A question about NCAA policies regarding taking a year...
Former Member
between high school and college as an athlete....If a swimmer was approached by a coach with the suggestion of waiting a year before going to college to try to make Olympic trials/improve swimming for better chances at going to a better college/swim program would this be a good thing? Have you ever heard of such a thing? I don't know anything about it and am trying to research it. Thanks.
I think a lot of these rules came about because schools were recruiting older (usually non-American) swimmers. Other coaches objected to having a 21 year old freshman with international meet experience still getting four years of eligibility.
As to redshirting, that's sort of a different deal. My reading on the original question was a case where a swimmer took a year off between HS and college. If someone DOES matriculate then, yes, you can redshirt a year. Athletes have five years to complete their four years of eligibility--but you've got to be enrolled as a full time student.
It is funny how swimmers have all these rules yet football doesn't. You can be a college football player in your late 20s and if I am not mistaken, you can only swim college til you are 25. I Just remember a college teammate had to quit because he turned 25 or something. Of course, I am just going about what I saw on my college team or when I read a article about an over 25 year old football player who was up for the Heisman or something.
So, if you don't start college two years after you graduated high school, you lose a year or two of eligilibity of swimming?
I think a lot of these rules came about because schools were recruiting older (usually non-American) swimmers. Other coaches objected to having a 21 year old freshman with international meet experience still getting four years of eligibility.
As to redshirting, that's sort of a different deal. My reading on the original question was a case where a swimmer took a year off between HS and college. If someone DOES matriculate then, yes, you can redshirt a year. Athletes have five years to complete their four years of eligibility--but you've got to be enrolled as a full time student.
It is funny how swimmers have all these rules yet football doesn't. You can be a college football player in your late 20s and if I am not mistaken, you can only swim college til you are 25. I Just remember a college teammate had to quit because he turned 25 or something. Of course, I am just going about what I saw on my college team or when I read a article about an over 25 year old football player who was up for the Heisman or something.
So, if you don't start college two years after you graduated high school, you lose a year or two of eligilibity of swimming?
