College Athletic Recruiting

College Athletic Recruiting June 14, 2012 If youre hoping to swim in college, compare your best times to the swimmers at the colleges you intend to apply to. That doesnt mean you have to compare your times to Michael Phelps. Thatll only make you feel bad. So dont do that (photo credit: JD Lasica). One of the advantages of being a runner or a swimmer or even a golfer in the college athletic recruiting process is that applicants tend to know where they stand. As a male swimmer who goes a :58 in the 100 yard backstroke, his best event, isnt going to get any attention at Division 1 swimming programs. In the Ivy League, the Harvard coach isnt going to be interested in him and neither is the Dartmouth coach. Does that mean that this swimmer cant swim in college? Not necessarily. There are certainly some universities where this applicant can pursue a college swimming career likely just not in Division 1. A school like Brandeis or Middlebury might have interest, though even Middlebury might be a stretch. As a high school basketball player, you may have some idea of where you stand with college coaches but its not as cut and dry as swimming or running. There arent times in basketball. You cant just look at the data and see how you stack up. Its hard to compare one applicants jump-shot against another. Sure, there are coaches who make a living doing this, but, for the student, its easy to think your jump-shot and agility are much better than that shooting guard at the rival high school. So if youre a swimmer or a runner, compare your best times to the times at meets for the universities you intend to apply to. If youre a :56 100 yard breastroker and swimmers at Yale are going :55, :56, then youd fit in really well. If youre a 1:08 100 yard breastroker and swimmers at your dream school are going sub-:57, then you might want to seriously reconsider your plans on swimming at that college. Be realistic. Be objective. Scan through those meet results and youll see just where you stand in your dream schools coachs eyes. While youre here, check out this post on University Athletic Recruiting.