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Men’s Recruiting Class Rankings Revisited: Top 16 Schools For 2020-2024

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Every summer, we rank down the top recruiting classes snagged by each team. But what do those rankings look like four years later, when each swimmer has had an opportunity to complete a full NCAA career of competing and scoring?

We’ve already looked back at our top 20 individual athletes in the high school graduating class of 2020, re-ranked when they were high school seniors in the summer of 2020. Now it’s time to look back at our team-by-team recruiting class rankings to see which teams got most from their recruiting hauls.

Back in May 2020, we ranked out the top 16 recruiting classes nationwide. You can look back on our ranks here:

We’ve re-published each of the 16 classes below, verbatim from how they were listed in our 2020 post. Then we tracked down some stats on each class, plus a short analysis of each class along with any extra swimmers who wound up being part of the class.

Bear in mind that international swimmers throw a wrinkle into this sort of analysis, given the difficulty in projecting ahead of time when an international recruit will join an NCAA program and officially start their eligibility.

Note: The ‘number of NCAA Scorers’ section refers only to individual scorers, and only among athletes included in our original recruiting class rankings. Late additions to the classes are noted when we can find them.

#16: TEXAS A&M AGGIES

  • Top-tier additions:  (TX – IM/breast),  (TX – breast), Thomas Shomper (TX – back),  (TX – free), (TX – free), Carter Nelson (IL – free),  (TX – free),  (TX – free)
  • The rest:  (Philippines – back),  (TX – breast), Thad Dickerson (TX – IM), Kyle Sanchez ( – diving)

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 10th, 19th, 14th, 16th

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 1 ()

had a breakout meet at the 2022 Art Adamson Invite, producing a time in the 200 breast (1:51.09) that would’ve made the ‘A’ final at NCAAs. He was well off form in the postseason as a junior, but got it right in his senior year, winning the SEC title in a PB of 1:50.36 before placing 10th at NCAAs to score for the first time. He was also 17th in the 100 breast.

Another breaststroker,  qualified for NCAAs twice but didn’t score, while  has been a relay-only swimmer at nationals for three straight seasons.

#15: TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS

  • Top-tier additions:  (CO – back/IM),  (UT – fly),  (TN – free),  (OH – back/free),  (Canada – breast)
  • The rest:  (VA – distance),  (CA – fly),  (NJ – back),  (TN – free),  (OK – free),  (Peru/FL – distance),  (TN – fly),  (PA – free), Joey Tepper (NJ – distance)

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 20th, 18th, 7th, 6th

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 2* (, )

* scored for Tennessee after transferring from UIndy.

Tennessee had a massive recruiting class coming in, and as it turns out, their only two scorers weren’t mentioned in our 2020 article.

was the eighth-highest scorer in the class with 92 points over four years, scoring 16 in each of his first two seasons at Tennessee before reeling off consecutive 30-point campaigns as an upperclassman.

After placing 9th on platform as a freshman, Hattie was an ‘A’ finalist in the event for three straight years, finishing 2nd in 2023 and 3rd in 2024, and he’s also been in the top six on 3-meter the last two seasons.

contributed on the boards for the first time as a senior, making the consolation final on platform as a senior.

Another member of this high school class, , scored two points for the Vols in 2023 after transferring from UIndy.

swam his freshman year with the Vols in 2021, and has transitioned from an IM/200 fly swimmer into a sprint since re-emerging at BYU, swimming at NCAAs for the first time in 2024 and scoring in two events.

narrowly missed scoring this past season, placing 17th in the 200 back.

#14: AUBURN TIGERS

  • Top-tier additions:  (Denmark – free),  (LA – free),  (NC – breast),  (VA – distance)
  • The rest:  (WA – breast),  (TX – back),  (GA – fly), Jordan Nabor (AZ – back/free),  (FL – free),  (VA – back),  (AR – free),  (AR – free), Hunter Kebler (GA – diving)

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 33rd (no points), 29th, 10th, 12th

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 3 (, , )

Auburn’s top scorer from this class, , was a ‘B’ finalist in the 100 breast in two straight seasons. In September 2023, he was .

