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For the second year in a row, the Georgia Bulldogs have come out strong on the recruiting front. Earlier this month, the Georgia women nabbed three verbal commitments for the class of 2026 to go with only the second verbal commitment from a top-20 ranked swimmer in the last five years.
Now, the Georgia men have matched the women’s class of 2026 by securing verbal commitments from three German swimmers—Finn Hammer, Sascha Macht, and Finn Wendland—for the class of 2025. Wendland made his commitment public last month, while Hammer and Macht committed in February.
All three will arrive in Athens in the fall of 2025 as part of the Dawgs class of 2029.
Finn Hammer
Best Times (LCM):
- 200 IM: 2:01.68
- 400 IM: 4:21.04
- 200 back: 2:02.05
Hammer most recently raced at the European Junior Championships, where Macht also competed. In the 200 IM, Hammer swam a lifetime-best 2:01.68, splitting 28.44 on the freestyle leg as he came from behind to out-touch Italy’s Jacopo Barbotti for the bronze medal. He also finished 10th in the 400 IM though he was off his lifetime best 4:21.04 from earlier this year.
Hammer’s 400 IM and 200 backstroke skills will be particularly interesting to Georgia—much of their current IM group is focused on the 200 IM now that Ian Grum graduated, though Jake Magahey began taking on the 400 IM last season. And the 200 backstroke was one of their strongest events last season and again, they graduated key pieces of that depth.
In a year, Hammer has dropped 3.01 seconds from his 200 IM, 2.11 seconds from his 400 IM, and .54 seconds from his 200 backstroke.
Finn Wendland
Best Times (LCM):
- 200 IM: 2:00.36
- 400 IM: 4:23.15
- 200 breast: 2:14.23
- 100 breast: 1:01.88
After swimming the above lifetime bests in the 200 IM and 200 breast in April 2024, Wendland headed to the European Championships. He didn’t improve on his lifetime bests in his primary events but did make the semifinals in the 200 IM and 200 breast, finishing 11th and 12th, respectively.
At the 2023 European Junior Championships, Wendland finished fourth in the 100 breast, 200 IM, and 400 IM.
He’s got the fastest 200-meter IM of this trio, checking in at 2:00.36. After nabbing Drew Hitchcock, the fastest 200-yard IM’er in the class of 2024, it’s clear that Georgia is looking to strengthen their IM group event further by adding Hammer, Wendland, and Macht. But crucially for the Dawgs, they don’t overlap completely in their specialties; on paper, Hammer looks like he’ll be a 200 backstroker for his third event, but Wendland should focus on the breaststrokes.
Wendland owns lifetime bests of 1:01.88/2:14.23 in the LCM breaststroke events. His 100-meter breast PB is from 2023, but he’s made big strides in his 200-meter breast over the last year. His 2:14.23 personal best from April marked a 2.83-second improvement.
Sascha Macht
Macht stands out from Hammer and Wendland because he now swims stateside at Bolles, which means that he’ll have a decent amount of yards experience under his belt before he arrives in Athens.
Like Hammer and Wendland the 200 IM is one of his primary events, but unlike them, he extends into the sprint freestyle and butterfly events, which means there’s the potential that he develops into a relay piece for the Dawgs.
Best Times (SCY):
- 200 IM: 1:46.32
- 200 free: 1:38.87
- 100 free: 44.61
- 100 fly: 47.71
Most of these lifetime bests in yards come from last November, but Macht did swim the 1:38.87 200 freestyle at the Florida Spring Senior Championships for a 12th-place finish. At that meet, he collected a trio of 7th-place finishes in the 100 free, 100 fly, and 200 IM.
He’s continued to improve in meters as well; at the European Junior Championships, he swam lifetime bests in the 50 free, 100 free, and 200 IM. He swam a 2:05.76 in the 200 IM which was also his highest finish at the championships (20th).
These three athletes will join #7 Sean Green, BOTR Wyatt Porch, and Jayson Ross in Georgia’s class of 2029.