Neuqua's Cordes to remain a 'Cat
On July 1, the first day of the college recruiting period for swimming, Neuqua Valley senior Kevin Cordes received 15 phone calls.
On Oct. 18 it came down to the one call he made.
After University of Arizona swimming and diving coach Frank Busch left from visiting the family in Naperville, Cordes quickly consulted his parents, Kristin and Bill, made a phone call to Busch offering his verbal commitment, and this journey was over.
Cordes is a current and future Wildcat.
“I'll just exchange the gold for red,” said the 6-foot-5 Cordes, a four-time Neuqua Valley all-stater who helped the Wildcats to first place in state in 2008 and runner-up finishes in 2009 and 2010.
Cordes chose five schools to take official visits: Arizona, Cal, Auburn, USC and Virginia. It came down to Auburn, Cal and Arizona, the 2008 NCAA Division I national champion.
“It felt good that I had a lot of choices,” Cordes said. “I know a lot of kids don't have that opportunity, and every single school I visited was a great opportunity, with a great school.
“However I chose I felt would have been good for me, but everything fit with Arizona and I'm really happy to be going there.”
Cordes won the 100-yard breaststroke at the 2009 Illinois state meet as a sophomore, and in 2010 teamed with Grant Betulius (Iowa), Brien Gerber (Northwestern) and fellow senior Andrew Bratsos to win the 200 medley relay.
As a member of the Fox Valley Swim Club, this summer Cordes competed in Irvine, Calif., where his time of 1 minute, 2.45 seconds qualified for both the Junior Pan-Pacific Championships as well as for USA Swimming's Junior National Youth Team.
In a preliminary heat at the Pan-Pacific meet in Maui, Cordes swam the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:02.26, breaking the existing meet record, before eventually finishing sixth in the finals.
A swimmer from age 6 who also played goalie for Neuqua Valley's water polo team, Cordes will make sure he enjoys college life on dry land as well.
“I'm looking forward to just having that college experience outside of swimming and getting to know all my teammates and just have fun,” he said. “Just get faster and enjoy college.”
Cordes entertains Olympian goals. He plans to try out for the 2012 London Games but will focus most on the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“But I'll take that one step at a time,” he said, “and I think Arizona can help me to do that.”