Florida signs 10 to early National Letters of Intent

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – With the early signing period concluding on Wednesday, Florida has added five male and five female signees who will join the swimming & diving program in the coming months.

This signing class, made up of nine swimmers and one diver so far, brings a wide range of experiences and accomplishments to the Gators. Two signees have combined for a total of three Olympic Games appearances, several qualified for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and are national junior team members (one is a national team member), another is a member of the Colombian national team and all have some form of national or international meet experience.

"I think when you look at the class as a whole, it fills a lot of needs for us," said head coach Gregg Troy. "They're all really, really well-trained individuals, and all are very good students. We like that aspect. I think they're going to contribute a lot to the program."

Florida plans to sign a few more additions to the class this upcoming spring.

Below is the list of all 10 early signees:

MEN

Khader Baqlah
Amman, Jordan | National Orthodox School | Jordanian Swimming Federation

Qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, placing first in his 200 free heat (1:48.42)
Earned three silver medals in the 2015 Asian Age Group Championships – the 200 free (1:51.64), 100 free (50.93) and 400 free (3:58.64)
Qualified for the 2015 FINA World Championship in Kazan, placing 52^nd in the 400 free prelims (3:58.71) and 52^nd in the 200 free prelims (1:51.67) and also participating in Jordan's mixed 400 medley relay and mixed 400 free relay
Also appeared in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games, the 2013 FINA World Championship in Barcelona and the 2013 FINA World Junior Championship in Dubai
Gregg Troy on Baqlah: "Tremendous depth. He can go all the freestyles, 50 through the 500. That's going to help us a lot. He's got some talent in other strokes and has good experience internationally too."

Clark Beach
Chesterfield, Virginia | Matoaca High School | Quest Swimming (coached by Dudley Duncan)

2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifier, tying for 68^th in the 100 back prelims (56.66) and finishing 53^rd in the 200 back prelims (2:03.45)
Member of the 2016-17 National Junior Team
Member of the 18 & Under World Cup Trip roster, traveling to the 2016 FINA World Cup competitions in Tokyo and Hong Kong in October
Placed first in the 200 back (1:59.56) and third in the 100 back finals (55.96) at the 2016 Speedo Junior National Championships
Troy on Clark Beach: "Clark is going to help us tremendously in the backstroke events. He's a rapidly improving backstroker. I think he's a guy who's really going to help us in the future."

Ethan Beach
Chesterfield, Virginia | Matoaca High School | Quest Swimming (coached by Dudley Duncan)

2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifier, finishing 99^th in the 200 back prelims (2:06.65)
Placed second in the 100 back B-final (57.56) and fifth in the 200 back A-final (2:03.41) at the 2016 Speedo Junior National Championships
Troy on Ethan Beach: "Ethan is a little more of a freestyler. Good skillset with a really big upside."

Santiago Corredor
Cape Coral, Florida | Bishop Verot High School | Swim Florida (coached by Mac Kennedy)

Member of the Colombian National Team (has dual citizenship in the United States and Colombia)
2014, 2015 and 2016 FHSAA state champion in the 500 free
2016 FHSAA 1A state champion in the 200 IM (1:47.63)
2015 FHSAA 1A state champion in the 200 free (1:37.76)
Two-time News Press Swimmer of the Year
Troy on Corredor: "Santiago might be one of the best all-around swimmers in the class and certainly one of the best all-around swimmers in Florida. It's tremendous to have him, and the versatility he adds to the program is amazing."

Michael Taylor
Alpharetta, Georgia | Johns Creek High School | Dynamo Swim Club (coached by Rich Murphy)

2016-17 USA Swimming National Team member and member of the National Junior Team for three years
2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifier, finishing fifth in the 100 back finals (54.04) and seventh in the 200 back finals (1:57.86)
Earned gold medals in the 100 back (54.21), 200 back (1:57.39) and 400 medley relay (54.21 back split) at the 2016 Junior Pan Pacific Championships
Placed second in the 200 back (1:58.10) at the 2015 Phillips 66 National Championships
Earned two silver medals in the 2015 FINA World Junior Championships, one in the 100 back (54.64) and the other in the 200 back (1:58.39)
Holds the Georgia high school record in the 100 back (47.17), which he set at the 2016 6A state championships
2014 and 2015 Speedo Winter Junior champion in the 200 back
Troy on Taylor: "Michael Taylor may be one of the best young backstroke talents in the country. Very physical and swims a lot of different events. He's got a good freestyle."

