After an extremely successful 2015-’16 season that saw multiple All-Americans, a fifth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships and Matt Hutchins’ Big Ten Swimmer of the Year Award, head coach Whitney Hite and the Wisconsin swimming and diving team are ready to go and is hungry for more.
The Badgers did not lose many important swimmers to graduation and transfers, and in most cases, the new recruits are a significant upgrade from those who left. With only two NCAA qualifiers graduating, Austin Byrd and Jake Mandli, UW should be in a good spot to improve on their 18th-place finish at the national meet last spring.
Hite was able to recruit an extremely versatile freshman class that will give the Badgers strengths in areas they were previously lacking in and depth in areas that need it. Coming in, the freshman that has caught the attention of many is Camille Hodge, a multi-event Olympic Trials qualifier from Ohio that specializes in the individual medley and breaststroke—both relatively weak events for Wisconsin last year.
The three returning swimmers to look out for are a trio of seniors: Cannon Clifton, Matt Hutchins, and Brett Pinfold. All three finished in the top 25 at the NCAA Championships last year, and Hutchins is coming off an impressive summer representing New Zealand at the Rio Olympics.
Clifton is head and shoulders above anyone else in the sprint freestyles—in the 50-yard free, he is almost a full second faster than anyone else on the team, and in the 100, the gap is more than a second and a half. It is also important to note that Clifton has already swam a sub-20-second 50-yard freestyle at the intrasquad meet, which would almost certainly qualify for the NCAA Championships had it been an official meet.
Hutchins, a two-time first team All-American, is looking to win both distance events, the 500-yard freestyle and the mile, at the national level. The mile, an event in which Hutchins placed third last season, appears to be his best shot at an individual title, as there are only three swimmers whose time rival his, two of whom swam against Hutchins in the Olympics this summer. In addition, Hutchins will have a new training partner this year with junior transfer Victor Goicoechea, who came over from Hawaii. The Spaniard posted times similar to Hutchins’ and the competition will make both swimmers better.
Pinfold is an incredibly well-rounded swimmer with no truly weak event. He owns the school record in the 200-yard freestyle, and is the fastest returning backstroker in both distances by over a second. He has also had massive improvements in the 200-yard individual medley and should be a factor for all of the Badgers’ top relays.
With both of the UW’s top divers, Dan Cech and Clark Carter, no longer on the team due to graduation and transfer respectively, diving coach Anton Slobounov brought in freshman Kevin Pomeroy to fill the gap. An accomplished club diver from California who is a multi-time Junior National Champion, Pomeroy should become a significant contributor to the Badgers’ success on the boards this season.
Wisconsin opens its season on Oct. 8, with a dual meet against Auburn at 11 a.m. at the UW Natatorium.
