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
Parents
Former Member
Never say never. Not every Division 1 team is in the elite category. Depending on certain sports like football and basketball, the entire school sports program can be bundled in that category by default, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be going to NCAA championships.
We had a walk on at our school with a 500 free time somewhere near 5:30. He went as low as 4:45 by his junior year that I recall. Our coach always welcomed people as long as they had potential and were willing to work. It also helped that we had an 8 lane pool and there was enough room for all.
What was unusual is that we had a walk-on who acted as team manager. He was somehow assigned the task of swimming the 1,000 with a specific goal not to break 18 minutes. Our best 200 freestyler often swam the 1,000 and the 200 free would follow this event. The extra time gained by this dastardly ploy allowed him to recover well enough to do place in his event. 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.
Never say never. Not every Division 1 team is in the elite category. Depending on certain sports like football and basketball, the entire school sports program can be bundled in that category by default, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be going to NCAA championships.
We had a walk on at our school with a 500 free time somewhere near 5:30. He went as low as 4:45 by his junior year that I recall. Our coach always welcomed people as long as they had potential and were willing to work. It also helped that we had an 8 lane pool and there was enough room for all.
What was unusual is that we had a walk-on who acted as team manager. He was somehow assigned the task of swimming the 1,000 with a specific goal not to break 18 minutes. Our best 200 freestyler often swam the 1,000 and the 200 free would follow this event. The extra time gained by this dastardly ploy allowed him to recover well enough to do place in his event. 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.