Evan McInerny earned his lone NCAA invite as a junior and scored, placing 13th in the 200 fly, and  had his best NCAA Championship performance come that same season. Bonson set a PB to make the 500 free final where he finished 16th, and he also led off the 800 free relay that cracked the top eight in a best time.

Auburn’s big recruit in this class coming in was Danish mid-distance freestyler , who had best swim at Auburn (4:12 in the 500 free) come a few weeks prior to the 2021 NCAAs in order to qualify. He only raced individually at the 2021 meet, swimming the 800 free relay in 2022 and then had his last meet with the Tigers come at the 2023 SECs.

didn’t pan out from the ‘top tier’ section, while both  and  turned into valuable relay contributors for Auburn at the NCAA level.

#13: INDIANA HOOSIERS

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 6th, 5th, 4th, 4th

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 3 (, , )

has been a significant part of Indiana’s success over the past four years, as the Israeli native combined for 33 points in his first two seasons and then eclipsed 30 in each of the past two, hitting a career-high 32 as a senior despite only swimming two individual events. Frankel was 2nd in the 100 fly, 4th in the 200 fly, and then threw down five blistering legs on the Hoosier relays.

Indiana also got contributions from breaststrokers  and , both hitting the scoreboard for the first time as seniors. Yep won the Big Ten title in the 200 breast and then placed 7th at NCAAs while adding a ‘B’ final appearance in the 100 breast, while Reich set a PB in the NCAA prelims to crack the 200 breast consols where he was 12th.

The senior breakout also applied to , who made NCAAs for the first time and set best times in the 500 free and 1650 free.  had relay duties at NCAAs in his upperclass years.

#12: FLORIDA GATORS

  • Top-tier additions: #7  (OH – free), Trevor McGovern (FL – back), (Jordan – breast)
  • The rest:  (FL – distance),  (FL – distance),  (FL – fly),  (FL – distance),  (VA – free), Nick Eunice (FL – free),  (Australia – free), Wes Hyde (FL – distance), Billy Jones (FL – free),  (Hawaii transfer – free), (St. Peter’s transfer – diving)

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 3rd, 3rd, 6th, 3rd

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 3* (, , )

* scored for Florida after transferring.

has been dynamite for Florida during his career, scoring between 18 and 25 individual points every season at NCAAs while being a vital member of the team’s relays that have won multiple national titles and rewritten the record books.

After placing 3rd in the 50 free as a freshman, Chaney has been 3rd, 4th and 3rd the past three years in the 100 back.

 scored in the 200 fly as a sophomore, while diver  put two on the board that same season.

was recruited in this class at Michigan, but swam the last two years at Florida and combined for 34 points.

One of the top recruits from Florida’s class was Trevor McGovern, who ended up transferring to Auburn after one season, while breaststroker  almost scored in 2023, placing 18th in the 200 breast.

#11: NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 25th, 33rd, 18th, 10th

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 0

Notre Dame has come into prominence over the last two seasons, but this class hasn’t played a major role in that rise.

Their two Honorable Mention recruits,  and , have been on NCAA relays in the last two years, and Christianson qualified individually in the 100 breast in 2022, but the team got no individual points from this group.

#10: USC TROJANS

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 27th, 26th, 22nd, 22nd

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 0

USC hasn’t reestablished itself as a men’s swimming power since the graduation of the regime that won the NCAA title in the 200 medley relay in 2018, and part of that is due to lackluster recruiting classes such as this one.

 was ranked 13th coming out of high school but hasn’t managed to score at NCAAs—his best season came in 2021-22, when he was 6th in the 100 breast and 7th in the 200 breast at Pac-12s.

Greek Olympian  qualified for two NCAA meets, earning his highest finish this past season by taking 24th in the 200 back.

#9: VIRGINIA CAVALIERS

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 9th, 10th, 15th, 17th

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 2* (, )

* scored for Alabama UVA after transferring.

Virginia had two contributors come from this class, led by freestyle sprinter  who .

Brownstead put points on the board in four straight years, peaking with 30.5 as a junior when he was 3rd in the 50 free and 4th in the 100 free.

scored as a freshman in the 100 breast, and then after winning the ACC title but placing 17th at NCAAs in 2023, had his best national championship performance as a senior with 28 points.

