PHOENIX, Arizona, October 10. A great day for the Trojans, which featured Swimming World six-star recruit Chelsea Chenault choosing to attend Southern California for college, got even better when five-star prospect Steven Stumph made the same call.
Stumph, who trains at Orinda Aquatics and preps at Campolindo High School, is a breaststroke and IM threat. He has national-level talent in the 100-meter breast (1:03.30), 200-meter breast (2:14.24), 200-meter IM (2:03.96) and 400-meter IM (4:24.36), which should translate to short course success for the Trojans especially under the tutelage of the Dave Salo who has trained Rebecca Soni, Jessica Hardy and Yuliya Efimova.
Stumph is the first top-10 ranked swimmer to come off the board among the men. CollegeSwimming.com ranks him as the seventh-best recruit in the Class of 2013, and second-best in the state of California behind third-ranked Young Tae Seo of Swim Pasadena and Crescenta Valley High. Stumph is now the highest-rated swimmer off the board, as 12th-ranked Clark Smith of Colorado had been the previous best as a Texas pledge earlier this recruiting cycle.
“I'm thrilled to share with you that today I committed to the University of Southern California,” Stumph told Swimming World. “It unquestionably is the best fit for me. The combination of my major, linguistics and international relations and the renowned breaststroke coach, Dave Salo, were the two determining factors in my decision. These two ideal factors, in my opinion, are the most likely to help me reach my goals in and out of the pool. USC has one of the best upcoming teams in the country, with this opportunity, I am extremely excited to become a Trojan.”
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