...to swim or not to swim?
As some of ya'll might remember, I wrote a small blog on my daily swimming activities as a college swimmer this past season. If not for my back injury, I'm sure it would have been much more exciting...but oh well.
Well the season ended a few months ago, and I've been largely a land lubber since. Now that I'm settled for the summer though, I'm getting back into the pool on a regular basis.
The question is... do I swim as a member of the varsity team next year?
I just can't really decide.
My coach quit at the end of the season to move with her husband to Rhode Island (where he became the new head soccer coach at the university of rhode island). The new coach of both the men's and women's program is the former assistant coach of the men's team, Jason.
He's a pretty nice guy, but since the men's and women's teams were seperate last year, I don't really know much about his coaching methods.
I've got it down to the pros and cons of swimming next year, but I still can't decide what would be best...
Pros: Great exercise - forces me to go swim even when I'm tired
Seeing my teammates again
A chance to actually compete
The ability to say I'm still a college swimmer...
Cons: Last year's practice schedule was brutal. If this year is the same...if it's the same this year it means:
Crunch on academics
No social life for 5-6 months
Constantly exhausted
..possible reinjury of my back (although unlikely)
I just don't know. I'm concerned about my academics. I really screwed up my spring quarter, for unrelated personal reasons, and as a result my GPA is in the toilet. Since I'm entering my junior year, pulling up my academics is of huge concern to me. Also, I'm going abroad in the spring...so if I had no time to spend with my real friends during the season I wouldn't see them at all during the year....
....But I don't want to be a quitter. I know I wouldn't abandon the sport...but....agh...
What do I do?
Former Member
I know what I'm about to say will sound tough but rather than patting you on the head I think you need a kick in the butt. Soneone needs to be honest with you and tell it like it is.
I think you need to do some serious soul searching and be completely honest with yourself about what you want to do in the pool and in school as well but that's another topic. I realize you have nothing to compare with but what you describe as brutal was in fact less demanding than almost any other college program I've ever been around or even most high level agegroup teams. If you think that was too difficult than maybe it is time to join the Masters program.
Some day when your our age, have kids, a full time job and all the other things that go along with adult life, plus trying to find time to swim, you're going to look back on this and realize that it may be the most fun and easiest time of your life.
Get off your rear end, call the coach, find out if you can live with him and if so get back on the team. If you do then make a committment, set some goals and give it your honest best effort.
YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET ANOTHER CHANCE!
I hope you do swim again and do well.
Most college swimmers from our time had to swim, work and go to school.
One I know worked at two partime jobs plus sold hot dogs at all the football games. He graduated in the upper 20%.
Just get on with it.
You already know in your heart what you want to do and that is SWIM! Otherwise you would not have asked us on this swimming forum . . .
Seriously you should try it at least, you will regret it later in life - we masters swimmer are willing to wait for you and you will have us the rest of your life!
Howard - most other swimming programs at colleges are certianly more rigorous than mine was... but most other colleges are, academically, nowhere close to as difficult as the U of C. We have a certain reputation here...
And you can't really judge the difficulty of my program based on the workouts I posted in my thread as I was rehabbing my back injury for the majority of the season.
hmlee, the master's team at the U of C wasn't all that fabulous for me. There was just none of the energy or passion that you'd find on a competitive swim team, or on a master's team with people who actually compete. I defected loooooong ago. Swim with the real team if they'll take you.
BTW, the academics at the U of C aren't that bad -- you said yourself that it was your personal trauma that messed you up last year. It wasn't swimming.
I'm 45. One of my few regrets in a life otherwise pretty well lived is deciding my freshman year not to swim for my Div. III college. Sure wish I'd have at least tried it for a year or two.
Swim.
You only get a maximum of 4 years to swim for your college team and you will have decades to swim masters. I ran competitvely for my college and still remember it - 30+ years later - as one of the highlights of college. So, I'd vote swim college. Remember, if it starts to be a problem, you can always quit & join masters, but in the near future, once you are done with college, you won't be able to quit masters to rejoin your college team.
BTW, you can also consider renouncing the Dark Side and come over to open water swimming.
Whatever you do, keep swimming!
-LBJ
And have you attened the U of C knelson? I didn't think so. You don't need to go to a school to know about it's academic workload. I was speaking in generalities anyway - if you don't think that the U of C is academically more rigorous than many schools out there then.....
Originally posted by hmlee
I just don't know. I'm concerned about my academics.
I know it sounds weird, but I always found it easier to study when I was swimming. You just don't have the extra time to procrastinate.
If you swim you will have a social life. It will totally revolve around the pool and your teammates, but it's a social life. It's a hell of a lot healthier social life than what the typical college student has, that's for damn sure.
Swim.
