Women's Swimming Signs 14 to National Letters of Intent
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 | Women's Swimming & Diving
University of Florida head swim coach Gregg Troy announced the signing of 14 athletes to National Letters of Intent Tuesday.
On the female side, the class of 2008 features seven athletes from the state of Florida, including three from Gainesville, eight Olympic Trials qualifiers, one Venezuelan national team member, one Spanish national team member, one Estonian national team member, one Pan-American Champion, national champions on the high school, junior or senior level and eight state champions.
For what is being touted as one of the best recruiting classes in the country, Florida got commitments from Angelina Ballatore (Gainesville, Fla.), Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.), Blair Collins (Sarasota, Fla.), Melanie Costa-Schmid (Palma de Mallona, Spain) Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.), Claire Dickman (Edgewood, Ky.), Julia Nagy (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), Anna-Liisa Pold (San Diego, Calif.), Lily Ramirez (Gainesville, Fla.), Lindsay Rogers (Indianapolis, Ind.), Kirsten Smith (Cary, N.C.), Natalie Smith (Gainesville, Fla.), Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.) and Daniela Victoria (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.).
“We have addressed all of our weaknesses. The class is very deep in sprinters and will set us up for four years,” said Troy. “It is a highly competitive class with lots of international experience. This class is filled with the type of athletes that can walk in as freshmen and score right away.”
For the women, Ballatore is one of three early signees from Gainesville. Ballatore, a 2007 All-American in the 200-yard individual medley, freestyle and 200 medley relay from Buccholz High School, is fresh off an appearance at the 2007 Toyota Minnesota Grand Prix. Ballatore turned in her best performance in the 400 IM, finishing fourth. She was a state finalist this year, finishing third in the 200-yard IM at the class 3A state meet while serving as captain of her team. Ballatore also led her Gator Swim Club team to a third place showing at Junior Nationals while also making an appearance in the finals of the 400 IM. In 2005, Ballatore led her Buchholz team to a state championship thanks to a first place finish by her 400 free relay team.
Bateman joins the Gators from Lake Brantley High School in Orlando, Florida. She was the 2006-07 NISCA national champion in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.75 and has won a total of three state championships, including the 2007 Florida 3A individual state championship in the 100-yard backstroke in which she now currently holds the state record time of 54.39. Bateman has garnered a total of 14 All-American honors during her tenure at Lake Brantley and is a two-time Orlando Sentinel Swimmer of the Year. She is the current Lake Brantley record holder in six events and has earned MVP for her high school team four straight years. Internationally, Bateman brings a wealth of experience to an already deep Florida team. She will join over 20 current Gators that have qualified for the Olympic Trials, making the cut in the 100-meter butterfly after finishing first in the event at the Speedo Championships Series Southern Sectionals and 100-meter backstroke, qualifying at the 2006 Summer Nationals by placing 18th in the event.
Collins brings a YMCA national championship in the 200-yard back with her to Gainesville from Sarasota. Collins was a state finalist in the 100-yard back and helped lead her team to the Florida state championship.
Melani Costa-Schmid brings a wealth of international experience with her to Gainesville. Costa-Schmid is a Spanish national champion and has competed on some of the most elite stages in the world of swimming. Most recently, Costa-Schmid competed at the World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, finishing 12th with her 800-meter freestyle relay team. The freestyler also took first at the Spanish championships as part of the 400 and 800 free relay teams. Individually, she finished third in the 200 and 400-meter freestyle. Among other accomplishments, Costa-Schmid was a top finisher at the 2006 World Junior Championship, taking 10th in the 200-meter free. She also finished eighth as a member of the 800-meter free relay at the European Championships and was a silver and bronze medalist in the 400 and 200-meter free events at the Spanish Open Championships. Her experience on the international level extends back to 2004 when she first burst onto the scene at the Spanish Championships, making a name for herself immediately by finishing first in two events while also taking second, fourth and fifth place finishes in select events over the course of the meet.
Crippen has been touted as one of the most recruited athletes in the country this season and will begin her career at Florida after swimming for Germantown Academy in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. On the international scene, Crippen has already proven herself, winning a gold medal in the 200-meter back at the Pan American games this summer while setting the meet record in the process. Crippen won her second medal of the meet in the 400-meter individual medley. At Spring Nationals this year, Crippen was awarded the Kiphuth High Point Award for her performance at the meet and was recently featured in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd. Her prep career includes four All-American nods, a national championship in 2005 as a freshman, and a national record breaking performance with her team in the 400-free in 2006. Crippen was also a member of the 2006 Pan-Pacific team and a U.S. national junior team member.
