Anyone Swim in College?

Dear Spudfin, You don't know how much that resonates with me. Swimming in college and the Olympics was my dream. I was a promising age grouper back in the late 70's and early 80's. Team records, state records, etc. I received two full swimming scholarships from two separate schools but was gently encouraged (manipulated) by my mother to stay at home because the family could not afford to send me "away" to school. That abruptly ended my career. Being the naive 18 year old, I did not see the shear stupidity of not being able to afford a full scholarship. On the other hand, my father made to much to qualify for financial aid. My mother placed her needs above my needs, hopes, and dreams. Our relationship never recovered and now she's gone. While I had great success in college and have been self employed for over 20 years, the decision to turn down those scholarships was the worst decision of my life and I will always regret it. The same temptations exist on every campus. If your son has something he wants and has to work hard for it, isn't he less likely to get into trouble? If he's denied what he loves, won't he be more likely to get into trouble? It will be a lot of hard work. It is supposed to be! It's training for life. Swimming gave me more than I can ever repay! The coach really sets the tone!! I feel that it is far better to strive for your own goals and fail, than to strive for someone else's goals and succeed. I was a successful IT consultant for over 20 years and recently quit to go back to coaching and swimming. I would trade everything except my partner to go back and do it again! Best wishes to you and yours, Allen

My big question is ,"How many people went to US News & World Reports top 100 undergrad schools & swam?" I swam and played water polo at Fordham on a full scholarship. It was both a great experience and hard work. We trained often...2x per day...and once on Saturdays. The tight schedule taught discipline and time management. And yes there was big time drinking...but probably because the legal age to act stupid was only 18 back then. The entire campus went into party mode from Thursday evenings until Sunday. In all honestly the swimming kept many of us away from the pitfalls of too much extra-curricular activities. Having a coach to answer to kept us in line both personally and academically. Sure we had our share of fun, but the routine and responsibilities were a welcome thing. In no way did it compromise the educational experience.

I am currently in my senior year in college and I was on the team here for a year, but it's Div 3, so I'm not really sure if anything I have to say about it would be useful to you... :)

Hoffam: Div 3 schools do not provide scholarship money for athletics. Not sure about d2, but if that's important your son should check it out with the individual schools.... I am the parent of a high school senior who wants to swim in college. He is good but not fast enough for Auburn, Cal, Stanford, etc. He might be a walkon for one of the not-so-fast Div 1 schools or perhaps some scholarship money to a Div II or Div III school. Our guidance to him has been to choose the school for education first, and if swimming works, we'll support it. Earning 1/10 or 1/4 of a scholarship isn't particularly meaningful for the money unless he goes out of state or to a private school with much higher costs. My son is smart, a solid but not outstanding student, and has very good test scores. He seems to understand that a degree from Rice with no swimming will do him more good in life than a degree from a far lesser school that offers him a swimming scholarship. 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.

Wow! What great answers from both sides of the issue. Don't know where it will all end up for the lad but his Mom and I read all of your posts with great interest. I think the common thread is the focus on the classroom choices first and swimming second if at all. My son is very academic so I have great confidence in his ability to make academic choices. Just have know idea how he will incorporate swimming. It will be a great time for us to watch listen and learn while he sorts it all out. End of the day, it is nice to have choices in life . Thanks again for all of your insights. Great forum! Regards Spudfin

God, I really need to read these threads before replying. Three replies in a row is just sillyness. Anyhoo, I'm at a US News top 10 undergrad and swam... not that that particular distinction matters at all :laugh2: There are many small schools that have very good swim programs. And Remeber in most small schools between 80 & 95 % of the students receive some aid from the college. I went to knox in Galesburg, IL NO good swimming but a very good water polo team. Some of the other schools in the ACM are very competitive in swimming. I think Grinnell & Coe have good teams usually. There also schools that people know. My big question is ,"How many people went to US News & World Reports top 100 undergrad schools & swam?"

"There are some very interesting schools, like UC-San Diego and Emory. Very strong swim teams, not Div-I, and strong academics." I was the first water polo and swimming coach at UCSD back when they were just getting started, ('67 - '68). It was pretty low key, didn't even have water polo goals! Because we we so short handed, and the fact that the academic competition was particularly fierce, I was allowed to use graduate students in our water polo games, didn't matter much, we still got creamed every game. An interesting sidenote was that after the away games we'd stop for dinner and the grad students would go into the bar for a pitcher. You had to be 21 back then to drink alcohol and none of the undergrads were old enough. The funny thing was that I was only 20 myself. But never got carded! Had one guy who made the NAIA National finals, 100 ***. He transferred to Cal Berkely and I went to coach for a couple years at San Diego State, where academics didn't interfere with sports.

Also, now I work at a large state university that is supposedly known for it Engineering Dept. Most of the classes are huge and taught by TAs. Why woudl you want that? Moxt of the students who have part-time jobs under me complain constantly about how boring their large classes are. I went to a similar school and I think this is not the true case at all. Yeah, there are some huge classes, but these are generally 100 level courses such as math and chemistry. Once you get into the classes specifically to your major the classes aren't typically that large.

Both of the colleges I went to undergrad I swam. they are both int he US News & World Reports top 100. The first was a terrible time. I hated every minute I was there. The second was great. Don't discount what is available at small schools. Many have really opened up what majors they offer. When I was at Knox, one of the business profs wrote a book used at both Harvard, UCLA and many other universities around the country. It was one of the first very small schools to offer a computer divisionin in its math departmetn major. Besides it is located in the center of the universe. How mamy places in the world can clain the invention of the Ferriswheel, the only standing building that held a Lincoln Douglas Debate (you can actually sit inthe chair Abe Lincoln sat in during the debate), and Flunk Day! Also, now I work at a large state university that is supposedly known for it Engineering Dept. Most of the classes are huge and taught by TAs. Why woudl you want that? Moxt of the students who have part-time jobs under me complain constantly about how boring their large classes are.

I swam at a college rated in the top three by Playboy Magazine as a party school (Arizona State University). Fortunately, I did not know of that rating until after I was already in classes. The school also had some serious academic credentials, as well as very good law , business and engineering colleges. I never regretted going to school and swimming at the same time. In fact, I believe tht the rigors of sport training force the young students to better manage their time, making the whole experience more rewarding. Alan, I am very sorry to hear your story. Until my coach had a serious talk with my parents, I was very nearly in your shoes.