The Cavaliers also got 17 points and some big relay swims from class of 2020 member , who transferred to Virginia after one season at Alabama.

King was 7th in the 100 free and split 18.4/40.9 on free and 19.9 on fly for the Cavaliers in 2022. He missed the following season due to personal reasons and then took an .

only qualified for NCAAs as a freshman, while the other ‘top tier’ recruit, Poland’s , transferred to Northwestern.

#8: ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 15th, 14th, 19th, 19th

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 2 (, )

Alabama’s two big additions in this class ended up doing most of their damage elsewhere.

put up 14 points in his freshman season before heading to Virginia, while deferred his freshman year, joining Alabama in 2021-22. He only competed for the Crimson Tide for one season before transferring to Miami (FL). He didn’t score for Alabama but has been an ‘A’ finalist each of the last two years for the Hurricanes.

and  both made NCAA appearances for Alabama, while Chris O’Connor transferred to Texas after his freshman year.  swam four years but didn’t qualify for NCAAs, placing as high as 9th in the 100 fly at SECs.

#7: OHIO STATE BUCKEYES

  • Top-tier additions: HM  (OH – IM),  (WVU transfer – free/back),  (OH – fly),  (OH – free/back),  (OH – distance)
  • The rest:  (OH – back),  (OH – IM),  (MN – free),  (MD – distance),  (MI – free),  (OH – breast),  (OH – free/breast)

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 2 (, )

Ohio State had two big additions come in the fall of 2020, both of whom have represented the U.S. on the international stage.

consistently scored for the Buckeyes in the mile, though his highest finish (7th) doesn’t match what he’s done in the long course pool, going as fast as 14:50.84 to qualify for the World Championship team last year.

wasn’t a member of this high school class, joining Ohio State as a transfer from WVU, but really came into his own during his time in Columbus. However, like Clark, that showed more in long course, though Armstrong was 5th in the 100 back at the 2022 NCAAs. One month later, he broke the world record in the 50 back, went 52.20 in the 100 back, and turned pro.

An Honorable Mention recruit coming in,  was incredibly versatile but didn’t drop enough to qualify for NCAAs. The same goes for , while  was a relay-only swimmer in 2021 and didn’t compete the following season.

#6: GEORGIA BULLDOGS

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 4th, 8th, 12th, 11th

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 3 (, , )

Georgia nabbed two of the top three recruits in the class in  and , two key factors in their 4th-place finish in 2021.

Magahey was a star coming out of the gate, upsetting  for the NCAA title in the 500 free as a freshman. He went on to score 138 points over four seasons, hitting three consecutive 32-point campaigns after hitting 42 in his first year.

Urlando followed up a 26-point freshman year with 50 as a sophomore, as he had an incredible NCAA showing with swims in the 100 fly and 200 IM that would’ve won the season prior. His biggest performance came leading off UGA’s 400 medley relay, breaking the American and U.S. Open Record in the 100 back.

He was and didn’t compete for the Bulldogs again.

‘ lone NCAA appearance came during his freshman year, scoring in the mile.

#5: MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 12th, 22nd, 20th, 14th

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 1* ()

 was an NCAA scorer, but didn’t do so for Michigan. He didn’t score in either of his first two years, and then rattled off 34 in two seasons at Florida.

 missed Big Tens and NCAAs in his sophomore year after , and . In his freshman and junior seasons, Davis performed well at Big Tens, but never managed to crack individual points at NCAAs.

has been an asset for the Wolverines throughout his career, swimming at NCAAs three times and hitting a career-best 19th-place finish in the 50 free this past season.

 was a relay-only swimmer at the 2021 NCAAs.

#4: CAL GOLDEN BEARS

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 2nd, 1st, 1st, 2nd

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 5 (, , , , )

Cal got a windfall of points from this class, led by the top two scorers overall in  and .

Lasco’s NCAA success , as he scored 49, 52, 53 and 54 points individually over four seasons for a total of 208.

The next-highest in the class was Seeliger, 63 points back at 145. On top of being a key relay leg for the Bears, Seeliger piled up individual points every year, including 45 as a sophomore when he was the runner-up in the 50 and 100 free.

is another swimmer who is better in long course, but that didn’t stop him from chipping in for Cal early and then racking up some big points late in his career. Rose scored 62.5 points total, 50.5 of which have come the last two seasons.

and  scored for the first time as seniors, putting up two points each, while  made NCAAs once as a junior and  never cracked the big meet.

