BLACKSBURG – With a little over a month until Virginia Tech's 2022-2023 swimming and diving campaign, the Hokies are stocking up for their future through stellar recruiting.
In Swim Swam's updated recruiting rankings released Monday, Tech landed two top-10 targets in the 2022 class on the men's side. VT was one of only three schools in the country to sign multiple top-10 recruits, joining Stanford (three) and NC State (two).
Headlining the list is Carl Bloebaum, who checks in at No. 5 in the country. The Mason, Ohio native owns the best 100 fly (45.68) and 200 fly (1:42.94) times in the class. Bloebaum committed to Tech in late-November 2020.
He clocked a 52.50 in the 100 fly – the fastest time recorded by an American teenager in the past three years in the event – to win the Tim Myers Senior Championship in Mason, Ohio. Bloebaum also helped break a 17-18 NAG record by leading off the 200 mixed medley relay with a 26.42 backstroke leg, which ranks No. 9 this season among 18-year-old boys nationally.
Bloebaum posted two more personal bests in the 100 backstroke (56.63) and 50 freestyle (23.62) during the meet, placing second and third, respectively. Bloebaum reached the wall first in the 50 fly with a 24.39, about two-tenths slower than his personal best from April's International Team Trials.
Landon Gentry is Tech's other top-10 recruit. Gentry went on an opposite trajectory from Bloebaum in high school. Gentry was unranked during his sophomore season, but emerged as one of the top swimmers in the class in his junior campaign. Gentry was ranked as high as No. 4 in the 2022 class.
He's a versatile swimmer, who can fill a lot of different needs for Sergio Lopez Miro and the Hokies. Like Bloebaum, Gentry's best stroke is the butterfly. At Patriot High School in Bristow, Virginia, Gentry swam a 1:43.03 200-meter fly, which was second in the country only to Bloebaum. Gentry has also shined in 100-meter fly, registering a 46.1 in the race. Gentry committed to the Hokies back in October 2020 and has risen up the recruiting rankings to give Tech their second top-10 swimmer in the 2022 class.
Will Hayon is the final recruit included in the 2022 men's class updated rankings. Labeled as one of the "best of the rest," Hayon is from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and attended North High School. With times of 46.9 seconds in the 100-meter fly and 1:47.0 in the 200-meter fly, Hayon is on track to becoming another big-time butterflyer for the Hokies in 2022-23 and beyond.
Tech's first meet will take place October 1 at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. The Hokies are scheduled to host George Washington and Ohio. On the men's side, Tech will look to build upon back-to-back 11th-place finishes at NCAAs.