Dickman comes to the Gators by way of Edgewood, Kentucky where she turned in two state championship performances in the 100-yard butterfly and 500-yard freestyle. Dickman is a three-time senior national qualifier in the 100 and 200-meter butterfly as well as the 500-meter freestyle and is an Olympic Trials qualifier in the 200 fly. She will arrive in Gainesville as six-time high school All-American and a three-time Kentucky All-State honoree. Dickman, who was a USA Swimming Scholastic All-American in 2006 was also named to the KHSAA Academic All-State honorable mention team in 2005, '06 and '07. She is the 2006-07 Kentucky Enquirer Swimmer of the Year and was named to the All-Region team in 2005, '06 and '07 while also being named to the NCSA All-Star team in 2007.
A freestyler and backstroker from Cocoa Beach High School, Nagy finished third in the 100-yard back at the state meet earlier this fall, qualifying her as an All-American. The captain of her high school team, Nagy was named MVP of her team both her junior and senior years and is also a junior national qualifier.
A member of the Estonian national team out of San Diego, California, Pold will arrive in Gainesville after swimming at the 2008 Olympic Trials with several of her soon-to-be teammates. Pold, a junior national finalist, has qualified for the trials in the 400-meter individual medley. An Academic All-American, Pold is the reigning San Diego CIF Division I champion in the 100-yard backstroke.
A Gainesville native, Ramirez comes to the Gators having qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter back. The Gainesville High School product was a three-time Florida state champion in 2004, 05 and 06 and was the state runner-up in both the 50 and 100-yard free events this season. Ramirez is a 12-time high school All-American and a two-time finalist at Junior Nationals, placing third in the 50-meter freestyle and fifth in the 100-meter backstroke.
Yet another Olympic Trials qualifier, Rogers will come to Florida from Indianapolis where she is the current Indiana state record holder as part of the 200 medley relay team at Hamilton Southeastern High School. After finishing 18th in the 100-meter breaststroke in 2006 at nationals and seventh in the same event at the U.S. Open, Rogers returned to spring nationals to place third in the same event. She is a national qualifier in both the 100 breast and 200-meter individual medley and an Olympic Trials cut-holder in the 100 breast.
Ramirez is joined by fellow Gainesville High School teammate Natalie Smith. Smith is an 11-time high school All-American and a two-time Florida state champion in the 400-yard free relay, first in 2005 and again in 06. Smith has earned 14 top-eight placements at the state high school championships, is a three-time USA Swimming Academic All-American and was named the TV 20 Scholar Athlete. On the national scene Smith has excelled as well, producing two senior national qualifying times in the 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle. Smith was a member of the Gator Swim Club team that placed fourth at Junior Nationals with just four athletes competing, swimming her part in the 400 and 800-meter freestyle as well as the 400 and 800-meter free relays and 400 medley relay.
Kirsten Smith will bring a wealth of national experience with her, having already served as the captain for the 2006 Junior National Team. Smith an Olympic Trials qualifier in four events, has earned eight senior national cuts and placed sixth at this year's spring nationals in the 200-meter individual medley. The 2007 North Carolina High School Swimmer of the Year, Smith is the North Carolina state MVP three years running and is the three-time defending state champion in the 200-yard IM and 500-yard free and holds the North Carolina state record in the 200 IM. She was also named an All-American in the 200 IM, 500 free and 100-yard free.
Stafford will arrive in Gainesville next summer from Topeka, Kansas. She has already qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 50 and 100-meter freestyle, as well as the 100-meter back. She is currently the National Club Swimming Association junior national champion in the 50-meter freestyle, earning her a place on the 2007 Junior National All-Star team. Smith also holds two KSHSAA state meet records.
Victoria comes to Florida by way of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Venezuelan national team member will bring with her international experience from the Pan American Games this summer, where she swam to ninth place finishes in both the 100 and 200-meter breast events. She also swam at the long course World Championships in Melbourne, Australia this past March and was most recently crowned the South American Champion in the 100 breaststroke. Victoria is a six-time high school All-American, the 2006 Sun-Sentinel Broward County Swimmer of the Year and was named to the Pinch-A-Penny All-State team for the 2007-08 school year.
The Florida women currently stand at 5-1 on the season and are owners of a 1-1 record in the Southeastern Conference. The Gators will look to wrap up their fall season this weekend as half the team will appear at U.S. Short Course Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia, with the remaining members swimming at the Alabama Invitational in Tuscaloosa. Florida's divers will appear at the Georgia Diving Invitational in Athens.
