03-28-2021, 07:33 PM
CardCrimson,
I used to follow men's swimming more closely, but all of the effects of Covid, including those specific to Stanford's team, really sapped my interest. The nexus of Covid and the Olympics, both as planned for 2020 and rescheduled for 2021, affected the team, although not as much as the women, for whom three swimmers, including probably the best in hte world and another close behind, did not enroll this year. And when the team isn't having many swim meets, it's especially hard to get much information.
With that said, Stanford was missing a number of potential scorers this year. First off, one of their recruits slated to start this year was Andrei Minakov, a Russian who originally chose Stanford over turning pro. He was arguably the top recruit from a very strong class. He chose not to enroll, and I suspect we will never see him on the Farm.
A few years ago Stanford signed Jack Levant, and he was an up-and-comer expected to be a top college swimmer. He had health issues and missed a considerable amount of time. I believe he resumed his career, as he is listed on the roster, but I don't know if he swam this year at all. He did not suit up for Pac-12s.
Another past year NCAA qualifier, and maybe scorer (top 16) was Brennan Pastorek. Also on the roster, but also did not swim at Pac-12's, and perhaps not at all this year.
Finally, there is Alberto Mestre, another previous NCAA qualifier. He did not swim last year for Stanford in anticipation of the 2020 Olympics, where he would be swimming for Venezuela. And I don't think he swam this year. But still on the roster, I see.
So the team was rather gutted. Another top couple of swimmers, Grant Shoullts and True Sweetster, returned for 5th (redshirt) years. Shoults has had two or three shoulder surgeries (both shoulders), and rather heroically came somewhat close to his previous best, as it has been a long and grueling road back. Scored this year at NCAAs, but not as high as previous years. Sweetster came back after a year off to train for the Olympics. He's a distance swimmer, and I understand he's happy to train massive distances, but how long can you maintain the motivation as younger swimmers eclipse you, as has been the case with him. His best years were frosh and soph, I believe.
So the team was not whole this year in a few ways.
As mentioned, I've not tracked swimming much recently, so I have no idea what the recruiting situation is, going forward. But this year's freshman class, even without Minakov, was strong. It was coach Dan Schemmel's first, so maybe he has some of the Haase magic in that arena.
I used to follow men's swimming more closely, but all of the effects of Covid, including those specific to Stanford's team, really sapped my interest. The nexus of Covid and the Olympics, both as planned for 2020 and rescheduled for 2021, affected the team, although not as much as the women, for whom three swimmers, including probably the best in hte world and another close behind, did not enroll this year. And when the team isn't having many swim meets, it's especially hard to get much information.
With that said, Stanford was missing a number of potential scorers this year. First off, one of their recruits slated to start this year was Andrei Minakov, a Russian who originally chose Stanford over turning pro. He was arguably the top recruit from a very strong class. He chose not to enroll, and I suspect we will never see him on the Farm.
A few years ago Stanford signed Jack Levant, and he was an up-and-comer expected to be a top college swimmer. He had health issues and missed a considerable amount of time. I believe he resumed his career, as he is listed on the roster, but I don't know if he swam this year at all. He did not suit up for Pac-12s.
Another past year NCAA qualifier, and maybe scorer (top 16) was Brennan Pastorek. Also on the roster, but also did not swim at Pac-12's, and perhaps not at all this year.
Finally, there is Alberto Mestre, another previous NCAA qualifier. He did not swim last year for Stanford in anticipation of the 2020 Olympics, where he would be swimming for Venezuela. And I don't think he swam this year. But still on the roster, I see.
So the team was rather gutted. Another top couple of swimmers, Grant Shoullts and True Sweetster, returned for 5th (redshirt) years. Shoults has had two or three shoulder surgeries (both shoulders), and rather heroically came somewhat close to his previous best, as it has been a long and grueling road back. Scored this year at NCAAs, but not as high as previous years. Sweetster came back after a year off to train for the Olympics. He's a distance swimmer, and I understand he's happy to train massive distances, but how long can you maintain the motivation as younger swimmers eclipse you, as has been the case with him. His best years were frosh and soph, I believe.
So the team was not whole this year in a few ways.
As mentioned, I've not tracked swimming much recently, so I have no idea what the recruiting situation is, going forward. But this year's freshman class, even without Minakov, was strong. It was coach Dan Schemmel's first, so maybe he has some of the Haase magic in that arena.