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 for a DIII school (Emory University) and would do it all over again. I probably never would have lasted at a DI school or any school where I was on scholarship. DIII was laid back enough so that I managed to make it through 4 years of swimming.
The first two years, morning practices were "optional" which was kind of nice when I had to spend late nights in the library studying. When the college season was over in mid-March, I didn't do a swim workout until August. The month of April was when I got to be a real college student and have a real social life before hitting the books for finals in May. During the summer, I worked as a lifeguard and ran to keep in shape.
I got a little burned out towards the end of my junior year, so decided to do a semester in Washington, D.C. the fall of my senior year (I was a political science major.). Hate to admit that I didn't work out too much that semester, but the time off was good. The coach let me go on the team training trip to Boca Raton in early January. I swam horrible times for the month of January, but when I tapered for the conference meet in mid-February, I hit a lifetime best in the 200 back.
In some ways I think I did miss out on some of the social aspects of college, but at the same time, I made some friends for life.
Swam for a DIII school (Emory University) and would do it all over again. I probably never would have lasted at a DI school or any school where I was on scholarship. DIII was laid back enough so that I managed to make it through 4 years of swimming.
The first two years, morning practices were "optional" which was kind of nice when I had to spend late nights in the library studying. When the college season was over in mid-March, I didn't do a swim workout until August. The month of April was when I got to be a real college student and have a real social life before hitting the books for finals in May. During the summer, I worked as a lifeguard and ran to keep in shape.
I got a little burned out towards the end of my junior year, so decided to do a semester in Washington, D.C. the fall of my senior year (I was a political science major.). Hate to admit that I didn't work out too much that semester, but the time off was good. The coach let me go on the team training trip to Boca Raton in early January. I swam horrible times for the month of January, but when I tapered for the conference meet in mid-February, I hit a lifetime best in the 200 back.
In some ways I think I did miss out on some of the social aspects of college, but at the same time, I made some friends for life.
