Greetings
I know from reading many posts that some of you have swam in college. I am the parent of an age group swimmer who has his sights set on a college scholarship. I was a sportsmed guy in a a Div 1 school in college and all of us worked many long hours and traveled a great deal to earn our way through. The athletes worked very hard of course and really paid in time for the funds they received in the form of books and tuition. I would rather pay for his schooling and see him study rather than swim. I do not want to steal his dreams though as a result of my cynical view of the system. Have any of you swam in college and what was your experience? Do you view it as a worthy goal or would you have done it differently? Any coaches out there with insight? All advice welcome. This is a great forum!
Many Thanks
Spudfin
Spud,
I didn't swim in college, though I did masters throughout my schooling. While I can't speak for those who did swim NCAA, I wish I had been able to. I don't doubt that athletes spend a lot more time training than studying, but swimmers in general are pretty smart kids. The extra training may lead to an extra semester or two, but in the end, I think that the value of the experience would have been a benefit to my schooling.
If your son does earn a scholarship and decides to choose a time-consuming major, he'll probably end up kicking his aquatic career to the curb midway through. We all know that since we're not Michael Phelps, we're not going to make a living on swimming, so that degree (and learning on the way to it) is our mealticket.
If he understands the time committment before and after arriving on campus, and is willing to work hard in the pool AND in the classroom, he will not fail. You can be creative with incentives too... If you're still willing to pay for his college, if he gets the scholarship and needs a 5th year to wrap up, your contribution might help take some of the pressure off him, and will also give him a bit more leeway into finding a non-basketweaving major.
Spud,
I didn't swim in college, though I did masters throughout my schooling. While I can't speak for those who did swim NCAA, I wish I had been able to. I don't doubt that athletes spend a lot more time training than studying, but swimmers in general are pretty smart kids. The extra training may lead to an extra semester or two, but in the end, I think that the value of the experience would have been a benefit to my schooling.
If your son does earn a scholarship and decides to choose a time-consuming major, he'll probably end up kicking his aquatic career to the curb midway through. We all know that since we're not Michael Phelps, we're not going to make a living on swimming, so that degree (and learning on the way to it) is our mealticket.
If he understands the time committment before and after arriving on campus, and is willing to work hard in the pool AND in the classroom, he will not fail. You can be creative with incentives too... If you're still willing to pay for his college, if he gets the scholarship and needs a 5th year to wrap up, your contribution might help take some of the pressure off him, and will also give him a bit more leeway into finding a non-basketweaving major.
