Even we at CollegeSwimming.com can admit that the recruit rankings are anything but an exact science. Invariably, judgments are made, someone gets missed, times are overlooked, messageboards get busy, methodology is questioned, parents get defensive, and a certain Big Ten head coach finds a reason to complain. No matter how you want to pick them though, Stanford is number one.
Look – they got quantity. Skip Kinney and Ted Knapp didn’t recruit. They stockpiled. It’s no easy task to get a handful of guys by Stanford’s admissions office or $51,760 tuition, room and board, but Skip and Ted secured the services of almost 10% of the top-100.
“With all the issues that play a role in the recruiting process at Stanford, it is very difficult to dictate what the final roster will look like,” explains Knapp. “We feel very fortunate to have the nine young men that we do for this coming Fall's entering freshmen class.
Then there’s quality. One out of every six of the top forty-odd recruits is Stanford-bound. In fact, you could leave the top four names off of their incoming class and Stanford would still be in the top five. It’s a group that should bring the national championship back to the Farm, though Knapp is more modest. “It is a very good class and they will be contributing everyday towards our hopes to contend for a national title.”
Make no doubt about it, Stanford is back – and back is exactly where this class begins with Matt Swanston and Matt Thompson. The pair share more than just a first name and top-ten ranking. They will arrive at Stanford ranked 1-2 in the 200 backstroke. Thompson is the number-two prep prospect. He is ranked in the top three of four different events (100 and 200 back, 200 and 400 IM). In fact, Thompson is ranked in the top sixteen of incoming times in five different events, second only to Texas-bound Nick D’Innocenzo and future Virginia Cavalier Matt Houser.
Swanston is no less impressive and if his 200 IM converted about 4/10 faster he’d also have five events ranked among the top sixteen of incoming recruits. Swanston is one of the rare international swimmers to call Palo Alto home. It’s not a recruiting route the Stanford staff pursues. “They [international swimmers] typically find us,” confesses Knapp, “and thank goodness, because many times they turn out to be the best of what Stanford is looking for.”
The Canadian similarly feels Stanford offered the best of what he was looking for. “On my recruiting trip I was very impressed with the gorgeous campus and the strength and unity of the swim team.” It was enough to help him cross USC, Michigan and Texas off of his list.
Andrew Saeta and Aaron Wayne will both arrive at Stanford with their eyes on a big prize. “My goal is to become an NCAA Champion,” says Saeta. Wayne agrees, “Individually, one of my goals is to win an event at the NCAA Championships.”
With times among the top sixteen in both backstrokes and the 100 and 200 free Saeta’s got the talent to contend, but understands it takes more than talent. “I feel that Skip and Ted have the ability to help me achieve that goal more so than anyone else in the country.”
For Wayne, the love affair with Stanford started long ago. “I've wanted to attend Stanford since I heard about it when I was little.” That early decision-making is common among Stanford signees. “I think the guys we get have decided long before the end of their junior year that they want to balance academics and athletics at a very high level and that Stanford will present them with an incomparable opportunity to do both and that the experience will serve them well upon graduation,”
Knapp explains. “Their desire to surround themselves with likeminded peers is a draw that we are very thankful for.”
Guys like Saeta and Wayne are double-wins because they opted for Stanford over some of the very teams that aim to deny the Cardinal another NCAA title. In Saeta’s case that’s Texas, Cal and USC. For Wayne, it included California and Arizona and also UC Davis and Texas A&M.
Two more Stanford recruits possess top-sixteen incoming times. SwimMAC’s Payne Montgomery and Andrew Grinalds from the Westport YMCA. Montgomery is the ideal NCAA squad member. He can cover the 50, the 1650 and all points in between. He’s ranked in the top twenty-five of both IM’s and the long fly meaning a lot of options for Skip and Ted when it comes time to fill out the NCAA lineup and relay cards. Grinalds is built from a similar mould without the extended distance ability. He opted for Stanford over Princeton, Harvard, and Virginia
The rest of the class would stand out on any other team. Burke Sims is a rising distance star while Thomas Santoli isn’t far behind his Mecklenburg teammate. Dan Miller rounds out the best of this year’s recruiting classes.
| 5 | 80.30 | Thompson, Matt | Dallas, TX | Dallas Mustangs |
| 10 | 76.07 | Swanston, Matthew | Newmarket, ON | Newmarket Stingrays |
| 21 | 71.25 | Saeta, Andrew | Pasadena, CA | Swim Pasadena |
| 25 | 70.74 | Wayne, Aaron | Antioch, CA | Terrapins |
| 26 | 70.73 | Montgomery, Payne | Columbia, SC | SwimMAC Carolina |
| 35 | 69.66 | Grinalds, Andrew | Southport, CT | Westport YMCA |
| 42 | 68.11 | Sims, Burke | Downers Grove, IL | Fox Valley Swim Team |
| 72 | 64.75 | Santoli, Thomas | Davidson, NC | Mecklenburg Aquatic Club |
| 101 | 61.70 | Miller, Daniel | St. Louis, MO | Clayton Shaw Park |
