. Zhu is a three-time member of the National Youth Team, and she has four Olympic Trials cuts.

"Annie just broke the state record in New York for the 100 breaststroke," Bauerle said. "She is a great 200 IMer. Annie is another one we're pretty excited about. She's probably one of the top two or three breaststroke/IM recruits in the country."

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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