Were you a College Swimmer?

Swam for three years in college (Harvard, D1). My shoulders blew up after my freshman year. I had dropped a lot of time freshman year (200 free went from 1:43 to 1:38). Sophomore and junior years were a struggle because I could not train nearly enough to get the results I wanted (due to shoulder issues). I decided to hang it up at the end of my junior year, and became a full-time team manager. We did have a high attrition rate in my class. We had 13 swimmers as freshmen, 9 as sophomores, 3 as juniors, and 2 as seniors. (The 2 seniors does not include me as manager.) One thing I did enjoy tremendously about my collegiate swimming experience was that none of us were tied to a swimming scholarship. No strings. We were all there because we wanted to be. Perhaps that contributed to the attrition. People found other things to do that interested them as much or more than swimming. One in my class dropped swimming, and ended up on the USA Kayak National Team, and barely missed an Olympic spot. Another thing that I enjoyed about being part of an athletic team was that I immediately had a group of "automatic" friends on day 1 of my freshman year. At a time when everyone was trying to fit in and make friends, I already had a group that I was a part of. (Of course, fitting in and finding your place on a team as a freshman has its challenges as well!) I enjoyed training, but the training schedule was a struggle at times. As a distance swimmer, I think I had 10 workouts a week most of the time. One year, our NCAA-mandated off-day was Tuesday. So we had both Saturday and Sunday morning workouts. That was, well, socially limiting. -Rick

What are some of the biggest CHANGES since you swam in college, high school, or since you started swimming? The rules in breaststroke have changed dramatically, since I swam in high school! It took me awhile to get used to the idea that my head didn't have to stay above the water line. A single dolphin kick after the turn wasn't allowed then, either, but I'm staying away from that rule change, for fear of a DQ. :afraid: In 1979, You Tube didn't exist, either, so I didn't have the resources I do now to study the stroke of the greatest swimmers. And, without video, I never had the opportunity to study my own stroke to see where I am deficient. Hey, now that I think about it, we also didn't have the internet and forums! So, I didn't have the opportunity to learn from other swimmers like Ande and Allen! Thanks, guys! :applaud: Now, if I only had the 17 year old body now that I had then... I wonder just how fast my 100 yard breaststroke would be with all these changes in the sport that are helping me now, but I didn't have back then??? My stroke was horrible then, but my time was 12 seconds faster!!! :bitching:

Not sure who had the idea in the first place. There aren't a lot of other schools who do it. Can't think of any at all off the top of my head. But if you think about all of the varsity programs getting shut down... Here in Virginia, there is Christopher Newport University Swim Team, with 33 USMS members. They registered as a masters team for insurance reasons (as in, they couldn't get coverage through CNU). But I can't say that they participate in a lot of masters meets: there were many at the Virginia Beach meet last fall but none at zones and none are going to nationals. There are a lot of (non-varsity) college swim clubs around, at least in this state, and they seem to go to a lot of (college club) swim meets. They are not necessarily interested in swimming with us old farts while they are still in school, but it behooves us to make sure they know all about us for post-graduation swimming.

4-years at a Divison I school here. After a great sophomore year (won conference in two events), I became miserably burned out junior year and had a terrible year. Stuck with it senior year and survived, but was definitely happy at my last meet when I "never had to swim again." Of course that didn't last long. :D I got the opportunity to attend my college choice based on academics, and not athletics. I was fortunate enough to base my choice on BOTH. Just because you choose athletics, does not mean you need to abandon academics. :dunno: Happened to me TWICE ('88 & '92) I qualified for '88 in the 1500, but it was at a meet ('88 American Final) beyond the cutoff date to go to Trials. Hey, I went to the 88 American Final meet. At the Hall of Fame pool, right? I loved that meet!

The answers posting to this thread are most definitely not the norm for USMS members... Print off the poll and take it to your club coach or workout group. Then post the results up. I would venture to say that out of the 170 swimmers on our new club here in SoCal, maybe 3 or 4 max swam in college. And probably less than 25 ever swam competitively at all. Except during holiday breaks and the summer when our head coach allows any college swimmer to swim for free. They do have to join USMS and affiliate with the club. I assume this will drive up the competitive swimmer numbers in the near future. I swim with an age group team. Out of 10+ seniors this year, I would guess 3 will go on to swim. One that went on to swim at VA Tech this year has already stopped to join the Triathlon team instead :afraid: One of our current swimmers just got back from Ireland Nationals. I need to find out where he's swimming. He's incredible to watch. Oh and I do mention to my team mates that once they hit 18 they can join USMS and swim in our meets.

My short course times during all four seasons never saw much improvement (except for falling in love with the 500 free and dropping buckets of time in it), but during the summers when i returned to my club team, i improved by leaps and bounds. I have to believe the college training set me up well for that, but not for swimming well during the college season.

Yeah, it was really fun. In fact, I'll be meeting up with some of my college teammates and staying with them for Nationals, even though I graduated last year. Not sure who had the idea in the first place. There aren't a lot of other schools who do it. Can't think of any at all off the top of my head. But if you think about all of the varsity programs getting shut down... www.clubs.psu.edu/.../2010ASAUnationalsresults.pdf Looks like there is a whole untapped world out there.

I took beginning swimming in graduate school when i was 26 years old. At that time, the culminating event of the class was a time 500, which I think I did in about 12 minutes. One guy, when told to bring goggles, showed up with the kind you use in wood shop. The "big" workouts were as long as 1200 yards! Phew! Now, 12 years later, I have done countless races, become an open water addict--getting ready for my next 10-miler--, and benefit every week from the INCREDIBLE coaching of Russ Yarworth and Bob Newcomb, the men's and women's college coaches at UMASS Amherst. (And multi-time A10 winners!) I owe them--big time.

Two years at a Community College then two years at Central Michigan. An awesome experience and I wouldn't trade it for the world. My Junior College teammates still meet with our coach (just had a two day canoe trip at coach's cottage). Awesome stories and most were true~

Retired triathlete with a bad back. Looking to learn more swimming. Always liked it and lifeguarded in school. My daughter is teaching me. I hope to join a club soon. My gym has 4 pools and no Masters program.