WOMEN
Taylor Ault
La Habra, California | Sonora High School | La Mirada Armada (coached by Rick Shipherd)

Member of the USA Swimming National Junior team from 2014 to 2017
2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifier, finishing 19^th in the 800 free prelims (8:44.18), 23^rd in the 400 free prelims (4:13.51) and 39^th in the 200 free prelims (2:01.62)
2014-2015 NISCA High School All-American in the 200 and 500 free
Won the 800 free (8:37.97) at the 2016 Speedo Junior National Championships
Won the CIF-SS Division 2 titles in the 200 and 500 free in both 2014 and 2015
Troy on Ault: "Taylor Ault's one of the best middle-distance freestylers in the class. She can go up, she can still come down and swim our relays. We need some help in that area. She certainly might be one of the top three best in the class."

Gabrielle Hillis
New York City, New York | Manhattan Makos (coached by Casey Barrett)

2016 AT&T Winter Nationals qualifier
2016 Speedo Junior National Championships qualifier in the 50 free
Earned the 2016 No. 1 Metro seed for 17-18 girls in the 50 free (LCM)
Earned the 2015 No. 1 Metro seed for 15-16 girls in the 50 free (SCY and LCM)
Troy on Hillis: "Gabby Hillis has big upside in the sprint events and has improved dramatically over the last years. Her primary coach coming up was Adam Sioui, an All-American and national champion (at Florida). She comes really highly recommended from him. We need sprint help, and she can help us there."

Rachel Ramey
Frisco, Texas | Heritage High School | Texas Ford Aquatics (coached by Dan McDonough)

2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifier, finishing 99^th in the 100 breast prelims (1:12.47) and (100 and 200 breast) and tying for 40^th in the 200 breast prelims (2:32.45)
Won the silver medal in the 200 breast (2:30.43) at the 2016 Speedo Junior National Championships
Four-time Speedo Junior Nationals finalist in the 100 and 200 breast
Set the Texas 5A high school record in the 100 breast (1:01.78) with her event win at the 2016 UIL 5A state meet
2015-16 NISCA All-American in the 100 breast
Member of the 2016 5A All-State team for the 200 medley relay, 200 free, 200 IM, 200 free relay and 100 breast
Two-time USA Swimming Scholastic All-American, National Hispanic Scholar finalist and National Honor Society member
Troy on Ramey: "Rachel's going to help us tremendously fill in some breaststroke needs. She's got good speed in the breaststroke and has dramatically improved over the course of the last year. She's a tremendous addition for us."

Liliana Szilagyi
Budapest, Hungary | Kobánya SC

Appeared in both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games for Hungary, finishing sixth in her 100 fly semifinal (58.31) and sixth in her 200 fly semifinal (2:07.34) in 2016
Won both the 100 and 200 fly events at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China
Won two medals in the 100 and 200 fly at the 2012 European Junior Swimming Championships
Troy on Szilagyi: "She adds a wealth of experience and tremendous talent in the butterfly events but also has a skillset in some other things, so she can help us a lot of ways in relays and some of the freestyles in addition to butterfly."

Emma Whitner
Orlando, Florida | Lake Highland Preparatory School | YCF Diving (coached by Mark Ruiz)

Five-time FHSAA 1A state finalist on 1-meter
Four-time USA Diving Junior National Championship semi-finalist
Served as co-captain of the YCF Diving Team during her junior and senior years of high school
Troy on Whitner: "Emma Whitner has a Gator heritage. Her dad (John Whitner) was an All-American swimmer here, so she has a great Gator background. Both Dale Schultz and Bryan Gillooly feel like she has a big upside. She dives all three boards and should be a tremendous help to us."

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Florida signs 10 to early National Letters of Intent

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