Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively

In which I adopt the persona of my saurian avatar, and play an ornery, but well-meaning, old curmudgeon ... Here is the low down guys. I am a Sophomore at a pretty average division 1 university... One might suggest, that instead of devoting yourself to a Quixotic shot at an utterly forgettable 2 year career as a bench-warming walk-on, that you use your considerable energy, enthusiasm, and apparent surplus of spare time, to devote yourself instead to your studies, graduate at the top of your class, enroll in an excellent post-graduate program, and join us here, some years hence, in the considerably less pressure-packed world of Masters Swimming. A radical concept, I know. And though you think of your Division I unversity as "pretty average", let me remind you that this is your shot! This is the one, best chance you are going to have to educate yourself. Take advantage of it! Rather than spend your time staring down at a lane line, go crack the books, go to lectures, see French films with subtitles, and otherwise immerse yourself in the lively culture of the University. Stay in shape & stay healthy. There is plenty of time for swimming later. Bring your 500 free in 7:48 to a masters team when you are 26, and we can improve it from there.

In my estimation, this is not going to happen. If you do the following things, you can maybe get to 5:00 in two years: Stop running Swim hard every day Lift weights (XC runners are weak in the upper body, always) Swimming-specific flexibility (shoulders, torso, ankles) Unfortunately, 5:00 is not even close to Division I walk-on. Anyone who knows college swimming and middle distance want to give a more realistic number for that? I would think more like 4:40. Jazzdrip speaks the truth. I train with a kid fresh out of a really good D1 program, really good but not quite great. I asked him just this week what his teammates went in the 500. He said the best were sub 4:14 and everyone sub 4:25.

In which I adopt the persona of my saurian avatar, and play an ornery, but well-meaning, old curmudgeon ... One might suggest, that instead of devoting yourself to a Quixotic shot at an utterly forgettable 2 year career as a bench-warming walk-on, that you use your considerable energy, enthusiasm, and apparent surplus of spare time, to devote yourself instead to your studies, graduate at the top of your class, enroll in an excellent post-graduate program, and join us here, some years hence, in the considerably less pressure-packed world of Masters Swimming. A radical concept, I know. And though you think of your Division I unversity as "pretty average", let me remind you that this is your shot! This is the one, best chance you are going to have to educate yourself. Take advantage of it! Rather than spend your time staring down at a lane line, go crack the books, go to lectures, see French films with subtitles, and otherwise immerse yourself in the lively culture of the University. Stay in shape & stay healthy. There is plenty of time for swimming later. Bring your 500 free in 7:48 to a masters team when you are 26, and we can improve it from there. :applaud: :bow: Well said, Swimosaur! Well said! Although your suggestion for X to abandon his dream is completely contradictory to my signature, you bring up a valid point. As USMS says, "Swim for life!" X can have a lifetime of swim goals and dreams later, after he first getsa great education.

really good but not quite great. I asked him just this week what his teammates went in the 500. He said the best were sub 4:14 and everyone sub 4:25.Good but not great???? 4:14 would be top 5 at NCAA Div I and the everyone's sub 4:25 were all at the B cuts.

In which I adopt the persona of my saurian avatar, and play an ornery, but well-meaning, old curmudgeon ... One might suggest, that instead of devoting yourself to a Quixotic shot at an utterly forgettable 2 year career as a bench-warming walk-on, that you use your considerable energy, enthusiasm, and apparent surplus of spare time, to devote yourself instead to your studies, graduate at the top of your class, enroll in an excellent post-graduate program, and join us here, some years hence, in the considerably less pressure-packed world of Masters Swimming. A radical concept, I know. And though you think of your Division I unversity as "pretty average", let me remind you that this is your shot! This is the one, best chance you are going to have to educate yourself. Take advantage of it! Rather than spend your time staring down at a lane line, go crack the books, go to lectures, see French films with subtitles, and otherwise immerse yourself in the lively culture of the University. Stay in shape & stay healthy. There is plenty of time for swimming later. Bring your 500 free in 7:48 to a masters team when you are 26, and we can improve it from there. I'm going to partially disagree with this.I started college in 1967,which was before the mega-yardage phase so that swimming 5X/wk didn't leave me with no energy for anything else.If I hadn't had the swim team my college experience would have been not merely less rich,it would have been depressing as hell.I met my wife at the pool as well as most of my best friends. Most of my non-athletic friends handled the pressure by getting drunk or high,I'll take swimming over that any day.

Good but not great???? 4:14 would be top 5 at NCAA Div I and the everyone's sub 4:25 were all at the B cuts.Yeah, that seems to be a very strong program. Though, having said that, the depth in USA and collegiate swimming amazes me. And, to the bigger question, I'd second swimosaur's comments, but encourage xcrunswimmer to: Start NOW with a local USMS program with a good coach. See where you can get over the next year by devoting yourself to USMS The next step up would be a good USAS (age group program), but you'll need to get much faster before you could train with kids you might be comfortable training with. As a point of reference, if you were to show up on the doorstep of my kids' USAS team (~top 40 age group program in the country), you'd be about the speed of the decent (but not great) 8-9 year olds (e.g., 7:48 ranks about 100th in the country for 8 year old boys) At the end of the day, though, you actually came to the right place first - US Masters is designed, built and perfect for you.

You have to be able to do daily workouts to be on the team. Not just daily, but doubles on most days. Plan on 9-10 pool workouts per week.

Everyone in the stands and the bleachers would be 'like wtheck is that guy doing?!' as he floundered up and down the lanes. It was pretty funny stuff. :cry:

At the end of the day, though, you actually came to the right place first - US Masters is designed, built and perfect for you. Speaking of USMS, I think I'm done with your dastardly age group and now can get whooped in the 45-49 age group.

Stop running Swim hard every day Lift weights (XC runners are weak in the upper body, always) Swimming-specific flexibility (shoulders, torso, ankles) Also work with a good swim coach. You can’t make technical corrections on your own. Also a coach who sees your stroke and is working with you can help you set realistic goals. To roughly equate swimming to running, I suggest that a 5:00 500 swim is comparable to a 4:30-4:40 mile run. So if someone came up to you with a reverse scenario; “I’m a swimmer who currently runs a 7:00 mile, what and how long would it take to get to where I could run a 4:40 mile?” I encourage you to give it a try, but get with a coach to set achievable goals and work smart and hard. Also, a lot of colleges have club teams in addition to or in lieu of varsity programs. This may be a better option for now.