Re-Rank: Top 20 Girls NCAA Swimming Recruits, Class of 2021

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

After dropping the boys rankings a few weeks ago, it’s time to revisit the girls’ high school class of 2021 and re-rank how they stack up as they begin their collegiate careers.

As recruiting classes get closer to actual NCAA competition, we start to weigh certain factors more heavily: NCAA scoring times become more important, and we tend to value one or two standout events a bit more heavily (compared to a wide range of just decent events) than we would for a high school sophomore who has more time to develop across the board. Having already ranked this class about a year ago, we also get a clearer picture of momentum and trajectory: which recruits are continuing to drop time through their senior seasons, and which have stagnated.

You can look back on our original ranks for this class below, but do remember that those ranks are merely a snapshot in time – we didn’t have a working crystal ball then, nor do we now:

• Ranks As Juniors (from April 2020)
• Ranks As Sophomores (from May 2019)

2021 Addendum: The 2020 short course season was an abbreviated one for many, meaning several swimmers competed only a few times, and maybe didn’t get a chance to fully taper for their big meet—not to mention a disruption in training—due to the coronavirus pandemic. So we’re working with partial information, though most swimmers were able to get some good racing under their belt in late 2020 and early 2021 in the short course pool before gearing up for the long course season.

But nonetheless, this still made it difficult to really get a good gauge on which swimmers were stagnant and which lacked opportunity, so bear that in mind with the rankings.

THIS CLASS

• Outstanding sprint class, led by two of the fastest junior swimmers of all-time in the top two spots
• Plenty of versatile swimmers with IM ability and one or two other high-level strokes
• Relatively weak breaststroke class, one swimmer well above the rest
• A break from two years of insane backstroke groups
• Not a lot of two-distance flyers – most are fly/back combo types
• Strong distance class

Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh are two historically fast sprinters, both of whom will be in contention for individual NCAA titles from the beginning of their collegiate careers.

Beyond those two, there are several other talented sprinters in the class, though most have yet to develop a bonafide three-event NCAA lineup.

The class is full of great distance freestylers, IMers with a wide range across multiple strokes, and the backstroke scene had a few rapid risers.

The breaststroke group lacked a true standout last season, but Letitia Sim really emerged this past season as a star in that realm, and really climbed the rankings with several other events that are high-level.

**The 1000 free isn’t an event at the Division I NCAA Championships, but is swum instead of the 1650 in many Division I dual meets and is part of the NCAA program in Division II.

THE METHODOLOGY

Our goal in these rankings is to reflect what college coaches look for in recruits, based on many years of conversations and coverage.

We focus only on American-based athletes, simply because there is so much uncertainty with international recruits – if they’ll come to the United States, when they’ll come to the States and with what graduating class they should be ranked. Projecting international recruits often becomes more a discussion of when they’ll first join a college program and not which program they’ll join.

A few other factors that weigh heavily in our rankings:

• Relay Value – Relay points count double in college swimming, and any program needs a strong stable of quality sprinters to fill out all 5 relays with stars. Obviously, a special distance swimmer can easily rank ahead of a very good 100 freestyler, but college swimming generally values a sprint freestyler over a distance swimmer, all other factors being equal.
• Improvements – Actual times are the trump card, but any big improvements in quality can make a difference as well. For example, a swimmer who only took up year-round swimming as a junior in high school going the same time as a swimmer whose been swimming year-round since they were 8 will probably get the edge in our rankings.
• Short Course over Long Course – while every club and every swimmer will have a different balance of focus between short course and long course swimming, the NCAA competes in short course yards, and that’s going to be the main factor considered in these rankings. Long course times are another data point for consideration, but we mainly view them through the lens of what a big long course swim could mean for an athlete’s future in short course.
• NCAA scoring ability – NCAAs are the big show for college teams, so we’ve weighted NCAA scoring potential very highly. Swimmers who already have NCAA scoring times wind up mostly filling out the top our of rankings. Since college athletic directors – and by extension coaches – also place high value on conference championships, scoring ability at conference meets is also a factor in our rankings.
• Relative depth in the NCAA and recruiting class – a wealth of elite depth nationwide in one stroke discipline makes a big difference in what times are considered more valuable in that event. Events rise at different rates in the NCAA, but when one event gets extremely deep and fast at the college level, it makes high school prospects in those events a little less valuable, relatively, with lots of other veteran options. In the same way, a recruiting class stacked with swimmers in butterfly, for example, would make each butterflyer a little less sought-after in the market, with lots of other recruiting options able to provide similar production.

Of course, there’s no way to predict the future, and the most concrete data we have to go on are cold, hard times. These rankings in no way mean that all of these 20 swimmers will be NCAA standouts, and they certainly don’t mean that no swimmer left off this list will make big contributions at the NCAA level.

