Were you a College Swimmer?

Wow. Seems like lots of people didn't like D1 swimming. I was 4 years D1 and actually liked the whole thing--training, meets and my teammates. Me too, no complaints. And just like you, I struggled a little my first two years before doing well my last two years, but all four years were fun. But there is definitely a significant attrition rate: out of the 8 people in my class, only 3 of us swam for all 4 years. I suppose contributing factors might be: -- hard classes and developing other interests that compete for limited time -- adjusting to college life (even many non-athletes REALLY struggle with this; having to practice 20 hours a week just makes it worse) -- changing environment and coaches from age-group club team to a college team -- harder to improve times in many cases, possibly after years of improving pretty much every year -- for some, the sense that you are only swimming for a scholarship, rather than for personal enjoyment I'm sure there are other reasons.

Wow. Seems like lots of people didn't like D1 swimming. I was 4 years D1 and actually liked the whole thing--training, meets and my teammates. Me too, no complaints. And just like you, I struggled a little my first two years before doing well my last two years, but all four years were fun. But there is definitely a significant attrition rate: out of the 8 people in my class, only 3 of us swam for all 4 years. I suppose contributing factors might be: -- hard classes and developing other interests that compete for limited time -- adjusting to college life (even many non-athletes REALLY struggle with this; having to practice 20 hours a week just makes it worse) -- changing environment and coaches from age-group club team to a college team -- harder to improve times in many cases, possibly after years of improving pretty much every year -- for some, the sense that you are only swimming for a scholarship, rather than for personal enjoyment I'm sure there are other reasons.