Ranking The 2025 Men’s NCAA Recruiting Classes: 9-12 ...Middle East

By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam

With fall around the corner, we are in the middle of NCAA preview season. We will continue our ranking of the 2025 women’s recruiting classes with #9-12. We have already released the honorable mentions and the #13-16 rankings

See Also:

A few important notes on our rankings:

Honorable Mentions

Previously Ranked

Best NCAA Swimming and Diving Recruiting Classes: Men’s Class of 2025

#12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Notre Dame men’s swim team returns after a year-long suspension, and have restocked with a huge class in terms of volume, headlined by #8 recruit Jack Armour.

Armour is a fantastic pickup for the fighting Irish.  He is already in scoring range at ACCs in all three of his main events, with bests of 51.86 in the 100 breast, 1:55.18 in the 200 breast, and 1:43.34 in the 200 IM. He’s also been on a phenomenal improvement curve this year after being unranked at this point last season. For Notre Dame’s relays, he’s huge – elite breaststrokers hardly grow on trees, and he should have the 200 and 400 medley relay spots nailed down for the next four years. He’s also only three-tenths outside of last year’s NCAA invite time in the 100 breast.

Zach Oswald could also be part of those medley relays before he graduates. He will be the second-fastest backstroker this year for Notre Dame behind U.S. National Champion Tommy Janton, coming in with times of 46.38 in the 100 and 1:43.10 in the 200. He would have been a ‘C’ finalist in the shorter distance at ACCs last year and just half a second outside of scoring in the 200, and given how Notre Dame developed Marcus Gentry, Tanner Filion and Janton he could be next on the production line.

Maksim Manolov, a multi-medalist at the 2024 European Junior Championships, comes in with long course bests of 27.89/1:01.10/2:12.89. The latter two convert to 51.98/1:53.21, which would put him at Armour’s level if he can manage the transitions to yards. Both of those times would have scored at ACCs last year, and holds Bulgarian junior records at all three breaststroke distances, implying some potential for a smooth transition. Jang Min-Gyo and Hrvoje Tomic are the other international recruits, both of them freestyle specialists. Gyo is 22.78/49.82 in the sprint freestyles, while Tomic is 22.77/49.25/1:49.52. The Croatian swimmer competed at the U.S. Open in yards last December as well, going 19.87/43.32/1:35.38 in the 50/100/200 free, which should be enough to contribute to the 800 free relay already.

Evan Conti looks a good add for the backstroke group as well with bests of 49.60/1:43.70, as should Brady Calkin, who goes 48.35/1:44.98. Luke Bucaro and Owen Tharrington will add even more backstroke depth, while John Kroll and Ethan DiFronzo flesh out freestyle. Jeremy Kelly, a transfer in from Texas with three years of eligibility remaining, will be a boon for freestyle (43.43/1:34.79), backstroke (46.80/1:43.88) and IM (1:43.55). He had a solid improvement curve last year, and is yet another smart add for the Fighting Irish.

They top off the class with a pair of divers, including USA Junior Nationals bronze medalist Matthew Wong. With Ben Nguyen, who scored all 45 of Notre Dame’s points at ACCs last year, returning for his senior season, Wong and Edward Nyman make for a small but strong group that should complement the action in the pool.

#11 Georgia Bulldogs

Sean Green was our #9 recruit just a few weeks ago, but after some huge swims at Junior Nationals looks an even better pickup for the Dawgs now.  He brings huge freestyle range, going 1:47.97/3:47.07/7:55.94/15:07.49 in long course, along with 1:34.86/4:16.78/14:49.33 speed in yards. That mile time would have been half a second outside of last year’s NCAA invite time, and would have placed 12th at SECs. With times of 1:47.64/3:46.26 on IM as well, he looks like he’ll be an almost like-for-like replacement for the departing Jake Magahey. His 400 IM should also be due a big drop as he was 4:15.53 this summer, converting to a 3:41.97 – just outside the 3:41.61 it took to qualify for NCAAs in 2025

A pair of German Finns in Finn Wendland and Finn Hammer will strengthen the IM group further, with Hammer going 2:01.36/4:18.22 and Wendland going 2:00.36/4:23.15. Wendland will also be a good addition to the breaststroke group with bests of 1:01.88/2:14.23, and both would have scored in at least one event with their converted times at last years SECs.

