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
In the fall of 1982, I turned down partial and full rides at a number of schools (to my parents' chagrin ) and walked on at Cal. I had great grades in H.S., very high SAT score, and wanted to swim at a top program (Cal won NCAA's in 1979 and 1980 and my AAU coach was a grad) that also offered engineering.
I quickly found out that I was woefully unprepared for the rigors of academics there. Poor grades equaled no enjoyment, and so I changed majors and kept swimming, too. It turned out to be the best decision of my life (so far). I made life-long friends, got to travel the country and the world (albeit usually only to airport, hotel and pool) and probably made myself the best swimmer I could be at the time. The only thing that kept me from swimming after college was cashflow (actually a lack thereof).
I HIGHLY recommend combining academics and athletics in college, and also to challenging yourself in both ways. I would rather be the slowest swimmer on a great team than the fastest on a crap one... The better to improve onesself.
Just my :2cents:
In the fall of 1982, I turned down partial and full rides at a number of schools (to my parents' chagrin ) and walked on at Cal. I had great grades in H.S., very high SAT score, and wanted to swim at a top program (Cal won NCAA's in 1979 and 1980 and my AAU coach was a grad) that also offered engineering.
I quickly found out that I was woefully unprepared for the rigors of academics there. Poor grades equaled no enjoyment, and so I changed majors and kept swimming, too. It turned out to be the best decision of my life (so far). I made life-long friends, got to travel the country and the world (albeit usually only to airport, hotel and pool) and probably made myself the best swimmer I could be at the time. The only thing that kept me from swimming after college was cashflow (actually a lack thereof).
I HIGHLY recommend combining academics and athletics in college, and also to challenging yourself in both ways. I would rather be the slowest swimmer on a great team than the fastest on a crap one... The better to improve onesself.
Just my :2cents:
