Anyone Swim in College?

I think swimming would be good for him - especially early on in college. I'd rather he have a group to belong to that isn't a fraternity. :lmao:I wouldn't say swimmers are the best influence. I can't say for all college male swimmers obviously...but the two teams I have been on, as well as several of the teams in my conference have had MAJOR issues with alcohol and behaviors/reckless decisions on their men's teams. Sometimes I look at our guys team as they head off to their judiciary hearings and wonder if they wouldn't have been better off next door at SUNY Albany--with all their Greek life and such.

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:

I wouldn't say swimmers are the best influence. I can't say for all college male swimmers obviously...but the two teams I have been on, as well as several of the teams in my conference have had MAJOR issues with alcohol and behaviors/reckless decisions on their men's teams. 10 years ago, I'd've been cautioning against the same thing, but fact is collegiate alcohol abuse is everywhere, and it is not gender specific... let us not forget the Lehigh Women's Swim Team. If the kid is picking the college for the swim team parties, methinks dad will happily pull the plug on the financial backing pretty quickly. Hopefully he can say "no" or party responsibly.

It's a question of how your professors handle the situation of you traveling for swim meets, as well as what priority your coach gives swimming and academics. The best swim schools make sure nothing suffers, whether it's swimming or school. When I swam at Texas, I never had a problem mixing the two. If I had to study for an exam, the coaches would let me out of workout a little early to study. Or if I was traveling to a swim meet, I'd get the assignments from my professor or get an extension on an exam. I think every university, no matter what NCAA division they are in, has this attitude. It depends on how well the student works to keep both balanced. I couldn't imagine going to school and not swimming. If anything, swimming was a stress reliever, especially during finals. And it was a great alternative to fraternities.

The one thing I always recommend to the juniors and seniors looking into schools is to choose your school based on what you want to major in, regardless of the swim opportunity. I my day I was limited to larger schools since in the early 80's good computer science programs were limited. And yes after 2 years I too was burned out enough on swimming and figured working at the school computer center looked better on my resume than swimming did.

The one thing I always recommend to the juniors and seniors looking into schools is to choose your school based on what you want to major in, regardless of the swim opportunity. Who knows what they want to major in as a junior or senior and who actually sticks with that major? I say pick the best party school that you can find in your GPA/SAT range cause that will definitely stick with you all 4,5 or 6 years, and life beyond.

Most of my teammates in high-school and college were great students. I've always associated swimming with high-achievers. I think swimming during both high-school and college forces kids to become good at time management. Some of those with the worst study skills were those who had all sorts of time to "study." I will say that swimming may have played a role in my (sadly) picking a non-practical major at a fairly prestigious university. But no more than my involvement in a religious group at the time that made me think some kind of ministry was in my future. If I had it all to do over again I'd swim at the same school but challenge myself to study something more useful...

There are several current college swimmers here too. Blainesapprentice, Seagirl51 come immediately to mind. Both are sound students I think. You might want to pm them for their take in the event they don't see this thread.

I did as well, until I was injured. I went to a very academically demanding school, and was happier not swimming. However, I was also suffering severe burnout from a mega-yardage youth, so had probably had enough competitive swimming at that juncture. It is very difficult to combine a sport as demanding as swimming with academic excellence, but I have seen people successfully do it. It depends on the student, the school. etc. Personally, my college decision was based entirely on academics, not athletics. It worked out fine, and I have never regretted it. In fact, it has positively helped me in life. So has swimming, of course. Hmmm "LSE" has a team? *cough* Sadly that vessel sailed for me. No college sports....would have been fun.

I agree with Jeff, if you can go to a program like Texas (where my brother swam 81-84), they treat all the athletes excellent and make sure you excel academically (orthopedic surgeon now). Another brother swam for Berkeley (?81-83) and was treated like crap because he was not the best. I think he bailed on his senior year to concentrate on academics (he became a high falutin' orthopedic surgeon). I swam for a mediocre team (BYU) and would not have traded anything for the lessons learned and the level of discipline achieved in combining academics and college level swimming (although it is hard to give your best to both). It was great to get an education and to travel the world (to such exotic places as Las Cruces, NM) and have somebody else pay for it all. It also matters if your child is a male or a female. You can say whatever you want (and I am sure this is a sensitive button to all those who think the man has kept them down for so many years--e.g. Nancy Hogshead, et. al) but title IX is blatantly unfair to males that are not football players. Most schools have half the number (or less) of scholarships for men's swimming v. female. There is absolutely no way to make it fair as programs try to "make-up" for 80 football scholarships. Also, as some have pointed out, it does matter where you graduate. My sister went to Yale law school and she could pretty much go where ever she wanted for a job. Bottom line: if your kid is good enough to go to a reputable school, definitely do it. Otherwise, if you can afford it, send he/she to the best school money can buy (there is always time after education and career making that he/she can become like all of us on this thread--washed up wannabe athletes). I swam with Kyle at Cal, and he was one of the nicest - and smartest - guys I ever had the privilege of knowing!