#3: NC STATE WOLFPACK

  • Top-tier additions: #11  (CO – free/fly),  (Denmark – distance),  (Florida transfer – back/fly),  (CT – distance),  (NC – IM),  (NC – IM),  (LSU transfer – breast)
  • The rest:  (NC – back),  (NC – free),  (VA – distance),  (NC – distance),  (MA – free), Matt Sexton (MD – diving)

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 8th, 4th, 5th, 5th

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 4 (, , , )

NC State got big contributions from this class, though a good chunk of it was from Florida transfer , who was part of the 2019 high school class.

Among the 2020 recruits,  led the way with 47 points during his career, scoring more than half (24) of them as a senior. Miller’s versatility and relay contributions were a big part of NC State’s three straight top-five finishes at NCAAs.

rebounded from his by having a career-best NCAA performance this past season, scoring 14 points after notching six as a junior.

BOTR recruit  scored four total points between the 2022 and 2024 NCAAs, while  made NCAAs his first two years and  swam all four years but didn’t drop enough to have an impact as a medley swimmer.

Highly touted Danish recruit  was a Tokyo Olympian but didn’t end up competing for the Wolfpack.

#2: STANFORD CARDINAL

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 14th, 7th, 8th, 8th

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 5 (, , , , )

Stanford got plenty of contributions from this class, with five scorers and four additional NCAA qualifiers.

The class probably didn’t score as much as their #2 ranking warranted, but they did get plenty from , and it would’ve been more if he hadn’t deferred his freshman year.

Minakov scored 36 points in his first season on The Farm, winning the 100 fly, and has a total of 60 through the 2023-24 campaign.

and  both scored in their sophomore and junior years, and were relied upon for free relays, while #8 recruit  scored as a freshman but hasn’t earned an invite the past three seasons.

Diver  scored last season and didn’t compete this year, while  and diver  all made at least one NCAA appearance but didn’t score. Mihm was notably just shy in 2024, taking 18th in the 200 IM.

The #18 recruit, , was 52.7/1:55.2 in breaststroke coming in, and has only improved marginally (52.4/1:53.5) in college, not enough to earn an NCAA invite.

#1: TEXAS LONGHORNS

  • Top-tier additions: #1  (OH – IM/back), #10  (TX – free), #12  (OR – IM/distance), #16  (TX – distance),  (CA – breast/fly),  (TX – distance),  (OH – diving), (Canada – diving)
  • The rest:  (CA – fly),  (VA – fly),  (PA – diving),  (TX – free)

NCAA Finishes Over 4 Years: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th

Number of NCAA Scorers In Class: 6 (, , , , , Zav and Zandt)

Texas couldn’t miss with this massive class, which was spearheaded by #1 recruit  and four more swimmers ranked in the top 16.

Foster never got that elusive individual NCAA title, and despite turning pro and forgoing this past season, still ranked 4th overall in the class with 133 points. He scored between 42 and 46 points in his three NCAA meets, and was able to fill in where Texas needed him (backstroke on medley relays) with his versatility.

 also cracked 100 points despite taking a redshirt year in 2023-24, steadily improving with 23, 39 and 43-point seasons at Texas. As a junior, he was 2nd in the 500 free, 4th in the mile and 8th in the 400 IM.

#10  scored 39 points and was a big player on the 800 free relay, with 29 of his points coming over the last two seasons.

was the second-highest-scoring diver in the class with 62 total points, including 23 as a freshman, and  chipped in with points in two seasons on the boards.

only swam one year at Texas, .  scored as a sophomore in the 100 fly but didn’t compete after that.  only raced his freshman year for the Longhorns.

Diver and switched to USC (starting his career two years later), scoring at NCAAs this past season.

