Debating doing College Swimming... Never Swam Competitively
Former Member
Here is the low down guys. I am a Sophomore at a pretty average division 1 university. I am a member of the cross country and indoor/outdoor track teams so i have been competitively racing for almost 6 years. I have never swam on a team before but... I want to! I feel as if I've gone mad. I want to try in college!! Next year, not this year, I need to get my base up i know that. off of 2 swims a week (500yards) i swim 500 yards free in 7:48 as of yesterday (you dont need to tell me how slow that is I already know). I am not afraid of hard work, swimming 2+ hours a day I can do that. I want to try! can anyone tell me what I need to do to see if i can get to around 5 flat in the 500 yard free? or a fast 1000 time it doesn't matter, just good enough to walk on the team. the weird thing is, i think I am a better swimmer than I am a runner. the pool just seems to click for me. can anyone help me out? I am willing to swim every day from now till next swim season to make this dream a reality! ...ps i'm a guy if that matters
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.
I would say that's an succinct assessment for recommended training. Join a USA-S club as fmracing suggested in the meantime (if at all possible).
There are probably a handful of mid-majors that would let a 5:00 walk on, so it's going to depend on where you go to school. Talk to the coach, but brace yourself in case s/he is not very receptive.
Good luck!
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.
I would say that's an succinct assessment for recommended training. Join a USA-S club as fmracing suggested in the meantime (if at all possible).
There are probably a handful of mid-majors that would let a 5:00 walk on, so it's going to depend on where you go to school. Talk to the coach, but brace yourself in case s/he is not very receptive.
Good luck!