Bridging back to the internal recruits, Sascha Macht is originally from Leipzig in Germany but has been at Bolles in Florida for the last two years of high school. He has a best of 1:46.04 in the 200 IM, and backstroke times of 48.56/1:44.70, with neither 200 being too far away from scoring at the conference level. Hayden Meyers is someone who is already in scoring range for SECs, with his 1:42.46 in the 200 back enough to have made last year’s ‘C’ final. He is 47.37 in the 100 to boot, and clipped his backstroke bests in long course this summer to go 56.02/2:01.27.

Cale Martter is their only transfer as he heads home for the final year of his NCAA eligibility, but is one of the best swimmers to be transferring this year. He is 1:52.19 in the 200 breast, 1:42.28 in the 200 IM, and 3:40.53 in the 400 IM, all of which are only just outside scoring at NCAAs, and he should be both a great addition to the IM group and a 60-70 point conference scorer. Luke Sandberg (20.01/43.91), Jayson Ross (19.93/43.96) and Tyler Grafmiller (20.27/44.40) are all good pickups on sprint free, and with Luca Urlando still around, Georgia could be dangerous again next season. They did a lot of their damage on relay last year at NCAAs as they finished 7th overall, and only lose Jake Magahey and Reese Branzell from their 20 relay legs. With the additional individual points they could be adding, they could better that result next March.

#10 Tennessee Volunteers

Gabe Nunziata highlights the domestic recruits for Tennessee, with the recently crowned world junior bronze medalist in the 200 breast slotting straight into the hole left by Kevin Houseman’s graduation. He is 52.47/1:53.73 in the breaststrokes, quick enough to make the ‘B’ final in the 100 and ‘A’ final in the 200 at SECs last year. However, his long course best of 2:09.70 would convert to 1:52.01, which would have placed 4th at SECs and is just two tenths off what it took to score at NCAAs last year. With nine of the scorers in that event from last year graduating, opportunity abounds. Add a 1:44.97/3:48.74 combo in the IMs, and he looks a fantastic addition.

BOTR Jake McCoy is strong across backstroke and IM, with a best of 1:44.41 in the 200 back complemented by times of 1:46.49/3:47.43 in IM. He is another swimmer whose long course times this summer indicate drops for this fall – he was 2:02.36/4:21.62 on the IMs at Sectionals in July. Mac Clark, meanwhile, will instantly slot in as the top distance freestyler on the team with his time of 15:09.17 in the mile, and adds some more depth to the IM group as well with a 3:52.30 in the 400 IM. Kamal Muhammed, who transfers from Virginia with three years of eligibility remaining, is 46.00 in the 100 fly but 51.89 in long course. That converts to a 45-mid, and he had some long course drops this summer that should translate into scoring swims at SECs. He didn’t swim at ACCs last year, but swam his 100 fly best time just a week later. Muhammed will add depth for SECs, although will need some drops to make the squad for nationals.

Tennesse also brings in three elite international swimmers, who each fill a need for the Volunteers. The first of those, and the one with the most potential, is Argentine Ulises Saravia. He is the Argentinian national record holder on both the 50 (24.66) and 100 (53.26) backstroke, both set this year, and qualified for the semi finals in both events at the world championships this summer. His 100 conversion is 45.15, under the invite time for the event at NCAAs last year and quick enough to make the SEC ‘A’ final. His 50 converts to a 20.64, and with both medley relay backstrokers from last year now graduated (Lamar Taylor and Harrison Lierz), Saravia should step up seamlessly for the Vols. With a 1:55.86 in the short course 200, also a national record, he should be a scoring threat at both distances.

