LSU Women’s Swimming Earns First Top 15 Recruiting Class Ranking

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, June 12. THE LSU women's swimming team will welcome its first ever top-15 recruiting class to campus in August as this year's group of signees was ranked No. 15 in the nation by CollegeSwimming.com Thursday.

"We are very excited about this recruiting class," head coach Adam Schmitt said. "I believe this is the first time we've been ranked in the top-20, and it really is a testament to how hard my recruiting coordinators and assistant coaches have worked to help bring in this talented group.

"We're coming off a 16th-place finish at the NCAA Championships, our best finish in eight years, and this class is going to help us continue turning the corner with our program as we strive to reach that top-10 level nationally."

The Lady Tigers' class of eight swimmers features several athletes ranked in the Web site's top-200 and the highest-ranked European prospect on the list, Sally Wood of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Wood, a 2008 Great Britain Olympic Trials' qualifier who signed with LSU earlier this summer, is ranked 10th overall and possesses the talent and versatility to be a force right away. A product of Scotland's premier swimming club, Warrender Baths, Wood boasts top times of 2:19.93 and 4:54.22 in the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys and can also be a difference-maker in butterfly and middle-distance freestyle races.

Fellow signee Amanda Kendall of Fairfax, Va., also earned a top-100 ranking and figures to provide an immediate boost in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle races as well as in the 100-yard butterfly, while Amber Green of Eureka, Mo., shows the promise to be an excellent sprinter and fly performer.

In addition, the class includes highly-touted signee Sara Haley of El Dorado Hills, Calif., a five-star prospect according to Swimming World Magazine who competed in the 200-yard butterfly at the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer after qualifying with a sizzling long-course mark of 2:14.04.

Another gifted signee from the Golden State, Chelsea Griffiths has already gone under the 55-second mark in the 100 backstroke with her mark of 54.98, a time comparable to last season's NCAA ‘B' cut qualifying standard, while Audrey Lawson of Erlanger, Ky., will bring in a top time in the 200 butterfly (1:59.83) that is right off last year's NCAA provisional standard.

Moreover, versatile athletes Kaelee Mader of Houston, Texas, and Jana Ruimerman of Aurora, Colo., should be solid contributors in several events next season and give the program a pair of talented swimmers to build around in the individual medley races.

CollegeSwimming.com is expected to announce its men's recruiting rankings later this week.

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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