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
Parents
Former Member
I currently swim D2 at a college. While I don't regret choosing to swim in college-I regret choosing my college based on the swimming program and the scholarship offers. I wish I had looked at campus' more than pools, teachers more than coaches.
I don't really have a problem with grades and finding time to get my work done during swimming--though that is just how I've always been--we've lost some good swimmers to academic ineligibility and had a lot of swimmers who've had to stay on extra semesters after having a bad semester here or there. But that's bound to happen to some people whether they swim or not. And I've NEVER had a problem with a teacher regarding missing class due to a meet.
Some things to consider:
my swim program isn't hugely competitive--and my coach is not completely motivated to creating a demanding program, but regardless I spend around 20 hours a week at the pool (between swimming, dryland, weightlifting)--not including meet weekends which obviously up that time, and for the month or so that we are doing doubles that time goes up to about 30hours a week. Additionally, have him consider the length of the season (August-February/March) and the fact that you lose your Christmas break.
Ironically, out of my entire High School team, I am the ONLY one still swimming in college. And we are talking girls with tons of potential to go on to NCAA championships and most on scholarships. When i've talked to them about deciding to quit they all said that it wasn't worth the time and stress on top of their course loads.
I'm still shocked that these girls--all of whom were much more dedicated and invested in the sport back in HS then I was, gave it up.
Make sure he really looks at the teams for the colleges he is considering---maybe go to a meet, have him do an overnight (I know all that means for our guys team is that they get the recruit drunk out of his mind and act like...hmm....college boys--so make sure he's careful!) and maybe watch a practice or two. I know in my case, my coach is a great sweet talker and he really had me believing everything he said about his coaching, the team, and how much I would improve. I was let down greatly.
Theres a lot of great things about being a college athlete, but he should really look at all the avenues, because theres also many opportunities for it to be a suffocating situation.
I currently swim D2 at a college. While I don't regret choosing to swim in college-I regret choosing my college based on the swimming program and the scholarship offers. I wish I had looked at campus' more than pools, teachers more than coaches.
I don't really have a problem with grades and finding time to get my work done during swimming--though that is just how I've always been--we've lost some good swimmers to academic ineligibility and had a lot of swimmers who've had to stay on extra semesters after having a bad semester here or there. But that's bound to happen to some people whether they swim or not. And I've NEVER had a problem with a teacher regarding missing class due to a meet.
Some things to consider:
my swim program isn't hugely competitive--and my coach is not completely motivated to creating a demanding program, but regardless I spend around 20 hours a week at the pool (between swimming, dryland, weightlifting)--not including meet weekends which obviously up that time, and for the month or so that we are doing doubles that time goes up to about 30hours a week. Additionally, have him consider the length of the season (August-February/March) and the fact that you lose your Christmas break.
Ironically, out of my entire High School team, I am the ONLY one still swimming in college. And we are talking girls with tons of potential to go on to NCAA championships and most on scholarships. When i've talked to them about deciding to quit they all said that it wasn't worth the time and stress on top of their course loads.
I'm still shocked that these girls--all of whom were much more dedicated and invested in the sport back in HS then I was, gave it up.
Make sure he really looks at the teams for the colleges he is considering---maybe go to a meet, have him do an overnight (I know all that means for our guys team is that they get the recruit drunk out of his mind and act like...hmm....college boys--so make sure he's careful!) and maybe watch a practice or two. I know in my case, my coach is a great sweet talker and he really had me believing everything he said about his coaching, the team, and how much I would improve. I was let down greatly.
Theres a lot of great things about being a college athlete, but he should really look at all the avenues, because theres also many opportunities for it to be a suffocating situation.
