By Noah Duperre on SwimSwam
While a bulk of the team points in NCAA Swimming and Diving meets come from swimming, diving is often a hot topic at championship meets, as it has the potential to play a huge role and sway results in an unpredictable manner.
In an effort to expand NCAA coverage here on SwimSwam, we have compiled a list of the top 10 women’s recruits for the high school class of 2027. The goal of this expanded coverage is to provide our readers with a more complete view of how recruiting will impact the future of a team.
Methodology
Ranking divers is more complex and less black and white than ranking swimmers. Diving is a subjective sport, meaning that simply looking at scores does not provide a full picture compared to looking at a swimmer’s time. The scoring is open up to interpretation, so it was important for us not just to look at results while compiling these rankings, but to also analyze video and formulate our own opinions in the process.
Within Division I of the NCAA, most dual meets in diving only contest the one meter and three meter springboard events. Platform diving, for the most part, only comes into play for invitationals and championship meets. Divers with the ability to compete platform right out of high school are not very common, but are very valuable. This versatility of having a platform–capable diver is important for college teams to have because it simply means more chances to score points.
Being successful in the junior ranks in diving does not always translate to success at the NCAA or senior level. It was important for us to consider potential when composing this ranking as previous success isn’t always a reliable indicator.
This list focuses on American–based athletes as it is difficult to predict if international athletes will choose to compete in the NCAA. Additionally, this list is not exhaustive of all the talented NCAA recruits in this class and does not mean any diver omitted doesn’t have the potential to make valuable contributions to a college team.
Honorable Mentions
Kate Wesche – Northern Arizona Divers – Flagstaff, AZ
Kate Wesche out of Flagstaff, Arizona is the first entrant on our list for the class of 2027. Her strengths on the boards are similar to many of the other girls in this class, as she is more developed on the platform rather than on the springboards. Her best placement at the most recent junior nationals came on the platform, and that’s where she’s likely to make the most impact in college.
Kendall Guernsey – Johansen Diving Academy – Martinsville, IN
Our other honorable mention is Kendall Guernsey out of central Indiana. Guernsey has only started competing at the national level just this year. She naturally has great lines, giving her an advantage and making her diving more visually appealing. While she currently isn’t at the level of the top girls in her class, she has tons of potential and room to grow. Similarly to Wesche, she is more of a platform specialist at the moment.
Top 10
10. Lydia Speaker – Nebraska Diving Club – Lincoln, NE
Kicking off the top ten is platform diver, Lydia Speaker. To date, I don’t personally believe her competition results quite match up with her full potential. There could be a plethora of reasons as to why that’s so, but it will surely get ironed out as she gains more experience. What stands out to me about Speaker is the level of difficulty she already possesses at a young age. She also has decent form and the potential to score big, she just needs to figure out how to do so when it really matters.
9. Evelyn Fitz – ACES Diving – Delaware, OH
Like the entrant before her, Fitz is also primarily a platform diver. She still has a lot of springboard experience, but definitely gets better the higher up she goes. She differs from Speaker in her difficulty level. While relatively low, she is generally able to execute them well in high pressure competitions. She would be a great fit in many college programs if she works on being a little more dynamic and generating a little more explosivity, particularly on springboard.
8. Noelle Maisel – Woodlands Diving – Spring, TX
In most cases, while platform divers do specialize, they also compete on the springboard. Maisel is an interesting case as she only competed platform this whole summer. The lack of recent springboard results makes it a little harder to gauge exactly where she’s at, as most collegiate meets are springboard only, so it’s important to be able to put a solid list together. Despite this, she had a strong enough showing on her main event this summer to make it on to the list.
7. Shannon Waldron – Woodlands Diving – The Woodlands, TX **Verbally committed to Michigan**
Shannon Waldron is the second diver from the Woodlands Diving, following her teammate, Maisel. Unlike most of the other top girls in her class, Waldron is a springboard–focused diver, which we usually see a lot more of. She has really pretty form and lines, which she accentuates through her smooth diving. Her one meter is probably her best event at the moment. If she could just develop her fast twitch muscles a bit more, she could definitely have an impact on a competitive NCAA team.
