Swimming World Announces Swimming World College Recruit Rankings (Yds)

PHOENIX, Arizona, November 6. BEGINNING with the Class of 2008, Swimming World will begin a star ranking system for top high school recruits. The system grew out of the tremendous response to our ever-evolving article where we update the Class of 2008. The star ranking system, called the Swimming World College Recruit Rankings (Yds), is based on how an individual recruit will impact scoring at the NCAA Division I Championships.

The system begins with six star-levels of rankings. Any given recruit will be assigned a ranking ranging from one star to six stars based solely on top short course yard (SCY) times in each recruit's top three events.

The following descriptions are how each star-level is earned:

6 Star : NCAA Title Winner or Multiple A Finals
5 Star : A Final or Multiple B Finals
4 Star : B Final or Multiple Qualifying Marks (Last In Time at DI NCAAs)
3 Star : Qualify Mark (Last In Time at DI NCAAs) or Multiple B Cuts
2 Star : B Cut
1 Star : Non Qualifier

Based on times from last year's NCAA Division I Championships, as well as this year's qualifying standards, we've developed the following grid to match times against.

The philosophy behind the system comes from conversations with college and club coaches throughout the nation. Top scholarship dollars typically go to those swimmers that can score at NCAAs, thus increasing the national standing of a program. With news from the NCAA that there is a long-term moratorium on swimming the NCAA Championships in meter format, yards are the sole measuring stick for a recruit's impact at the big meet.

Initially, recruits will be ranked based on their top three SCY times as reported in the USA Swimming database. However, once a recruit's initial ranking has been decided, Swimming World will accept promotion petitions from coaches and swimmers as recruits improve upon their times. To do so, please contact Newsmaster with a link or copy of results.

Since meter times are not included, these rankings should not be used to compare recruits' potential Olympic impact.

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