My granddaughter has several colleges interested in her. She is very excited, however, there is a naysayer in the family. Every time my granddaughter brings up the subject in his presence he makes comments like, "Swimming isn't your life," or "It is a waste of time because it won't get you a job." If she says, "What if I want to be a swim coach?" He says, "Sounds like a hobby, not a job."
My question, what doors did swimming for a college/university open for you after graduation?
First off, forget the career impacts and think first about the academic impact while in college - study after study show that exercise is a key contributor to academic performance, along with general health and mental well-being.
I agree with Allen that having a team gives you an instant social group to help with the (often difficult) transition to life in college.
As for career impact for me personally, I absolutely know it can help from a hiring perspective. The guy who was instrumental in hiring me for my first job out of graduate school and who later became (& remains) a key mentor for me told me that my swimming in college while getting good grades in a demanding degree helped set me apart from other candidates. Moreover, as I've worked over the last twenty years, I have found that many of the most successful people, either in the companies I worked or my clients, had some measure of collegiate athletics in their past.
But, beyond this, swimming in college is just downright fun.
But, beyond this, swimming in college is just downright fun.
the absolute best part of swimming is college is the competitors that you raced against to then become lifelong friends (and fierce competitors yet again as masters!!!)
and the gallons of beer
I'll go two different directions here.
First, as someone that hires people for the company I work for and in particular interns and recent graduates, I personally look for other activities beyond just taking their course load. It shows the person knows how to balance their activities.
Second, I've actually had conversations during interviews when it comes up that I swam in college or that I competitively swim now, and in most of those instances I've gotten an offer. While I cannot confirm it pushed it over the edge, I believe it is exactly what I am saying in the first point.
First, since when are adults not allowed to have hobbies? Hobbies are important and they enrich life. If you have to give up your favorite hobbies for your career, how happy will a person really be?
Second, I don't know if my college swimming helped get me a job...at first. I'm sure it didn't hurt. But after college, and several years of work in my chosen field, my plans changed, I had kids, and we moved so I didn't have to work. Now with the kids just getting into school, reality is hitting with how much time they are actually home and the idea of consulting in my field still seems years off. I started swimming again and within months an opportunity to coach a masters team opened up simply because of the friendships I had made swimming as an age grouper. Had I not had these connections, I would not have even known about the position because they never even posted a job opening. They recruited entirely from the people they knew without making an announcement. So, now I work about 5-6 hours a week to support my swimming "hobby". I'm going through coaching certification and am thinking that once all the kids are in school, I might look at opportunities to expand my hours at the same facility teaching swim lessons and such.
You never know how life is going to change, so you shouldn't limit opportunities by giving up things you love.
As a side note, I minored in music because I thought that was going to be my backup. I thought I could just teach piano lessons if things ever got into a pinch. Well, I now live across the street from my cousin...who was a music major...who is a full time music teacher and teaches piano lessons out of her home. I promised when I moved in I would never compete with her for business. You just never know how your plans will turn out.
I played water polo in college after swimming in high school. I received two second interviews in the job search simply because of this fact when it came up in conversation during the first interview. One recruiter had a son who played water polo so we established a personal connection. The other (who was not a swimmer) remarked on the discipline required to be any good at the sport.
i dont think it helped me any at all for getting a job.
HOWEVER
when i walked across that stage and was handed my diploma i owed nobody nothing!!!
(btw i walked in a shirt, tie, swimsuit and flipflops under my robe)
so in the interview you can bring up that *because* of the swimming scholarship that was just like a job (and in some cases it pays a heck of a lot LESS than a job) that you actually worked your way through.
3) it will not affect her studies.
I think swimming actually affected my studying positively. I was so busy there was no room to procrastinate. During the times we were swimming less (like the spring) I had a tendency to get lazy.
I swam for a D1 team my freshman and sophomore years before stopping (a decision I regret). College is likely your last opportunity to be young and learn in a relaxed, relatively care-free, environment with others that are about your same age. Unless you turn pro, swimming on a team at this point is also a last opportunity to enjoy the sport and camaraderie in that college environment and to learn from the hard work and dedication it requires as a team.
Where you went to school and your GPA isn't going to matter as much about a year after you graduate, and maybe not matter at all within a very few years. But your work ethic will, qualities like teamwork and dedication that are hard to develop in a classroom will matter for all of one's remaining years. Therein lies the long term benefit of swimming on a college team.
@laineybug Sounds to me like you're the matriarch of the family. Pull rank and tell the naysayer to shut his trap. :D
More seriously, search Google for "swimmers have better grades" and chase down some of the references. I'm sure they will overlap heavily with what everyone else has written, but there might be some new angles.