6. Lorealle Lobedecis – Trojan Dive Club – Long Beach, CA
Lorealle Lobedecis is a very well rounded diver. She is pretty good on all three events, but currently doesn’t have a singular standout event. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and having experience on the platform is a big plus for a lot of coaches. She has impressed me with her strength and ability to get good height on springboard, which can definitely be an indicator of future success. At times, Lobedecis can tend to lose her form and get a little messy. But if she learns to clean it up, she would be a great get for any collegiate program.
5. Riley Steinhibler – Sun Devil Divers – Chandler, AZ
Sun Devil Divers’ Riley Steinhibler comes in at number five on the list. She is admittedly a little rough around the edges, not always keeping the best form throughout her entire dives. However, she has decently strong difficulty for a diver her age and has a lot of potential to grow and refine her dives. She has the extremely valuable skill of being able to enter the water without much splash. If she can clean up her form and put her entries down all in the same dive, she could definitely score for her team on the NCAA level.
4. Sarah Griffith – Tennessee Diving – Chattanooga, TN
Griffith has an immense amount of potential that just needs to be fostered a little more before she heads to college. She has plenty of time, though and I can see her progressing leaps and bounds in the years to come. Based on what I’m seeing right now, one meter is definitely her strong suit. She has the physical strength paired with the fast–twitch muscles, which is the perfect combination for diving. Though her platform currently is the most limited of her three events, I could see her building up her difficulty in the future and becoming a three–event threat.
3. Kenadie Helmboldt – City of Midland – Midland, TX
Starting out our top three is City of Midland Diving’s Kenadie Helmboldt. She is one of those divers who seems to get better the higher up she goes, with platform arguably being her best event. Her three meter is also really solid and she scored well there as well at this summer’s junior national championships.
In my eyes, what catapulted Kenadie near the top of this list is her ability to perform consistently well in competitions. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how well you do in practice or how much potential you have if you can’t make it come to fruition in competition. Helmboldt has that quality of being able to “turn it on” that a coach can’t really teach.
2. Kayla Jensen – Mission Viejo Nadadores – Mission Viejo, CA
Kayla Jensen already has a ton of experience for how young she is. Even before she was of recruiting age, she has already competed on the junior international, senior national, and senior international levels. She was a silver medalist at the World Junior Championships last year for team USA and will definitely put all this great experience to good use once she enters the NCAA. Usually, divers have an adjustment period for around a year to really get used to the higher level of competition in the NCAA, but with all her prior experience, I’d expect to see Kayla Jensen hit the ground running.
What makes her unique is the sheer amount of power she has. She jumps higher than just about anyone not only at the junior national level, but at the senior national level as well. She was definitely a contender for the number one spot, but inconsistency and occasional form sloppiness ultimately put her as the runner–up.
1. Olivia Astrologes – Ripfest – Noblesville, IN
This class really came down to only two contenders for the top spot. And this time, Astrologes came out in first. Astrologes really made huge leaps and improvements this season, culminating in a great performance at this past junior nationals. The interesting thing about this class is that it’s very heavy in terms of platform divers, but the far and away top two and mainly springboard divers.
While Jensen may be physically stronger and have more difficult dives, Astrologes has really proven her consistency over the past season. Another factor that led her to be chosen as the top prospect is that she does compete platform, though not to the same high level as her springboard diving. Nevertheless, it’s still enough for a college coach to be able to develop and still get more points out of, definitely at the conference level and maybe even on the NCAA level. Overall, cleanliness and consistency won out today because I believe those skills are more and more difficult to learn as you get older, but the more difficult dives Astrologes will need to learn become more and more attainable as one ages.
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