With that out of the way, let’s get to our rankings.

Disclaimer: there are a lot of high school seniors in the country, and no really good, complete, 100% accurate listing of them all. If you don’t see your favorite swimmer on the list, feel free to politely point them out in the comments. There’s a chance that we disagree with your assessment of their spot in the top 20, and so long as it’s done civilly, there’s no problem with differences of opinions. There’s also a chance that we’ve simply missed a no-brainer (we’ve taken every precaution to avoid that), and if that happens, we want to make sure we correct it.

TOP 20 SWIMMERS FROM THE CLASS OF 2021

1. Torri Huske (Previous Rank: #2) – Arlington Aquatic Club– Yorktown High School – Arlington, VA **Committed to Stanford**
Best Times: 100 fly – 49.70, 200 fly – 1:53.71, 50 free – 21.39, 100 free – 47.60, 200 IM – 1:53.73, 200 free – 1:43.23, 100 back – 53.17, 400 IM – 4:11.26

Having ranked second in the class both as a sophomore and junior in high school, Torri Huske simply would not be denied in her senior year. Huske had an unbelievable 2020-21 short course season, highlighted by her National Age Group Record-breaking 49.70 in the 100 butterfly in March. Not only would that time have placed third at the 2021 NCAA Championships, but it also makes Huske the fifth-fastest American in history. The Stanford commit, who also finished fourth in the 100 fly at the Olympics this summer and added a silver medal on the women’s 400 medley relay, made significant drops in the majority of her events this season, overtaking Gretchen Walsh for the class’s top time in the 50 free (21.39) and 200 free (1:43.23), passing Grace Sheble for the fastest time in the 200 fly (1:53.71), and knocking three seconds off her leading 200 IM in a blazing 1:53.73. Huske also improved her 100 free time by six-tenths in 47.60, and is an instant threat to challenge for NCAA titles. Her projected NCAA lineup would entail the 50 free, 100 fly and 100 free if we assume she keeps more of a sprinting focus, which would keep her sharp to be a major factor on the Cardinal relays. But she’s legitimately got times in six events that would’ve made the ‘A’ final at the 2021 NCAAs, with the ability to contend in the 200 free, 200 fly and 200 IM as well.

2. Gretchen Walsh (Previous Rank: #1) – Nashville Aquatic Club – Harpeth Hall High School – Nashville, TN **Committed to Virginia**
Best Times: 50 free – 21.41, 100 free – 46.98, 200 free – 1:43.75, 100 back – 51.50, 100 fly – 51.73, 200 IM – 1:58.12

Walsh assumed the #1 position in our previous rankings as the fastest female recruit in the 50 and 100 freestyle, making her a premier threat both individually and on relays at NCAAs. And while much of that remains true, she’s been overtaken by Huske, largely due to the fact that Huske is now faster than Walsh in two of Walsh’s three best events: the 50 and 200 free. Set to join the defending NCAA champions at UVA, Walsh will be an instant title challenger in the 50 and 100 free, with her personal bests having placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 2021 finals if she was there. Walsh has certainly had more of a 100 focus over the last year, likely due in part to her Olympic Trials lineup, which resulted in new best times in the 100 back (51.50) and 100 fly (51.73). But her 200 remains elite; Walsh only really swam it once this past season, and posted a very solid 1:44.66. 2021 NCAA champion Paige Madden (also a Cavalier) won’t be back for a fifth season, making the event incredibly wide open—Walsh’s best of 1:43.75 sits just a quarter-second shy of the runner-up time behind Madden last season.

3. Grace Sheble (Previous Rank: #3) – NOVA of Virginia – James River High School – North Chesterfield, VA **Committed to NC State**
Best Times: 400 IM – 4:05.90, 200 IM – 1:56.99, 200 fly – 1:54.43, 200 free – 1:46.88, 500 free – 4:45.26, 100 breast – 1:00.73, 200 breast – 2:12.86, 200 back – 1:58.44

The incredibly versatile Sheble continued to make strides as a senior, though there’s an argument to be made that she’s stagnated in her best events over the last two years. Sheble was 4:06.3 in the 400 IM as a sophomore, and then after dropping a 4:05.9 in March 2020, only hit a time of 4:09.45 this past season. The incoming NC State first-year did hit marginal PBs in the 200 IM and 200 fly in 2021, however, and took two and a half seconds off her 200 breast time in 2:12.86. She’s already fast enough to be an NCAA scorer in three events, has the capabilities to compete on the 800 free relay, and has a wide range that will make her valuable in dual meet settings. A change of scenery may be just what she needs to further develop the potential she’s shown over the last few years.

4. Letitia Sim (Previous Rank: #16) – TNT Swimming – Spanish Fort