Brazilian Paulo Flavio Filho was silver medalist in the 100 fly at the world junior championships in 52.01, but has a best of 51.78 from earlier in the summer. That converts to a 45.31, which should also be in the conversation for an SEC ‘A’ final this season. He should allow Gui Caribe to stay on freestyle on the medley relays, which in itself is a big boost. Ethan Dumesnil of New Caledonia (France) will add depth on fly and free, two areas where Tennessee has seen a lot of success recently. He swam on France’s 4×100 freestyle relay at worlds this summer, splitting 48.27, and has a flat start best of 48.76 to go alongside times of 23.60 in the 50 fly and 52.38 in the 100 fly. After Tennessee turned Pedro Sansone into an NCAA qualifier after he arrived last year with a best of 49.67 in the 100 free, there could be big things in store for Dumesnil. Koby Bujak-Upton will add more international freestyle depth as a rare Australian NCAA recruit, stretching from the 50 right up to the 400, with a 1:48.74 200 free being the best of the bunch. He has some yards times from last December, where he is 43.64/1:35.14/4:20.23. 

Tennessee has had a lot of success with its international swimmers, although their incomings this year are from a slightly different mould than the sprint freestylers they’ve brought in recently. Regardless, this could be a stellar class if they all adapt to yards.

#9 Auburn Tigers

Auburn had a bit of a down year last season, dropping from 2nd to 8th at SECs and only scoring 14 points at NCAAs. Their relays, which had looked a real strength the preceding two years as they scored 82 points in 2023 and 68 in 2024, returned just 14.

The headline with a swimmer who should contribute to those relays straight away. Luke Bedsole, our #14 recruit, is 19.67/42.91 in the sprint freestyles, which will see him step onto the 200 and 400 free relays immediately. Those would have been just outside of scoring range at SECs, where it took 19.53/42.75 to make the ‘C’ final, and his 100 back would have been just outside the points as well. He brings 47.33/1:45.34 speed on backstroke, as well as times of 47.20/1:44.68 on fly, which along with a 1:36.06 200 free could see him try any number of lineups across the season. A 21.89 50 backstroke is intriguing as well.

He is joined by a pair of teammates from Nashville Swimming Club in Tennessee, a state from which Auburn brings in three recruits this fall. Maston Ballew is 53.38/1:57.14 on breaststroke, which will be important for a team which returns exactly zero of their breaststrokers from SECs last year. He is 1:47.19/3:48.22 in IM as well, which should pair nicely with Mack Schumann, who has bests of 1:47.58/3:45.98. The latter would have put him into the ‘C’ final at SECs, and there should be a nice IM squad there along with senior Danny Schmidt. Schumann also adds 4:23.29/15:11.83 speed in the 500/1650 free, which is a nice pickup with no returning swimmers under 15:10 in the mile.

Luke Waldrep is a similar swimmer to Schumann, at 4:23.53/15:20.79 on free and 1:48.14/3:50.47 on IM, and should also help strengthen both of those areas this season and going forward.  Uros Zivanovic, an NCAA qualifier in the 100 breast last season, comes in from Georgia Tech to give the medley relays a boost. He has a best of 51.53 in the 100, and split 22.97/51.44 at NCAAs in the 200 medley relay. He will replace Henry Bethel for the Tide, who split 22.95/51.94 at NCAAs last year.

Maksim Trotsenko, who has been 26.98/59.92 in long course breaststroke, could also play a part on those relays and will provide Zivanovic with a great training partner when he joins in January, and Trotsenko’s countryman Ivan Tarasov will strengthen the backstroke group with bests of 25.07 in the long course 50 and 54.42 in the 100. Abdalla Nasr is 1:50.41 in the 200 free and 53.03 in the 100 fly, while Daniel Krichevsky of Israel is the biggest of the international pickups. He is 48.88/1:47.89 on the long course 100/200 free, but split 48.24/1:45.60 at the world championships this summer. His flat start best converts to 1:33.01 in the 200 but his split converts to a 1:31.14, which would have been Auburn’s fastest on any 800 free relay last year. Ben Wilson, a diver from Australia who competed this summer in Singapore in the 3m synchro event, could be a smart add as well.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Ranking The 2025 Men’s NCAA Recruiting Classes: #9-12

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