Swimming Coach Ray Looze and diving Coach Drew Johansen added six new Hoosiers at the beginning of the first signing period of the year, each hailing from a different state.
The six signees are Katrina Sommer, Carmen Hernandez, Cora Dupre, Ryley Ober, Carla Gildersleeve and Ashley Turak.
Weiss is the headliner of the 2019 class. Rated as the number four overall swimmer in the nation by SwimSwam, the breaststroker will fill the hole left by Lilly King’s graduation. Weiss has already broken King’s national high school record in the 100 breaststroke, and she has already competed in the same races as King at the Phillips 66 Nationals. Weiss also won two golds at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships, breaking the event record in the 100-meter breaststroke and 4x100-meter medley relay.
Sommer comes to IU from Villa Park, California. Sommer is a backstroke swimmer, swimming for the Irvine Novaquatics swim club. She won the 200-meter backstroke at the California Junior Olympics over the summer of 2018. Sommer is ranked by College Swimming as the number 61 overall swimmer in California.
Hernandez is a diver from Holly Springs, North Carolina. Hernandez won the 4A Eastern Regional title in 2018. She was second in the 1-meter diving competition at the Wilmington Dive Club by the Beach Invitational, 10th in the platform dive at the USA Diving Zone A championships and fourth at the 2018 Orlando All-Star Invitational.
Dupre is the highest-rated athlete to sign with the team on National Signing Day. She is from Cincinnati, Ohio, and originally was committed to the University of Texas, before flipping to IU. Dupre has dominated the pool in Ohio, excelling in sprint freestyle events. She is the defending state champion in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle. Dupre was fourth in the 50-yard freestyle at the Speedo Winter Junior Championships. She is the top-ranked overall swimmer in Ohio and the 39th overall in the nation. Dupre will be a big addition to a sprint freestyle group which is relatively weak for IU.
Ober committed to IU back in April, and now makes it official with her National Letter of Intent. Ober is a freestyle swimmer from Bradenton, Florida, ranked as the 10th overall swimmer in Florida and the 76th overall swimmer in the nation. Ober is the defending state champion in the 100 and 200-yard freestyle. She has won four state titles in her high school career thus far. Ober was fifth in the 200-yard freestyle at the Speedo Winter Junior Championships.
Gildersleeve is the one in-state signee the Hoosiers have inked thus far. From Franklin, Indiana, she is ranked as the number three swimmer in Indiana and the 93rd overall swimmer in the nation. Gildersleeve is a versatile swimmer, excelling in the individual medley, butterfly and freestyle events. At the 2018 Indiana Senior State Long Course Championships, Gildersleeve won the 100- and 200-yard butterfly. At the 2018 Indiana Senior Short Course Championships, Gildersleeve was first in the 100-yard butterfly.
Turak comes to IU from Farmington Hills, Michigan, and is another spring freestyle swimmer. Turak is ranked as the number one swimmer in Michigan and the number 56 overall swimmer in the nation. She won the 50-yard freestyle at the Speedo Championship Series in Akron, Ohio in March 2018, and was the Oakland Activities Association League champion in the 50 and 100-yard free style in November 2017.