RE-RANKING THE CLASSES

Certainly, individual points don’t encapsulate everything a recruiting class brings to a program over four years. But they are the easiest way to rank the classes against each other four years later. Here’s a look at all the classes represented, ranked by individual points from all swimmers in this graduating class:

One note to factor in: In the case of swimmers who transferred, points are attributed to the team they scored for (from this high school class). For example, ‘s points won’t be attributed to OSU as he was not a member of this high school class. Someone from this original class who transferred midway through, like , would have his point count to the team he scored for in each specific season.

RANK TEAM

POINTS OVER 4 YEARS

1 Cal 419.5
2 Texas 350
3 Virginia Tech 215.5
4 Georgia 215
5 Florida 127
6 Indiana 117
7 Virginia 111
8 Tennessee 96
9 Stanford 95
10 NC State 71
11 Ohio State 43
12 Towson 24
13 Auburn 21
14 Wisconsin 15
15 Georgia Tech 12
15 Miami (FL) 12
17 Texas A&M 7

And our new top 16, purely in terms of individual NCAA points:

The far left column tracks each swimmer’s final rank within the class. The next column tracks their individual ranking in our top 20 recruits post. HM means “honorable mention.” NR means “unranked” and INTL means “international”, as we don’t rank international swimmers in our top 20 post. “DIVE” refers to divers, also not ranked in our top 20 lists.

#1 CAL (↑3)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

1 5 Cal 208 49 52 53 54
2 INTL Cal 145 32 45 39 29
13 HM Cal 62.5 3 9 22 28.5
39 Cal 2 0 0 no invite 2
39 BOTR Cal 2 no invite no invite 0 2

#2 TEXAS (↓1)

#3 VIRGINIA TECH (+)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

4 INTL Virginia Tech 128.5 18 33.5 45 32
9 INTL Carles Coll Marti Virginia Tech 87 13 30 14 30

#4 GEORGIA (↑2)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

5 3 Georgia 138 42 32 32 32
11 2 Georgia 76 26 50
44 INTL Georgia 1 1 no invite no invite

#5 FLORIDA (↑7)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

9 7 Florida 87 25 25 19 18
19 9 Michigan/Florida 34 Michigan Michigan 21 13
36 Florida 4 4 no invite no invite
39 DIVE Florida 2 no invite 2 no invite 0

#6 INDIANA (↑7)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

7 INTL Indiana 95 18 15 30 32
24 Indiana 17 no invite no invite 0 17
34 BOTR Maxwell Reich Indiana 5 no invite no invite 0 5

#7 VIRGINIA (↑2)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

12 6 Virginia 63 15 30.5 5 12.5
20 19 Alabama/Virginia 17 (31) Alabama 17
20 BOTR Virginia 31 3 0 0 28

#8 TENNESSEE (↑7)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

8 DIVE Tennessee 92 16 16 30 30
39 UIndy/Tennessee 2 UIndy UIndy 2 0
39 DIVE Tennessee 2 no invite 0 no invite 2

#9 STANFORD (↓7)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

15 INTL Stanford 60 redshirt 36 15 9
25 HM Stanford 16 7 9 0 no invite
30 14 Stanford 8 0 3 5 0
32 DIVE Stanford 6 no invite 0 6
34 8 Stanford 5 5 no invite no invite no invite

#10 NC STATE (↓7)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

16 11 NC State 47 2 15 6 24
23 NC State 20 no invite no invite 6 14
36 BOTR NC State 4 3 0 1

#11 OHIO STATE (↓4)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

17 Ohio State 43 11 11 12 9

#12 TOWSON (+)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

22 Brian Benzing Towson 24 4 2 18

#13 AUBURN (↑1)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

25 BOTR Auburn 16 9 7
36 Auburn 4 no invite no invite 4 no invite
44 BOTR Auburn 1 no invite no invite 1 0

#14 WISCONSIN (+)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

27 Jake Newmark Wisconsin 15 0 (relay-only) 0 15 no invite

#15 GEORGIA TECH (+)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

28 INTL Batur Unlu Georgia Tech 12 9 0 (relay-only) 3

#15 MIAMI (FL) (+)

FINAL RANK 2020 RANK NAME COLLEGE TEAM TOTAL NCAA POINTS 2021 NCAA POINTS 2022 NCAA POINTS 2023 NCAA POINTS

2024 NCAA POINTS

28 DIVE Jack Matthews Miami 12 12