I'm always interested in hearing about the USMS demographics, but I couldn't find any information on USMS and college swimming. I was wondering roughly what percentage of US Masters swimmers swam in college and at what level. I also wanted to hear from you where you went, when, and what you loved / hated most about college swimming.
Swam four years Division I, but I sucked. I was the guy the coach liked having on the team because I had a really high GPA. :) Not to mention I could really only swim distance free so I was useless on relays.
I actually loved the experience. Yeah, it was lots of hard work and there were definitely times I asked myself if just being a normal student wouldn't be more fun.
My freshman class was huge. The coach was a great recruiter and brought in a really good recruiting class and lots more (like me) who walked on. I think the first day of practice my freshman year there were around 25 freshman who tried out. That number dropped considerably in the first month and even more after the first year. I would guess only half that number were actually still around for our sophomore year. College swimming really makes you think about whether or not you want to continue with the sport.
Swam four years Division I, but I sucked. I was the guy the coach liked having on the team because I had a really high GPA. :) Not to mention I could really only swim distance free so I was useless on relays.
I actually loved the experience. Yeah, it was lots of hard work and there were definitely times I asked myself if just being a normal student wouldn't be more fun.
My freshman class was huge. The coach was a great recruiter and brought in a really good recruiting class and lots more (like me) who walked on. I think the first day of practice my freshman year there were around 25 freshman who tried out. That number dropped considerably in the first month and even more after the first year. I would guess only half that number were actually still around for our sophomore year. College swimming really makes you think about whether or not you want to continue with the sport.
